The national grassroots Change the Mascot campaign, led by the Oneida Indian Nation, praised the July 23 decision to change the Cleveland Indians’ Major League Baseball (MLB) name to the Guardians.
Cleveland has been known as the Indians since 1915, but announced the name change with a video on Twitter narrated by actor Tom Hanks. Spurred on by the social unrest ignited by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the change to the club’s name comes after months of internal discussion and debate over more than 1,200 potential choices.
Oneida Nation representative and leader of the Change the Mascot campaign Ray Halbritter today commended the team for taking a positive step towards a new era of inclusivity and mutual respect. “This has been many years in the making, and we are pleased to watch professional sports organizations move forward to make change. It’s a welcome development toward showing respect for Native people. The Cleveland baseball team and the Washington football team are choosing to stand on the right side of history and demonstrating that long-standing traditions denigrating Native Americans can give way toward positive ways forward.”
— Oneida Indian Nation