Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw backs petition calling on Exeter Chiefs to drop 'racist imagery'
The English Premiership's leading club, Exeter Chiefs, is facing renewed calls from a section of its own supporter base and the city's MP to drop its Native American branding and imagery.
Exeter Chiefs for Change, who describe themselves as 'Exeter Chiefs fans', have launched a petition.
It has so far gained almost 900 signatories towards its target of 1,000.
Exeter Rugby Club changed its name to Exeter Chiefs in 1999 - something the petition does not want to be altered.
It reads: "The club doesn’t even need to change its name - Exeter Chiefs could refer to the Celtic Chiefs who inhabited the city and contributed to its rich and diverse history. It is the imagery that must change.
"There is huge potential for the club to seize the positivity around the BLM movement, to take ownership of a branding decision that is now very clearly on the wrong side of history. There’s no need to change the name just the logo."
Exeter MP Mr Bradshaw is among many to have tweeted out a link to the petition, which continues: "The stylised Native American Chief on the club’s crest, the 'Big Chief' mascot, the headdresses and tomahawks adorning the supporters, and the 'Tomahawk Chop' chant are all examples of cultural appropriation of the Native American peoples who were all but wiped out by white European settlers and who still suffer extreme examples of racial prejudice today, across the world."
Devon-based academic Dr Stephanie Pratt is a member of the Crow Creek Dakota (Sioux) tribe and a former Cultural Ambassador for her Tribal Council, as well as former associate professor at Plymouth University.
She says: "I'm not saying that people should not have fun, it is just that particular way of showing Native American Indians is very offensive.
"I think it could be a way forward if the Chiefs were able to consult with some of the other teams to look at the ways they can come up with a new way of handling this, by having that branding but not using it an offensive way.
"It is about the dignity of the indigenous cultures and communities, rather than running around with tomahawks."
Exeter Chiefs declined to comment on the issue.
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