MLB Commissioner Can’t Hear Native Voices Over Atlanta’s Chop


“So there are people like me,” he said. “We say what the brave do is degrading. It facilitates the marginalization, traumatization and objectification of our communities.”

Welch’s evolution on the subject embodies its nuance. Like many Native Americans, he didn’t think twice about his love for the Washington Football Team and Atlanta’s professional baseball team while growing up. It was a family affair and he knew many families who felt similarly.

But then he became one of the few who left the tribe’s lands, went to college and never came back. From the outside, he saw everything differently. Now, he stubbornly opposes fake cheers, cartoonish team names, and mascots. sports at all levels.

Some Native American schools use images that are a relic of early 20th century assimilation efforts. Welch graduated from Cherokee High, nicknamed “The Braves.” He wants that nickname gone from his school, too.

The Eastern Band’s leadership took a different path.

Tribe chief Richard Sneed said he helped organize a cultural partnership after reaching out with the MLB team three years ago.

The tribe’s casino is a longtime corporate sponsor of the team, and he said the cultural partnership brings extra publicity to the tribe. He added that the team produced a video that tells the story of the Eastern Band and contributed approximately $30,000 to the tribe.

Sneed has no problem with the name, he sees it as a reflection of power, but keeps his eyes on the chops. “I don’t have a problem with people waving their arms, but all war chants, this is hockey,” he said. “I told them man, it’s like 1940s, 1950s spaghetti westerns.”



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