Cherokee Nation chief tells Jeep to stop naming cars after tribe
"It does not honor us by having our name plastered on the side of a car," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said
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Cherokee people want Jeep Cherokee renamed
- Thread starter vchimpanzee
- Start date
www.cbsnews.com
Here we go again.
I am a native American but not a Native American. There is a distinct difference. The fact is that Indian names of all types, chiefs, tribal names and others, proliferate the USA (and all of North America). Cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, sports teams and more cars than just Jeep have Indian names. If we were to change or remove every Indian name from wherever it is currently used we would have a monumental task and sow decades of legal confusion.
I know that most of these names were used to acknowledge or honor people of note or their geographical presence. Most of Arizona's 15 counties are not named for "white" politicians or early settlers but rather local Indian tribes. While the US didn't necessarily welcome or treat those tribes with the respect and dignity they deserved they at least kept much of their heritage alive with the use of their names.
I really fail to see how the Jeep Cherokee disrespects the Indian population any more than Cadillac, Indian motorcycles or thousands of other uses.
I am a native American but not a Native American. There is a distinct difference. The fact is that Indian names of all types, chiefs, tribal names and others, proliferate the USA (and all of North America). Cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, sports teams and more cars than just Jeep have Indian names. If we were to change or remove every Indian name from wherever it is currently used we would have a monumental task and sow decades of legal confusion.
I know that most of these names were used to acknowledge or honor people of note or their geographical presence. Most of Arizona's 15 counties are not named for "white" politicians or early settlers but rather local Indian tribes. While the US didn't necessarily welcome or treat those tribes with the respect and dignity they deserved they at least kept much of their heritage alive with the use of their names.
I really fail to see how the Jeep Cherokee disrespects the Indian population any more than Cadillac, Indian motorcycles or thousands of other uses.
BTST (by the same token), I fail to see how the Washington Redskins disrespected Indians to such an extent that the Redskins had to become the Washington Football Team.
There's a bit of a difference here from things like Indian motorcycles or the Cleveland Indians (or Atlanta Braves, Washington Redskins, etc.).
This is the Cherokee tribe (official) saying "that's our name, and we don't want you using it to sell SUVs anymore." I get that. I went to college at Central Michigan University. The Chippewas. Was the tribe initially consulted on the mascot/name? No, but in recent years the tribe (which was local to the area) sat down with the University, hammered out an agreement, and said "okay, you can call yourself Chippewas."
If you're going to name your team or your product after a tribe that's owned the name for centuries, then yeah...you should ask for permission or their blessing, even if it's long after the fact. If they say no, then respect that.
I can understand the name "Redskins" not being popular because it was used in the beginning as a slur but the other nicknames were not.
So, how did the university come to terms with the tribe?
New Mexico and Arizona have the largest Native American reservation in the USA. They also host a bunch of businesses with "Navajo" in the name. I have yet to hear about that tribe demanding their name be stricken from other uses. Does it mean the use of "Navajo" on the side of an 18-wheeler or pipe tobacco means more or less than the name of a local sports team? And what about all the cities and counties named after local Native American tribes?
Also, consider that the "americanized" names we gave the tribes are not their actual names. For instance, what we long called the Pima Indians they call themselves "Akimel O'odham".
Does that also apply to me? I am an American. Do I demand the Rochester hockey team change its name? Some of those guys are from Canada after all. Very demeaning.
Exactly, it's not about political correctness. It's about branding. You'd be surprised how many companies use the word "Cherokee" in their name. Over 40 companies listed in the trademark database. Only one of them is the tribe.
Then again, why not offer a payment in exchange for the use of the name. Seems fair enough. Find out if they're serious.
They didn't have to become the WFT; they just wanted to get the branding operation up to speed
K
kf4rca
Guest
Perhaps they should take a vote.
I wonder how many Cherokee (descent) people actually drive Cherokees? That name has been used on vehicles going back to 1974 under AMC. Seems to me they should have objected long ago if it was a problem!
I wonder how many Cherokee (descent) people actually drive Cherokees? That name has been used on vehicles going back to 1974 under AMC. Seems to me they should have objected long ago if it was a problem!
The vehicle of choice among Native American people is a pickup truck. Although there might be some Jeeps in use on reservations I can't recall ever seeing one.
Half of our area around Palm Springs is owned by Native Americans, and I seldom see the folks who can be positively identified as such in pickup trucks. I think you are generalizing. I had the same experience in Prescott, as well.
Of course, how do you know a person is Native American and not Hispanic or even of certain Pacific Island and Asian nations?
K
kenglish
Guest
Wait'll my people take back the name "Creek". 😃
To divert briefly to radio, do Native Americans overindex or underindex for any particular musical formats? There are few Native American performers getting exposure in any genre, so I would expect a broad sampling of age-appropriate genres, rather than leaning rock, leaning rhythmic, leaning country, etc. Or do they underindex for radio itself as a medium?
It's an interesting question. In fact The Navajo Nation owns a radio station KTNN, and they program it on their reservation. It's primarily a country format but they also play a lot of Navajo tribal music and broadcast from a lot of events on the reservation. There is also KOJB in Minnesota, owned by the Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwa. It's more of a traditional non-commercial news & public affairs station.
Reservation casinos are a license to print money so long as the state they're in doesn't legalize commercial casino gambling, or if the reservation casinos are close to state lines and casinos of any kind spring up on those borders. Eastern Connecticut's two tribal casinos were seeing visits and money bet decline sharply even before the pandemic as casinos in Boston, Springfield and New York siphoned off thousands of regular visitors from those lucrative markets.
Does Cher count? One of her hit songs, I believe, describes her heritage, but it's an offensive term I probably shouldn't use here.
Some years ago at the Gay Dolphin in Myrtle Beach SC there were recordings of what sounded like a mix of rap and tribal music.
If you've never heard of the Gay Dolphin, it's a store that sells everything you could possibly imagine.
If you're talking about the song "Half Breed", that was referring to Cher's one quarter Cherokee heritage on her mother's side. Cher didn't write the song. It was actually written by Mary Dean, who also wrote Gypsies Tramps and Thieves.
In my younger days I did a bunch of motorcycle riding on AZ and NM reservations. A few of my co-riders were Rez citizens. My observations originated from these rides.
Also, the SoCal reservations are leagues smaller than the reservations in AZ and NM. Most of the inhabitants here live miles off the main highways - very unlike SoCal.
Only a quarter? So is that enough?
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