The only professional sports team still named “Indians” has so far resisted woke people on the warpath about their identity. The Indianapolis Indians, of the Class AAA International League, are certainly catching heat about their name though.
CEO Bruce Schumacher on Friday told the Indianapolis Star said that the top minor league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates has no plans to change the name it adopted in 1902. What’s more is that Brian Buchanan, chief of the Miami Nation of Indians, is backing the resistance to the weak, woke who are so easily offended by Indian nicknames.
“You take away the Indians name, you’re taking away part of our identity,” Buchanan stated.
The same cannot be said for the Cleveland Guardians of the American League, who were for so long known as the Indians. Also, the Washington Redskins caved to woke pressure and became the Commanders. There would no longer be any sports teams in the U.S. with Indian nicknames if the blubbering wokesters had their way.
Doubling down on the Indians keeping their proud namesake, Schumacher said Indianapolis plans to feature Miami tribe veterans during “Native American Heritage Night” at Victory Field. Less to its credit, the team also honors the native people who once owned the land where its stadium is located. Here’s the script that’s read before every home game.:
As we prepare Victory Field for today’s game, the Indianapolis Indians wish to acknowledge the Miami, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Delaware, Peoria, and Kickapoo peoples, on whose ancestral homelands this field was built. We honor these grounds and all indigenous people, who continue to reside in Indiana, and celebrate their resilience and strengths.
(That's a lot of tribes sharing the space needed for a single minor league baseball field ... Say, you don't suppose some Indians took the land from others, and then, in turn, had it taken from them ... ? Nah. Only whites would be that violent and covetous.)
The Indians team also offers scholarships for Miami students.
Libs certainly tried to get the team to fold its teepee and adopt a more innocuous name. There were the usual suspects who are easily offended by Indian nicknames. Indianapolis stood firm and rejected notions that its name and association with natives are negative.
As a matter of fact, Indy is the city of Indians, and Indiana is the ‘‘land of Indians,'” Schumacher pointed out. “It just became a matter, in our eyes, of doing it the right way. And who better to advise us on doing it the right way than the Miami Indians of Indiana. We want to be respectful, and we want to be authentic. You take away the Indians name, you’re taking away part of our identity.”
Buchanan confirmed his opinion that there is nothing offensive about the “Indians” nickname.:
That’s who we are. We are the Miami Indians of the state of Indiana. That’s part of our name. It’s about respect, it’s about dignity, it’s about recognition and the correct way to do it. If you put a drunken Indian out there or one that is looking all cartoonish, that’s wrong. If you’re going to portray an Indian that is not from this area, that’s wrong. You’re going to offend us. It’s all about how you do it.
Unlike the Ohio team that previously and pitifully collapsed in the face of pressure, the Indianapolis Indians will not succumb to woke pressure tactics. The Indians refuse to be cancelled, and they won’t be shamed into adopting a ridiculous, meaningless name like “Guardians.” Just to please some loud-mouthed loons who are in a distinct minority of polling on Indian nicknames.
