1999 “It’s a misrepresentation of what actually happened. There is no evidence the team was named after Sockalexis.”

Ithaca professor disputes 

story of Indians nickname

The ballclub claims the moniker honors long-dead Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot 

1999 May 18 Democrat and Chronicle 

     Cleveland – The origin of the Cleveland Indians’ nickname has been called into question.

      For more than 30 years, the club has said the nickname ‘Indians’ was chosen in a newspaper contest to honor Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian who played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1897-99.

      But Ellen Staurowsky, an associate professor at Ithaca College who wrote a paper on the subject in the Sociology of Sports Journal last December, said the idea that there was a contest is a mistake. 

      “That’s completely fake,” she told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “It’s a misrepresentation of what actually happened. There is no evidence the team was named after Sockalexis.”

      In recent years, protesters have demonstrated against the Indians nickname and the club’s Chief Wahoo mascot, saying they are degrading to American Indians.

      The team first began mentioning the Sockalexis link in its 1968 media guide.

      The club’s 1999 media guide says that in 1915 “a local daily newspaper ran a contest and the name Indian was suggested by a fan who said he was going it in honor of an Indians player named Francis Sockalexis.”

      But researching its own paper and three others from Jan 1 1915 through April 30, 1915, the Plain Dealer found Sockalexis’ name was never mentioned when the nickname was announced. The name Indians was chosen by a committee of sportswriters.

      In her paper, Staurowsky points to the tale of a content originating from a Jan 7, 1915, headline which said “Fans will help select new nickname for Naps.” 

      The Naps was the nickname by the team until 1915, when second baseman Nap Lajoie was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics.

      The club was officially known as the Spiders during the 1890s until Sockalexis arrived in 1897.

      She said the Indians are not entirely correct when they say the team is named specifically for Sockalexis.

      “There is a vast difference between speculating the Indians were named after Sockalexis and making the claim the franchise now makes, that there was an intentional decision to honor him,” she said. 

1999 May 18 Democrat and Chronicle