People Not Mascots

From the Fitted Hat Files: The Peoria Chiefs do the right thing for the right reasons

Long before the nonsense of “cancel culture” (which is not real) and “fake news” were part of the every day public debate, the Peoria Chiefs got ahead of the curve and replaced their indigenous logo/theme without having to change their name… simply because it was the right thing to do.

“In 2005, the team replaced the indigenous imagery associated with the Chiefs name and moved to a logo of a Dalmatian depicted as a fire chief stating “The team was proactive in understanding and respecting Indian culture.”

While this particular Dalmatian fire chief logo is very minor-league, it’s a perfectly simple and elegant path for pro teams like the Chicago NHL team, the Atlanta MLB team, and the Kansas City NFL in particular, to do the right thing without even having to change their names.

While a name change to Hammers would probably be the best for Atlanta, they could just as easily change the “Braves” imagery to be about firefighters like Peoria did.

The Chicago hockey team could simply change their logo to an actual black hawk. Imagine the potential. Their could even keep the feathers (there’s a very ]popular design that’s been shared all over the internet you can Google). In fact, the Portland Winterhawks just knocked it out of the park with a re-brand that sets the table perfectly for Chicago.

Kansas City — well, it’s right here: Fire chiefs. Simple. Inclusive. Uncontroversial… there are lots of debates about the role of police, but support of firefighters is universal among all reasonable people.

I’m glad the Peoria Chiefs made this change and set a good example. Indigenous people are not mascots and we have no moral right to treat them as such

The dehumanization of indigenous peoples is at the root of the bodies of children that are being found in unmarked graves all over our country. Yes, there’s a straight line between 40,000 people doing a “tomahawk chop” and chanting nonsense with painted faces to the cultural genocide of our indigenous peoples. It’s all part of the same mission to strip them of their cultures and identities and it’s about damn time it stops.

Think about that the next time you wear your racist “Chief Knockahoma” or “Chief Wahoo” hat. It’s not cool. It’s horrible.