Cleveland Indians to remove 'Chief Wahoo' from their uniforms in 2019
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:01 pm
The Cleveland Indians will stop using their Chief Wahoo logo on uniforms in 2019, MLB commissioner
Rob Manfred announced Monday.
Manfred said in a statement that the move was the result of "constructive conversations" between the league
and Indians chief executive and chairman Paul Dolan over the past year.
Chief Wahoo is a caricature of a Native American; The organization has used iteration of it or another since the late 1940s.
While the logo will not appear on uniforms during games, the Indians wrote in a Q&A on their web site that merchandise
with Chief Wahoo will still be sold at their team store and retail outlets in Ohio. The team wrote that this "will maintain
the Indians' ownership of the trademark as well, which we would risk losing to another organization if we ceased all use."
The Indians' team name will not be changed, according to the organization, which cites "support from MLB" behind that
decision. Cleveland added it will use its "block C" logo as its primary mark moving forward.
Chief Wahoo has long been the subject of public scrutiny, with critics claiming that the grinning red-faced logo is
offensive to the Native American community.
Rob Manfred announced Monday.
Manfred said in a statement that the move was the result of "constructive conversations" between the league
and Indians chief executive and chairman Paul Dolan over the past year.
Chief Wahoo is a caricature of a Native American; The organization has used iteration of it or another since the late 1940s.
While the logo will not appear on uniforms during games, the Indians wrote in a Q&A on their web site that merchandise
with Chief Wahoo will still be sold at their team store and retail outlets in Ohio. The team wrote that this "will maintain
the Indians' ownership of the trademark as well, which we would risk losing to another organization if we ceased all use."
The Indians' team name will not be changed, according to the organization, which cites "support from MLB" behind that
decision. Cleveland added it will use its "block C" logo as its primary mark moving forward.
Chief Wahoo has long been the subject of public scrutiny, with critics claiming that the grinning red-faced logo is
offensive to the Native American community.