A minor hockey team out of Rossland got some relief last week after receiving a letter by the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Chief Clarence Louie supporting the continued use of the Blackhawks logo for their organization.
The Rossland Senior Warriors amateur hockey team uses the well known Chicago Blackhawks logo, depicting a Indigenous man wearing a feathered headdress. Concerns were raised over cultural appropriation of the image through an online petition asking the team to remove the logo from their organization.
Chief Louie, the current chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) and Syilx/Okanagan Nation whose traditional territory overlaps the town of Rossland, said in a written letter to the organization that he and the rest of the OIB endorse the team keeping the logo.
“To me the Blackhawks logo is one of the best and proudest logos in all of sports,” wrote Chief Louie. “I have seen hundreds of Native youth and adults proudly wear the Blackhawks Indian head logo. Come to my office and I proudly display the exact same logo in the Osoyoos Indian Band office.”
Chief Louie wrote that the matter was brought up at a meeting with the OIB council on July 23. The council all agreed to fully support the team to continue sporting the logo.
“Remember Rossland is in the traditional territory of the Osoyoos Indian Band (Okanagan/Syilx Nation) and I am very proud that your hockey team has chosen to wear a Native logo!” said Louie.
Chief Louie’s letter contradicts the movement of many other sports teams. Calls for name changes to the Edmonton E’s- previously the Edmonton Eskimos- and the Washington Football Team- previously known as the Redskins- gained steam over the last few months. Major sponsors and fans put pressure on the teams to make the move.
But Chief Louie believes sports teams sporting a logo like the Blackhawks is a point of pride for Indigenous communities. He claims those who truly understand sports see logos and names as one of the highest honours and a sign of respect.
Chief Louie and his council would rather see those who started the petition to change the Rossland Senior Hockey team’s logo invest their time in “much more serious Native-non-Native issues,” like systemic racism in the R.C.M.P. and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The petition, started by Alexandria Moon on the online petition platform, Change.org, has garnered 374 signatures to date. It states that the use of stereotypical images of Indigenous people as logos has been proven to have a “harmful impact on Indigenous peoples socially and culturally and especially Indigenous youth.”
The petition says the use of the Blackhawks image is disrespectful, and perpetuates negative and violent images of Indigenous people.
“If it’s possible to change a large organization like the (Washington) Redskins, it is possible in our small community of Rossland,” reads the petition.
The Rossland Senior Warriors responded to the petition by reaching out to two local First Nations communities, including the OIB, according to a statement on their Facebook page from August 12. The statement accompanied an image of Chief Louie’s letter.
The Warriors association said they plan to continue to use the logo based on the response and endorsement of Chief Louie.
“Based on recommendations from Chief Clarence Louie, Rossland Warriors will continue to use the Blackhawks logo,” read the post. “The Rossland Warriors will continue to work with Chief Louie to raise awareness of other Indigenous issues.”
The Warriors association said they took the petition very seriously, and continue to be an inclusive organization supportive of Indigenous rights. The organization hopes to move on from the issue with the full support of Chief Louie and the OIB.
