One of the many serious issues in the modern world is sports team’s names that refer to Native Americans. Or, at least, the offense that people may or may not be taking from these logos. Many Native Americans do take offense to these, but some of them are speaking for the ones who do not. Names like Redskins, Washington D.C.’s NFL team, and Blackhawks, Chicago’s NHL team, and Indians, Cleveland’s MLB are becoming more and more controversial. But, just because a few people are offended, does that really mean we have to change them?
The Washington Redskins. This whole problem was caused by their name and logo, but wouldn’t it be shocking to know that both the logo and the name were made up by a Native American? Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, once leader of the Blackfeet tribe, gave the idea to the NFL team to use. According to www.sportsteamhistory.com, in 2014, Wetzel's son Don commented on the issue that, “It needs to be said that an Indian from the State of Montana created the Redskins logo, and did it the right way. It represents the Red Nation, and it's something to be proud of.” It isn’t something to be ashamed of, it’s what you should be proud of.

The National Hockey League, and Chicago, are both home to the Windy City’s favorite hockey team, the Chicago Blackhawks. Many might find the name offensive, but really, the hockey team was named indirectly  after the Sauk Chief, Black Hawk. A quote from the Blackhawks states: "Through a genuine and ongoing dialogue we continue to learn about the needs of the native people in our community, display a reverence for their culture and their traditions, and understand the need for constant communication regarding the use and the depiction of native marks." According to the Chicago Tribune, Andrew Johnson of the American Indian Center of Chicago, which has formed close ties with the Blackhawks in recent years, said the center has checked with the tribes and they had no objection to the team’s name and logo.

And now, the most stereotypical team of all, The Cleveland Indians. Many people are offended by Cleveland’s MLB logo, “Chief Wahoo”, and that is very understandable. It is a cartoonish peering Native American with a stereotypical headdress with the feather sticking out at the end. Even that logo was created after an Indian baseball player of the then Cleveland Spiders, Sockalexis. When they thought of the name, they clearly had Sockalexis in mind. He was, after all, an Indian, and a great baseball player for the Spiders. So, the Spiders turned into the Indians, named after the Cleveland great of 1914.

So now, isn’t this proof that only some take offense to these logos? So when Blackhawks, Indians and Washington Redskins fans show up at to the game in their headdresses, they are not meaning to offend Native Americans, but embracing their team and the history behind the name.