Is it time for the Tribe to make a trade?

The day after the Indians lost in Game 5 and sent the American League Championship Series back to Boston, I happened to be in a gift shop in Las Vegas that sold Native American jewelry, accompanied by my brother, Thomas, who has resided in Jamaica for the last couple of decades and was in town for a visit. Although an expatriate, he nonetheless remains a loyal Indians fan from afar.

When I couldn’t come up with tickets to games three or four, all of my years of bragging about being this hotshot journalist rang kind of hollow to him. “I thought you said you had some pull in this town?” he’d teased. I told him Vegas would be more fun instead, but I don’t think he bought it.

As we approached the cash register with our selections, he was lamenting about the team having to return to Boston to clinch the series there; like all Cleveland fans he was pulling for them to win it at home. Sitting off to the side near the register was an elderly Native American craftsman working on a piece of turquoise jewelry. Without looking up from his task he said in an almost inaudible voice, “The Indians will never win a World Series, as long as they continue to disrespect my people, we put a curse on the team.”

“Excuse me?” my brother said, obviously agitated.

The woman behind the register, trying to placate us in order to not lose a decent-size sale, said to not pay her uncle any attention. “The old fool talks too much, and sometimes out of turn,” she said, shooting him a withering glance, which he defiantly ignored. But I knew what the old man was talking about, even if my brother didn’t. Never shy about engaging anyone in conversation, he asked the elderly man what he meant.

The man, with his proud, weathered face, had the look of determination — seasoned with wisdom — that the elderly sometimes get rewarded with for standing up for their life-long and deeply held principles. Looking up from his work for the first time he said to the woman, “I own this shop and I’ll say whatever I damn well please.”

Then, without rancor, he told us that he was part of a group of dozens of Native Americans, led by Vernon Bellecourt, the founder of AIM (the American Indian Movement), that protested the use of Chief Wahoo when Jacobs Field first opened back in 1994. He stated that a curse was placed on the team during that protest, a curse that accounted for the World Series loss1995, and the heartbreaking outcome in 1997. He said the curse would remain in place until Chief Wahoo was retired.

Now, while my brother is not superstitious, most athletes (and particularly baseball players) are. When a look of incredulity crossed my brother’s face the old man said, “What if the team was called the Sambos, and the image used was that of a grinning face that was as black as coal ... as black as that grinning fool’s face is red ...how would that make your people feel?” My brother, who is never at a loss for words, was left speechless.

After making our purchases and leaving the shop I explained to him that I had indeed covered the protest the old man had spoken about as a journalist, and the ones in subsequent years; including the one where Chief Wahoo was burned in effigy, causing some of the protestors to be arrested for starting a fire. I also informed him that over the years I’ve heard both sides of the debate: Native Americans claim that the visage of Chief Wahoo is disrespectful to them, and Tribe fans claim that it isn’t meant to be.

While both sides are probably being truthful, it’s hard not to come down on the side of the Native Americans — in truth they are the only group that can sit in judgment in regards to whether the image is hurtful toward them. For anyone else — fans, club owners, or the merchandisers who make the millions — to have the temerity to tell a race of people what should or should not be offensive to them only doubles the disrespectfulness. If Cleveland had more Native American residents the image would have been gone long ago.

Maybe the offer Native Americans seem to be making is worth considering: Would Cleveland baseball fans be willing to trade their beloved Chief Wahoo in return for the lifting of the curse, which would allow us to win the World Series while we still have the best team in the majors? Of course if Native Americans didn’t hold up their end of the bargain and a Series win didn’t materialize within a few seasons, the logo could always be brought back. That sounds like a fair enough deal to me. Maybe it really is past time to send Chief Wahoo to the showers.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com
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