Sockalexis has NEVER been honored by the Cleveland Indians. Never has, never will.
Starting in 1910, American Indians have tried to gain some type of control over the exploration of their image in movies, books, television, and in the beginning of the 1970's, in sports. Following the rise of the American Indian Movement, and public protesting for rights guaranteed to them both as indigenous people AND as Americans, the next target was Indian-themed mascots.
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| 1970, April 3. The Daily Reporter |
That nice little guy, Chief Wahoo, who has kept smiling through all the many woes of the Cleveland Indians, is about to have the smile wiped off his face.
And it's all pretty ridiculous. Little Wahoo is a victim of the protest epidemic which has hit the nation. And this case certainly indicates that the bottom of the barrel is being scraped in an effort to dredge up trouble for somebody. Or anybody.
An American Indians' organization in Cleveland has gone on the warpath because the baseball team is using the name of the native Americans without permission, they say.
The group calls itself CLAIM (Cleveland American Indian Movement) and it has sent a demand to Vernon Stouffer, owner of the baseball club, to change the name of the team.
"It is national policy to ignorantly degrade and insult native Americans through advertising, the news media, television, motion pictures and organizations such as yours," the group wrote to Stouffer.
And then they blasted the use of Chief Wahoo as the Indians' mascot. "Chief Wahoo, your degrading and insulting caricature which stereotypes the Native American, must and has to be eliminated," CLAIM insisted.
An insight into the thinking of the protesting group might be gleaned from the alternatives that they offer Stouffer in renaming the club. They suggested: The Cleveland Jews, The Cleveland Negroes, The Cleveland Puerto Ricans, The Cleveland Poles and the Cleveland Italians."
And don't think that this is just a leg-pulling joke. These people behind the movement represent a potentially troublesome area on Cleveland's West Side within walking distance of Municipal Stadium where the Indians play their home games.
Just for the record, the Indians were named by a baseball fan in 1915 in honor of Louis Sockalexis, a full-blooded American Indian who played three seasons with Cleveland when the town was known as the Naps, named for Napolean Lajoie, an all-time Cleveland great.
Sockalexis hit .331 in his best year, 1897. He died in 1913 and it was two years later that the baseball team was named "The Cleveland Indians," in his honor.
Never at any time has there been any disrespect shown that name. On one occasion last year the baseball team invited a group of Indians living in the area to attend a ball game and put on a dancing exhibition, for which they were paid by the club.
Now - along comes a militant group demanding that the name be dropped.
It makes about as much sense as a protest march by the zoo keepers against the Cubs, Tigers, Lions, Roadrunners, Seals, Colts, Rams, Bears, Cardinals, Orioles, Dolphins, Cougars, Blackhawks, Red Wings, Penguins, Bulls, Eagles and Broncos.
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| 1970, April 3. The Daily Reporter |
This article was repeated, here's another headline:
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| 1970, April 5 News Journal |
This myth of the fan who named the team in honor of Sockalexis has been repeated over and over and over... from the 1970s --
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| 1972, Feb 13 The Akron Beacon Journal |
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| 1973, June 27 The Ogden Standard Examiner |
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| 1978, May 21 The Times Recorder |
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| 1994, Aug 7 The Los Angeles Times |
And today... we're back to his Wikipedia page that says "The Indians' official media guide says that the owners solicited sportswriters to ask fans for their favorite nickname, and the name Indians was chosen by a young girl who wrote to one of the sportswriters whose column requested the suggestions. She specifically mentioned Sockalexis and his heritage."
You would think that if news clippings of these articles actually existed, they would be broad-casted far and wide by fans of the Cleveland Indians, as well as owners and representatives, rather than a lame quote and erroneous date - that I have proven is absolutely false.
There are many reasons why the Cleveland Indians must change their name, and even more reasons why Chief Wahoo must be retired, especially now when the cover-up and lies have been so plainly exposed.
Sockalexis was a great athlete, but this does not honor him. It never has, and it never will.
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| 1970, April 3. The Daily Reporter |
