By: Sydney Glover
Halfway through the 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, the then-Cleveland Indians announced that their 106-year-old name would be no more and that they would be known as the Guardians going forward.[1] Team owner Paul Dolan explained that the social justice movements of 2020 catalyzed him to change the name, a move that Native American groups highlighted as a “major step towards righting the wrongs committed against Native peoples.”[2]
While the Guardians certainly received the most media coverage about their decision, they are not the only professional baseball team with a name rooted in Native American culture or appropriation.
The Spokane Indians, the High-A Affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, volunteered to abandon their team name in 2006 when they struggled to reconcile that name with the desire to be respectful toward the Native American community.[3] However, after continuing discussions with and receiving support from the Spokane Tribe, they have since maintained a powerful relationship.[4] They have collaborated to create educational opportunities for fans, including stadium exhibits and a first-of-its-kind jersey depicting the team name in Salish, the language of the local tribe.[5]
The Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, began considering a name change in 2020, but three years later announced they would keep it and partner with the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana.[6] Unlike the reaction to the Spokane partnership, however, some members of the Native community in Indiana made their condemnation of the name choice clear. While discussing the potential change, the National Congress of American Indians sent an email to team staff members with “facts concerning the harms caused by the continued use of Native ‘themed’ mascots in sports and popular culture.”[7] After the announcement of the new tribal partnership, Carolina Castoreno-Santana, executive director of the American Indian Center of Indiana, insinuated that the team’s partnership offer was denied by several other tribes before they finally found a willing collaborator in the Miami Nation of Indians.[8]
Opinions and reactions to the decisions have varied, and professional and amateur sports teams and schools at all levels have taken widely different stances when they have faced the same question of the appropriateness of their names. In the case of Colorado, the state legislature has stepped in to force public schools to make similar determinations.
SB21-116 prohibits “the use of American Indian mascots by public schools…and public institutions of higher education” unless the school had a prior existing relationship or agreement with a federally recognized tribe.[9] While the statute covers a large swath of educational institutions and their sports teams, no law regulates the naming of professional sports teams in the same way. Leagues could proactively create rules that require teams to follow provisions similar to SB21-116, meaning they could only use a name related to the Native American community if they had a preexisting or developing relationship with tribe approval.[10] Otherwise, they would have to rebrand to a different name.[11]
One of the biggest fears over a rebrand is the cost. School districts in Colorado requested financial assistance for their efforts, estimating that the cost would exceed $200,000 to replace items like sports uniforms and equipment.[12] Understanding that the schools needed support, Colorado has provided funds to support schools in their transitions.[13]
Professional sports teams—and even some major college athletic departments—on the other hand are worth many millions, if not billions, of dollars.[14] They have funds available to implement rebranding in an efficient, structured manner. Additionally, the publicity of professional sports teams or major college teams can create strong educational opportunities for fans. If they did decide to change their name, they would not have the same budgetary hurdles as public schools.
Extending requirements similar to those of SB21-116 to professional sports and major colleges across the country would not be infeasible. Florida State University has had an on-going relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida for decades, strengthened by a 2005 resolution from the tribe’s elected council.[15] Major League Soccer’s San Diego FC (Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation) and the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Connecticut Sun (Mohegan Tribe) are owned by Native American tribes.[16] As seen above with the Guardians, the conversation around the appropriateness of such team names has changed in recent years, and the development of relationships between local tribes and sports teams also seems to increase year over year.[17] The influence of Native voices in the professional sports community is growing rapidly.
Statutes or league rules similar to SB21-116 could create a more inclusive and educated fan base. With all that communities invest in major sports teams, it is reasonable to expect those that continue to derive their names from Native American peoples to proactively develop relationships with those communities as well.
[1] Tom Withers, Guardians chosen as new name for Cleveland’s baseball team, APNews (July 23, 2021, 2:34 PM), https://apnews.com/[https://perma.cc/CC2U-UVE6].
[2] Id.
[3] David Waldstein, Why One Team Named the Indians Won’t Be Changing Its Name, New York Times (Aug. 3, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/[https://perma.cc/W898-26BR].
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Cheyne Reiter, Statement from the Indianapolis Indians, MiLB (July 28, 2020), https://www.milb.com/[ https://perma.cc/SPR3-WWHM]; Cheyne Reiter, Indianapolis Indians to Begin Partnership with Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana, MiLB (Feb. 22, 2023), https://www.milb.com/[https://perma.cc/GW9X-QQ4W].
[7] Michael McCleary, Indianapolis Indians to explore ‘appropriateness’ of team name, IndyStar (July 28, 2020), https://www.indystar.com/[https://perma.cc/XKU4-Q9PU].
[8] Id.
[9] 22 C.R.S. § 1-133.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Marianne Goodland, American Indian mascot lawsuit may be headed for quick decision, Colorado Politics (Dec. 1, 2021), https://www.coloradopolitics.com/[https://perma.cc/9XZZ-8E9K].
[13] 22 C.R.S. § 1-133.
[14] Jon Hoefling, Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams, USAToday (Dec. 12, 2024, 6:41 PM), https://www.usatoday.com/[https://perma.cc/4PJH-BHTB] (valuing the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys as the wealthiest team in the world at $10.1 billion0.
[15] Top Things To Know: Evolution of Relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Florida State University, https://www.fsu.edu/[https://perma.cc/N3YS-6KEN].
[16] Alex Silverman, ‘A Partnership Built in Heaven’, Sports Business Journal (Feb. 17, 2025), https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/[https://perma.cc/TW9T-UPX7].
[17] See Juan Ysaguirre, SRPMIC Hits a Home Run with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Native American Recognition Day, O’odham Action News (July 11, 2024), https://oan.srpmic-nsn.gov/[https://perma.cc/QC2S-UQ7G].
