CHEROKEE NATION WANTS JEEP TO DROP NAME

After more than 45 years, the Cherokee Nation is asking Jeep to rename its top-selling Cherokee and Grand Cherokee vehicles.

“I think we’re in a day and age in this country where it’s time for both corporations and team sports to retire the use of Native American names, images and mascots from their products, team jerseys and sports in general,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said.

The Cherokee Nation has repeatedly expressed frustration with Jeep’s use of the name, but this marks its first direct request for a change.

“Our vehicle names have been carefully chosen and nurtured over the years to honour and celebrate Native American people for their nobility, prowess, and pride,” Jeep said.

The Jeep Cherokee was introduced in 1974 as the original “sport utility vehicle” with bucket seats and “racy detailing” designed to appeal to younger, more adventurous drivers, according to Jeep’s website.

Jeep replaced Cherokee with Liberty in the North American market in 2002, but it resurrected the name 12 years later after market research found “a marked fondness” for it, The New York Times reported in 2013.