Sundance is an
American Indian civil rights activist. He is perhaps best known for being one of several prominent American Indians to spearhead the movement against the use of
Native American imagery as sports mascots.
Early life
Sundance is a member of the
Muscogee people, a tribe of Native American people formerly living in the
southeastern woodlands.
Career
Sundance is the director of the
Cleveland branch of the
American Indian Movement (AIM).
Cleveland AIM is a member branch of the American Indian Movement Confederation of Autonomous Chapters.
Activism
Sundance was active in changing the team name of Cleveland Baseball and repeatedly voiced his opposition against the use of
Chief Wahoo
Chief Wahoo is a logo that was used by the Cleveland Indians, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1951 to 2018.
As part of the larger Native American mascot controversy, the logo drew criticism from Native ...
as the mascot for the city's baseball team, the
Cleveland Indians.
He has protested the team's use of the controversial mascot since 2007.
"We want the logo gone. We want the team name changed," he said. "You can't do one without the other. There is this propaganda around Cleveland that somehow they are honoring us by having a team named the Indians and the Wahoo logo. So the tide is turning, the wind is changing. They feel that perhaps the Wahoo logo is not honoring us, but somehow the team name is and they haven't listened to the message."
Sundance also described the argument in the backdrop of the historical context in which these images are used, and the perceptions that are evoked as a result. "This behavior is exploitative, bigoted, racist and shameful," Sundance told the ''Cleveland Plain Dealer''. "It makes fun of genocide and mocks mass murder. The logo is just the head of an Indian. That means he is an ex-Indian. This has been going on for more than 50 years. I hope it does not continue for another 50."
Before his participation in protests on the national level began, Sundance worked on the issue at the local level. Shortly after moving to
Oberlin Oberlin may refer to:
; Places in the United States
* Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas
** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township
* Oberlin, Louisiana, a town
* Oberlin, Ohio, a city
* Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town
* Oberlin, ...
, Sundance discovered the local high school,
Oberlin High School, used a Native American emblem as the school's mascot.
He petitioned the local school board in order to convince them to adopt another mascot, in spite of opposition which argued in favor of the mascot's "insignificance".
Although several discussions took place before the final decision was rendered, in 2007, the school officially decided to change its mascot and team name, going from the Oberlin Indians to the Oberlin Phoenix.
References
External links
Cleveland American Indian Movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundance
20th-century Native Americans
Native American activists
Members of the American Indian Movement
Muscogee people
Native American people from Ohio
People from Oberlin, Ohio
Activists from Ohio
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Native Americans