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Native Americans grapple with Chiefs Super Bowl celebrations

B次元官网网址業 donB次元官网网址檛 really fully understand it, but it is almost like a mockeryB次元官网网址
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A Kansas City Chiefs fan wears a headdress during the Kansas City ChiefsB次元官网网址 victory celebration in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. The Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday in the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

Moontee Sinquah spent only one minute onstage inside the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix during the NFLB次元官网网址檚 Super Bowl Opening Night. But itB次元官网网址檚 a minute that will remain unforgettable.

The Native American hoop dancer had never been that close to football players and coaches about to compete in the leagueB次元官网网址檚 biggest game. As he and other Indigenous performers sang and danced, they heard elated whoops from Indigenous people in the audience.

It gave Sinquah chills.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 just really grateful that they did highlight our people because I think itB次元官网网址檚 really important,B次元官网网址 said Sinquah, who is a member of the Hopi-Tewa and Choctaw nations. But when he thinks of that inclusion coupled with Super Bowl cameras panning to Kansas City Chiefs fans doing the maligned B次元官网网址渢omahawk chop,B次元官网网址 Sinquah says that juxtaposition leaves him B次元官网网址減erplexed.B次元官网网址

B次元官网网址淚 think thatB次元官网网址檚 the only thing that really bothers me about that whole thing is that, and I donB次元官网网址檛 know where it came from. And I donB次元官网网址檛 really fully understand it, but it is almost like a mockery,B次元官网网址 Sinquah said.

The Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs embarked on their victory lap Wednesday, with players and fans alike doing the B次元官网网址渃hopB次元官网网址 during a raucous parade and rally. Indigenous people are grappling with the national spotlight once again falling on the teamB次元官网网址檚 mascot and fan B次元官网网址渨ar chantB次元官网网址 B次元官网网址 which they deem racist. This past week in Arizona, where at least a quarter of the land base is tribal reservations, thereB次元官网网址檚 been a complicated mix of delight for the NFL involving Native and Indigenous cultures but disdain for those cultures being appropriated.

Fans of the Chiefs long ago adopted the chanting and arm movement symbolizing the brandishing of a tomahawk that began at Florida State University in the 1980s B次元官网网址 though the school has an agreement with the Seminole tribe to use the moniker and tribal imagery. In 2020, the Chiefs banned headdresses and war paint in the stadium and pushed for cheerleaders to do the B次元官网网址渃hopB次元官网网址 with a closed fist instead of an open hand.

There were plenty performing the chop in a red sea of fans in Chiefs gear along the parade route and in front of Kansas CityB次元官网网址檚 Union Station, where the parade ended. The team then closed out the rally by doing the B次元官网网址渃hopB次元官网网址 in unison in a slurry of confetti.

Andrea Robinson, an 18-year-old psychology major at the University of Kansas, hollered while doing the open-handed chop with the crowd.

B次元官网网址淚 think we should keep it,B次元官网网址 Robinson said. B次元官网网址淚 mean we need to be respectful about it. I understand but I mean itB次元官网网址檚 a tradition.B次元官网网址

David Cordray, a 38-year-old heating, cooling and refrigeration technician from Kansas City, Missouri, said he doesnB次元官网网址檛 see the harm in the gesture or the mascot. He also pointed to changes such as the retirement of the live mascot, a horse named B次元官网网址淲arpaintB次元官网网址 that a cheerleader would ride in the stadium after the team scored. Previously, a man donning a Native headdress rode the horse.

B次元官网网址淚f they donB次元官网网址檛 think it is OK to do then maybe we should stop. But the Native Americans IB次元官网网址檝e come in contact with have said that they didnB次元官网网址檛 have any issues with it. Basically it is all opinion-based,B次元官网网址 Cordray said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e gone a long way to make sure that we are respectful of everybodyB次元官网网址檚 culture and being vigilant about it.B次元官网网址

The origin of the Chiefs nickname may have more to do with the mayor who helped lure the franchise from Dallas in 1963 than any connection to Native Americans.

Mayor H. Roe Bartle was a large man known as B次元官网网址淭he ChiefB次元官网网址 for his many years of leadership in the Boy Scouts. Team owner Lamar Hunt reportedly named the team the Chiefs in honor of Bartle.

Even the connection with Bartle has undertones that some find offensive. Though he was white, Bartle started the B次元官网网址淢ic-O-Say Tribe,B次元官网网址 a youth camping organization that remains active and continues to use Native American attire and language. Young participants are B次元官网网址渂raves,B次元官网网址 and the top leader is the B次元官网网址渃hief.B次元官网网址

last week that Bartle obtained permission from the Northern Arapaho Tribe to use the term B次元官网网址渃hief.B次元官网网址 Rhonda LeValdo, founder of the Kansas City-based Indigenous activist group Not In Our Honor, disputed that narrative.

James Simermeyer, a member of the Coharie Tribe based in North Carolina, watched most of the game from his home in Baltimore. He appreciated the involvement of SinquahB次元官网网址檚 dance troupe and a University of Arizona student who is Navajo and deaf using Native American sign language during B次元官网网址淎merica the BeautifulB次元官网网址 before the game. At the same time, it felt like B次元官网网址渙ne step forward two steps backB次元官网网址 when he heard the chant Kansas City fans do during the chop.

With the publicity around the ChiefsB次元官网网址 win, Simermeyer said itB次元官网网址檚 like an implicit condoning of all the things Native and Indigenous people find hurtful.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no positive reason to support it. But it just kind of affirms the negative behavior that Kansas City fans are doing,B次元官网网址 Simermeyer said. B次元官网网址淚 canB次元官网网址檛 imagine how many other people are out there and having the conversation with their non-Native colleagues about whether or not theyB次元官网网址檙e offended by this.B次元官网网址

B次元官网网址擳erry Tang And Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press





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