Indigenous activists to protest Kansas City Chiefs name, ‘tomahawk chop’

Native American teams are anticipated to protest the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs on Sunday, calling for the AFC champions to drop their title and brand as they tackle the Philadelphia Eagles in Tremendous Bowl 57.

The Chiefs put on the arrowhead brand on their helmet and use a big drum to kick of their residence video games, as followers routinely have interaction in what’s often called the “tomahawk chop” chant, all of which critics say draw on offensive and racist stereotypes.

That is their third journey to the NFL title sport in 4 years and Kansas Metropolis followers will be heard all through Phoenix singing the “tomahawk chop” chant. It’s a jarring distinction to the shows of Native American tradition and delight that Tremendous Bowl hosts have invited to take part within the days main as much as the sport.

Dancers from Indigenous Enterprise carried out at Monday’s Opening Evening festivities, changing into the primary Native People to carry out on the annual media mega occasion.

In an odd juxtaposition, they took the stage minutes after Kansas Metropolis followers in attendance on the Footprint Middle joined collectively in a loud rendition of their “tomahawk chop” chant.

“What the NFL is doing inside Phoenix, by bringing in indigenous dancers and artists, that’s celebrating the genuine, which is great,” mentioned Cher Thomas, an artist, neighborhood organizer and member of the Gila River Neighborhood. She can be amongst these outdoors the sport on Sunday protesting.

“Nevertheless, the NFL concurrently condones Kansas Metropolis’s staff and their names and monikers and their derogatory traditions.”

The NFL didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Chiefs supporter Benny Blades, 55, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, mentioned he admired the staff for “sticking to their weapons” as he stood in Scottsdale’s Previous City, the place followers broke out into spontaneous “tomahawk” chants on streets lined with retailers promoting Native American arts and crafts.

“We are able to’t say something now since you’re gonna offend one or two p.c of the individuals in the USA,” he mentioned.

Scottsdale is immediately adjoining to the Salt River-Maricopa Indian Neighborhood of greater than 7,000 residents, one among Arizona’s 22 federally acknowledged tribes.

At Sunday’s preshow, when singer Babyface performs “America the Lovely,” Navajo Colin Denny will present North American Indian Signal Language interpretation.

Chiefs followers are all however assured to carry out the “tomahawk chop” cheer loudly within the minutes earlier than kickoff, as they did previous to the sport of their earlier two Tremendous Bowl appearances.

The Chiefs didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Ak-Chin Indian Neighborhood, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Tohono O’odham Nation, who’re companions with the Tremendous Bowl host committee, didn’t reply to a number of interview requests. One other accomplice, Gila River Indian Neighborhood, didn’t make management obtainable.

It’s removed from the primary time the Chiefs title and traditions have come underneath hearth.

In 2019 the Kansas Metropolis Star referred to as for an finish to the chanting and chopping hand gestures.

Months later, within the days earlier than the Chiefs’ Tremendous Bowl conquer the San Francisco 49ers, the staff informed Reuters it had “engaged in significant discussions with a gaggle comprised of people with numerous Native American backgrounds and experiences” over the earlier six years.

However amid a nationwide reckoning over race propelled by the Black Lives Matter Motion, their title and nearly all of their traditions remained intact, even because the Washington Redskins dropped their nickname in July 2020. The Washington staff later changed the nickname, broadly seen as a racist slur, with the Commanders.

A month later the Chiefs introduced they’d ban the sporting of headdresses at Arrowhead Stadium, the place the phrases “finish racism” have been painted ultimately zone and emblazoned on helmets in a nod to racial justice.

“They use that hashtag #EndRacism and it’s on their helmets. And it’s tone deaf,” mentioned Rhonda LeValdo, an Acoma Pueblo journalist who based the Not in our Honor coalition in 2005, to advocate in opposition to using Native American imagery in sports activities.

“I don’t even perceive what you guys are saying and you’ve got the Chiefs brand and also you guys are doing the chop.”