Triple-A Indianapolis Indians Will Keep Name Despite Attacks from Woke Activists

The Triple-A team Indianapolis Indians has decided to keep their team name after pressure from woke activists sent the team on a two-year campaign to look into claims its name was offensive and racist.

On Friday, CEO Bruce Schumacher told the Indianapolis Star said that the minor league team will keep the name it has had since 1902 and cited the support of Chief Brian Buchanan of the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana with the decision.

Schumacher also said that the team would feature recognition of Miami veterans during Native American Heritage Night at Victory Field, a Miami scholarship program, and make a formal proclamation about land acknowledgment ahead of each 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,” the land acknowledgment statement reads according to the paper. “We honor these grounds and all indigenous people, who continue to reside in Indiana, and celebrate their resilience and strengths.”

Schumacher acknowledged that he heard from many people who claim the team name is offensive. Still, in the end, he decided that the team’s affirmation of respect for local native Americans was enough to negate any negative consequences over the name.

“It is appropriate, being from the city of Indianapolis, ‘the city of Indians,’ and Indiana being the ‘land of Indians,'” Schumacher said. “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,” Buchanan exclaimed, “you’re taking away part of our identity.”

Indeed, Chief Brian Buchanan claimed that he was “totally appalled” that people wanted the team to dump his name, and he insisted that the team has done much to help local Native Americans.

“Everyone agreed this organization has done everything that’s supposed to be done when you are going down this path and they’ve been so respectful in every aspect,” Buchanan told the paper. “Contacting us, that was the first thing that was major. And being able to listen and not have closed ears and eyes shut.”

Buchanan added that “Indians” is not offensive.

“That’s who we are. We are the Miami Indians of the state of Indiana. That’s part of our name,” Buchanan added. “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.”

Others disagreed. One local activist claimed that the team ignored her complaints and teamed with Buchanan because he agreed with them.

“What they have done is they have ran through any recognized tribe or legitimate organization until they have gotten to somebody who has given them an answer they wanted to hear,” said Carolina A. Castoreno, executive director of the American Indian Center of Indiana.

Schumacher, though, disputed that claim. He says they talked to dozens of Native American people, scholars, and groups during their research period.

“We look forward to using our platform to educate our fans by acknowledging, uplifting and honoring those upon whose ancestral lands Victory Field is built,” Schumacher said.

The Indianapolis Indians are far from the only sports team to be pressured by woke activists to dump their names of longstanding. In one case, the former Washington Redskins bowed to pressure to dump their name. But in another, the Atlanta Braves decided not to acquiesce to the activists.

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