Now that the Cleveland Indians MLB franchise officially announced its decision to rebrand as the “Cleveland Guardians” and the Washington Football Team (formally the “Redskins”) set to announce their rebranding in 2022, all eyes are on the Kansas City Chiefs, the fan traditions that take place on Sunday afternoons at Arrowhead Stadium, and if change could be on the horizon in the years to come.
Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan spoke on these issues when he took to the podium on Monday. Rather than crumble under social peer pressure, Donovan instead aims to find a common ground that allows fans to continue with game-day traditions without disrespecting native cultures nor hurting the relationships the franchise has with the Native American community.
“We have a really good American Indian working group that provides us real guidance and feedback and perspective on this issue,” Donovan said. “Obviously, we knew about the Cleveland decision a year plus ago, so we knew this was going to happen. [It] doesn’t really change our approach. We’re going to continue to create opportunities to educate, create awareness and work exactly as we have over the past eight years now with the working group. We’ve expanded our working group, to get more voices. As I’ve said before, one of the things you find within the American Indian community, which is not unlike any community, is there are divergent views. You’re going to find someone who believes one thing and someone who believes just as strongly in the other. That’s true within the American Indian community. It’s also true when it comes to these issues.”
The Chiefs have made an effort since 2014 to maintain a positive relationship with Native communities across the Kansas City area. However, one area that has been under fire, especially as of late, is the in-game traditions that the Chiefs fan base takes part in. Before 2020, that included the drum, the Tomahawk Chop, the use of warpaint and native headdresses, and the off and on sightings of the horse, Warpaint.
Going into last season, Kansas City took major steps to keep a positive relationship with the native community by banning Native American imagery from entering Arrowhead Stadium. This year, the club has taken a step further by retiring the horse named “Warpaint”.
“So, we made some significant changes last year, which we are proud of, and we believe were the right things to do,” Donovan said. “Over the last year and a half, we’ve looked at some changes. One we’re going to implement this year: We feel like the time to retire Warpaint. There are a lot of reasons for that, but we just feel like it’s the right thing to do. So Warpaint won’t be running at Arrowhead anymore.”
The Chiefs’ pre-game ceremony involving the drum that kickoffs the Tomahawk Chop has also fallen under scrutiny. Donovan announced Monday that the club plans to modify the recently built “drum deck” to better represent the spiritual significance the drum has in Native American culture. Donovan also spoke about the discussions that were had to keep the drum as a pre-game feature at Arrowhead.
“You know, when you talk to the American Indian working group about the drum, it’s a really strong point of pride for them,” Donovan said. “If you even have the conversation, ‘Should we think about removing the drum or doing something different?’ They get pretty emotional about what it is. And I go back to the story I’ve told before. And when we started the drum, I didn’t know. We, as an organization, didn’t know what the drum represented within their community —within their culture. And they educated us. And then we did, we took the steps — the right steps, which they guided us on, to bless the drum, to treat it in a respectful way, and to use that opportunity to educate people as to what the drum really means in their culture.”
Unlike the Cleveland baseball club and the Washington Football Team, the Chiefs have made it very clear that they wish to work with the Native American community rather than fight against them.
“We’ll continue the conversations, we’ll continue to take the path that we’ve taken,” Donovan said. “As I said, educating ourselves, educating our fans, and creating opportunities to create awareness.”
