Controversy
According to polling results published in Sports Illustrated, "Although most Native American activists and tribal leaders consider Indian team names and mascots offensive, neither Native Americans in general nor a cross section of U.S. sports fans agree." However, the article didn't discuss any polling specifically on the Chief Wahoo caricature. According to the article, "There is a near total disconnect between Indian activists and the Native American population on this issue." However, the results of the poll have been criticized by Native American activists due to Sports Illustrated's refusal to provide polling information. Among the questions raised are how "Indians" were found and contacted, if they were concentrated in urban areas or on reservations, if a small number of tribes were overrepresented, and the exact wording and order of the questions. However, in 2004, a poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania essentially confirmed the prior poll's findings about Native American sports team names, showing that 91% of the American Indians surveyed in the 48 states on the mainland USA found the name of Washington Redskins football team acceptable and setting out in detail the exact wording of the questions.
Chief Wahoo remains a prominent trademark for the Cleveland Indians, appearing on game-use uniform, caps and merchandise. During the 2007 post-season, the Christian Science Monitor ran an editorial deploring its continued use.
In 1997 the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, calling the use of Chief Wahoo "insulting and racially insensitive marketing," succeeded in pressuring various companies to stop using the logo. As a result of their efforts, Anheuser-Busch stopped using Chief Wahoo in their Ohio beer ads, and Denny's Restaurants banned its Ohio employees from wearing the logo to work.
In 2008, Major League Baseball introduced special caps with each team's cap logo woven into the "Stars and Stripes" that were worn during major American holidays. The Indians cap with Chief Wahoo emblazoned in stars and stripes caused some controversy. As a result, in 2009 MLB redesigned the Indians "Stars and Stripes" cap with a "C" logo replacing Chief Wahoo.
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