Exeter Chiefs are to end their Native American-themed branding at the end of the season after criticism and pressure from the Native American community.
The club will keep their ‘Chiefs’ nickname but will remove their Native American imagery and replace it with a new logo inspired by the Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe.
Exeter announced their new direction through a video released on their social media channels that is titled ‘Our History, Our Future’, narrated by director of rugby Rob Baxter.
Club chairman and chief executive Tony Rowe said in a statement: “We are excited to welcome in the next era of rugby within Exeter.
“Exeter has and always will be the most important term in our overall identity. The term Chiefs, however, is equally entrenched in our make-up, going back to over a century ago when teams in this region would regularly call their first teams that of the Chiefs.
“As a rugby club we have been willing to listen, we have consulted far and wide, and now we are ready to invoke change.
“This is a new direction for our great club, but equally it’s an exciting vision that I’ve no doubt will propel us onwards and upwards over time.
“Our new imagery will bring to life the pride our supporters have to support their club, unifying us all under one brand that underlines all of our core traditions.”
Wasps published a statement in October urging Premiership Rugby to take action over Chiefs fans wearing headdresses at games.
A number of clubs including Glasgow Warriors and Bath have asked visiting Exeter fans not to wear Native-American themed headdresses after criticism of the club’s branding by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).
In a letter to Rowe, NCAI CEO Dante Desiderio outlined the harm the club were causing by promoting the Native American theme.
He said: “Since 1968, the NCAI has worked to educate schools, sports teams and leagues, and the general public about Indian Country’s broad and longstanding opposition to this practice, and the deep and well-documented harms that the stereotypical and dehumanizing monikers, symbols, imagery, and fan behaviors (sic) associated with Native “themed” mascot branding cause Native people, particularly Native youth.
“We are writing to inform you that our objections extend to the branding employed by the Exeter “Chiefs”, specifically the logo, the venue names (e.g. the “Mohawk Bar”), the headdresses, and other uses of Native “themed” collateral. The NCAI requests your support to retire all of the Native “themed” imagery associated with the mascot branding of the Exeter “Chiefs” Rugby Club.”
After pressure from the Native American community in the United States, Washington’s American football team chose to drop their Redskins name and logo, while Cleveland’s baseball team changed its nickname from the Indians to the Guardians.
Written by Ben Jaycock
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