Paul Lumley
Lumley is executive director of the Native American Youth and Family Center. He lives in Portland.
The Portland Winterhawks junior hockey team recently dropped the Native American logo they’ve used for decades for a fresh new look. The team’s decision to retire the Native logo is cause for celebration after years of efforts by the Native community and our allies. This victory is a community-wide victory.
At times, it seemed we would never get to this point. Despite repeated efforts for well more than a decade and requests from my organization and others, the team’s leadership consistently maintained that the logo – featuring a cartoonish Native man in a headdress and face paint – was somehow honoring Native heritage as opposed to the reality that it mocks it.
But we kept at it. Encouraged by social justice changes nationally, the Portland Indian Leaders Roundtable asked that I send a letter to the Winterhawks last summer asking for dialogue about retiring the racist logo. We received no response. Last October 12, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Native American Youth and Family Center launched efforts targeting the Portland Winterhawks leadership and asking them to drop the logo and mascot. We garnered 4,284 signatures and worked with the support of 46 social justice organizations and their respective leaders to apply pressure until the team agreed to engage in discussion. On February 25, we delivered the petition to the Winterhawks sponsors asking them to suspend their sponsorship until the Winterhawks changed their logo. This got the attention of Winterhawks leadership and productive dialogue began.
I proposed that the team collaborate with the local Native community to form key and lasting relationships – much like the Seattle Seahawks NFL team has done in its community. Discussions were encouraging, but all dialogue with the Winterhawks abruptly ended in June. During the recent unveiling of the new Winterhawks logo, the new owners of the Winterhawks have avoided all mention of their former racist logo.
It’s important to understand why logos like the Winterhawks’ Native caricature are not harmless, but in fact cause real pain. Four years ago, there were three Native American employees who worked at Memorial Coliseum where the hockey team plays. They endured constant displays of overt discrimination – from tomahawk chops to slurs, which were openly tolerated or even encouraged as a show of fandom. One of those employees was my spouse. I can assure you from direct experience that there is so much more to this than just a logo. People are harmed. Families are harmed. Children are harmed.
Indigenous activists across the nation have worked tirelessly to get sports teams to make amends for the racist characterization of Indigenous peoples. As we work to dismantle these systems of oppression, our country’s collective consciousness is growing around how misrepresentation of minoritized communities leads to real-life implications that can have detrimental impacts on our people. According to the American Psychological Association, “the continued use of American Indian mascots, symbols, and images have not only negatively impacted American Indian youth by harming their self-esteem and social identity development but can also have detrimental effects on the education of all community members by perpetuating one-sided stereotypes.”
Beyond the changing of a racist logo for one that features a hawk with white feathers and an outline of Mount Hood, the Native community is thrilled to see our cultures and traditions acknowledged by dominant society. Colonization, racism, and oppression have plagued our nation since 1492. We applaud the Winterhawks for finally making the right decision and welcome the opportunity for true healing, reflection and a future filled with authentic partnership.
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July 21, 2021 at 05:16PM
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Opinion: Winterhawks logo change represents a chance for healing, partnership - OregonLive
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