Western Morning News (Saturday)
Campaign to end Chiefs’ ‘racist’ imagery
EXETER Chiefs are facing renewed calls to drop their Native American branding and imagery, with a section of their own fans starting a petition to bring about change.
The issue of the Devon rugby club’s name and branding – which includes a Native American on their logo, Big Chief as their mascot and the Tomahawk Chop chant – has become a sensitive one in recent years.
Exeter introduced the branding in 1999, but a number of American sports clubs dropping their own Native American names and imagery has led to questions around UK teams from the likes of fans and academics.
Now, Exeter Chiefs For Change – who describe themselves as ‘Exeter Chiefs fans campaigning for an end of the club’s use of Native American imagery and branding’ – have launched a petition asking the Sandy Park club ‘to drop its racist use of Native American imagery and branding’. It had more than 1,000 signatures by yesterday and had increased its target to 1,500, with Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw among those to throw his weight behind the campaign.
“The club must address its use of racist imagery and branding,” reads the petition. “There is no place in a predominantly white British environment for Native American imagery that has no relation whatsoever to the history of the club, or the city.
“Tony Rowe is quoted as saying the history of the ‘Chiefs’ brand dates back no further than the 90s – a decision that was not taken with racism in mind, but one that is now sat increasingly awkwardly at the pinnacle of English rugby.
“The stylised Native American Chief on the club’s crest, the ‘Big Chief’ mascot, the headdresses and tomahawks adorning the supporters, and the ‘Tomahawk Chop’ chant are all examples of cultural appropriation of the Native American peoples who were all but wiped out by white European settlers and who still suffer extreme examples of racial prejudice today, across the world.
“There is a huge amount of correspondence from Native American people making it very clear that they find the use of their sacred rites and iconography in these contexts deeply hurtful and offensive.
“The club doesn’t even need to change its name – Exeter Chiefs could refer to the Celtic Chiefs who inhabited the city and contributed to its rich and diverse history. It is the imagery that must change. There is huge potential for the club to seize the positivity around the Black Lives Matter movement, to take ownership of a branding decision that is now very clearly on the wrong side of history. There’s no need to change the name just the logo.”
Mr Bradshaw is among many to have tweeted out a link to the petition.
An Exeter Chiefs spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.
In 2016 historian Rachel Herrmann criticised the club for selling merchandise like the Little Big Chief and fans for dressing up with head-dresses and war paint and waving inflatable tomahawks.
Devon-based academic Dr Stephanie Pratt, a member of the Crow Creek Dakota (Sioux) tribe and a former Cultural Ambassador for her Tribal Council, echoed her comments. Dr Pratt, a former associate professor at Plymouth University, told sister website DevonLive: “I’m not saying that people should not have fun, it is just that particular way of showing Native American Indians is very offensive.
“I think it could be a way forward if the Chiefs were able to consult with some of the other teams to look at the ways they can come up with a new way of handling this, by having that branding but not using it an offensive way. It is about the dignity of the indigenous cultures and communities, rather than running around with tomahawks.”