What’s in a name?

The Kelowna Chiefs junior hockey team has landed in the front section of the newspaper, not for its incredible unbeaten streak on the ice, but for its team name and mascot. Chiefs, according to a group of university sociology students, is a derogatory name that should be changed.

“We find ‘chiefs’ a term applied by a colonizing power to refer to indigenous elders and leaders while never fully owned by Indigenous people. The team logo of an Indian with two tomahawks springing from its head is offensive and insulting,” the students wrote in an email sent to media outlets in Kelowna.

Team owner Grant Sheridan is confused by all the fuss, stating he’s received a grand total of four complaints in the 10-year history of the franchise.

“A bigger bone of contention for sure is whether we should have called ourselves the Rutland Chiefs,” said Sheridan, whose Junior B team plays at Rutland Arena.

This issue is nothing new. Major teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins have been under pressure for the past decade to change their names in order to get with the times.

There’s even a suggestion that the Oshawa Generals change their name because of the recent announcement by General Motors to close the plant.

Sports are about tradition. The Original Six teams — including the Blackhawks — have never changed their names.

But, change has happened before. The National Basketball Association team in Washington, now the Wizards, was once known as the Bullets. The name was changed due to the high murder rate in the nation’s capital.

The mighty Penticton Vees have been the Vees on three separate occasions. In between, they played musical names and the junior hockey team was known as the Panthers, Knights and Broncos.

It’s important to note that franchises, especially the Kelowna Chiefs, are by no means trying to be offensive, but times do change. The Blackhawks were named in 1926. Standards in 2018 are now higher.

As Canada works collectively as a nation at reconciliation, sports can do their part and change their names.

There’s plenty of cool team names that can be chosen ... and the team won’t fold or lose fans because of a name change.

—James Miller, Valley editor

Kelowna Chiefs face pressure to change name