Protesters at Progressive Field, Opening Day, 2014 Credit: Sam Allard / Scene
Anti-Wahoo protesters gathered last night before the Indians v. Diamondbacks game at Chase Field in Phoenix. Organized by Kristy Blackhorse and the group Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, the protest was similar in tone and content to the opening day protests which have been a staple of Cleveland professional baseball for decades.

Blackhorse’s sister is Amanda Blackhorse, who filed the successful law suit which last week stripped the federal trademark rights for the Washington Redskins. 

At Chase Field, the Arizona Republic got a hold of a few Cleveland fans, who reiterated the prominent delusional local view that Chief Wahoo is a positive symbol which honors native peoples.

“[Wahoo is] a positive figure,”  one fan told the paper. “People in Cleveland feel it’s a tribe, like a community. It’s not supposed to be something negative.”

Meantime, a local American Indian group intends to file a major suit against the Cleveland Indians by late July. Members feel that Chief Wahoo is a racist, dehumanizing caricature.  

Only other thing worth noting is that in Arizona, folks pronounce “Wahoo” with emphasis on the second syllable. wa-HOO. Ample video evidence below: 

This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2014.

Sam Allard is a former senior writer at Scene.

4 replies on “#WahooWatch: Protests in Arizona as Tribe Takes on Diamondbacks”

  3. What could be more American than a good, old-fashioned protest of another American’s conduct, if you think it is bad?

    What could be less American than our government telling you that it is taking your property rights away because you say things some people find offensive?

  4. Chief Wa-WHO? That made me laugh…

    And if they can’t pronounce it properly, don’t even live here, and can avoid freezing their asses off and/or having to hide in the house for half the year…WTF do they really have to bitch about?

    Wa-WHO…that killed me…how many of these bandwagon jumpers have ever been to Cleveland?

    Chuckles the Clown

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