Chief Wahoo is a logo that was used by the Cleveland Indians, a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1951 to 2018.

As part of the larger Native American mascot controversy, the logo drew criticism from Native Americans, social scientists, and religious and educational groups, but was popular among fans of the team. During the 2010s, it was gradually replaced by a block "C", which became the primary logo in 2013. Chief Wahoo was officially retired following the 2018 season, with it also being barred from future National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum plaques and merchandise sold outside of Ohio.

History

In 1932, the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer featured a cartoon by Fred George Reinert that used a caricatured Native American character with a definite resemblance to the later Chief Wahoo as a stand-in for the Cleveland Indians winning an important victory. The character came to be called "The Little Indian", eventually becoming a fixture in the paper's coverage of the team, including a small front-page visual box where his head would peek out to announce the outcome of the latest game. Journalist George Condon would write in 1972, "When the baseball club decided to adopt an Indian caricature as its official symbol, it hired an artist to draw a little guy who came very close to Reinert's creation; a blood brother, unquestionably."

The Cleveland Indians logo from 1946–1950

In 1947, Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck hired the J.F. Novak Company, designers of patches worn by the Cleveland police and fire departments, to create a new logo for his team. Seventeen-year-old draftsman Walter Goldbach, an employee of the Novak Company, was asked to perform the job. Tasked with creating a mascot that "would convey a spirit of pure joy and unbridled enthusiasm", he created a smiling face with yellow skin and a prominent nose Goldbach has said that he had difficulty "figuring out how to make an Indian look like a cartoon", and that he was probably influenced by the cartoon style that was popular at the time.

How the name "Chief Wahoo" came to be used to refer to the Indians' mascot is less clear. The phrase "Chief Wahoo" had already been used for years before its use as a reference to the logo; a popular newspaper comic strip called Big Chief Wahoo ran from 1936 to 1947.

One questionable origin myth indicates that the names "Indians" and "Chief Wahoo" were meant to honor Louis Sockalexis, an outfielder for the Indians' predecessors the Cleveland Spiders and one of the first Native Americans to play Major League Baseball. The Penobscot, Sockalexis' tribe, petitioned the Cleveland Indians to discontinue the use of Chief Wahoo.

Another Native American baseball player, Allie Reynolds, pitched for the Indians for five years beginning in 1942, mostly as a starter. He was later traded to the New York Yankees. On October 6, 1950, the Plain Dealer, under the title of “Chief Wahoo Whizzing”, stated “Allie (Chief Wahoo) Reynolds, the copper-skinned Creek” lost to Philadelphia, but “in the clutches, though, the Chief was a standup gent—tougher than Sitting Bull.” In subsequent articles, Reynolds was again called “Chief Wahoo”, “old Wahoo”, and just plain “Wahoo”.

In 1952, for the first time, “Chief Wahoo” was given as the name for the Indians’ physical mascot, when a person in a Wahoo costume showed up for a children's party at Public Hall given by “Cleveland’s dentists.” Sportswriters eventually took to calling the unnamed character "Chief Wahoo". Goldbach has said that the logo's moniker is inaccurate. Quoting a child he met while talking at a school, Goldbach explained in a 2008 interview, "He's not a chief, he's a brave. He only has one feather. Chiefs have full headdresses."

In 1951, the mascot was redesigned with a smaller nose and red skin instead of yellow skin. This red skin logo also appeared in 1948 and 1949. It has remained in use ever since, with only minor changes to the design. In the 1950s, the logo had black outlines and red skin; today the logo has blue lines and red skin. After its introduction, the face of the 1951 logo was incorporated into other, full-body depictions of the character.

Ohio sportswriter Terry Pluto has described comics of Chief Wahoo that would run on the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the 1950s, with the character's depiction signifying the outcome of yesterday's game. Wins were illustrated by Chief Wahoo holding a lantern in one hand and extending the index finger on his other. Losses were illustrated by a "battered" Chief Wahoo, complete with black eye, missing teeth, and crumpled feathers.

The Chief Wahoo logo was last worn by the Indians in a loss to the Houston Astros on October 8, 2018, in the 2018 American League Division Series. News outlets noted the irony of the logo's final appearance being on Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day.

Later variations

By 1973, when Cleveland businessman Nick Mileti bought the baseball team, the team had introduced additional depictions of Chief Wahoo, some of which showed the character at bat. Mileti hired a designer named Leonard Benner to modify an existing at-bat design for use as a logo. Several changes were made: Wahoo's nose was made smaller, his body thinner, and he was now drawn as a right-handed batter instead of left-handed. Overall, however, the design of Chief Wahoo remained largely similar to the previous version. These modifications, however, heralded other changes to the team's use of Indian-themed imagery, such as the removal of a teepee from the outfield area. The 1973 logo is no longer used by the team.

When Cleveland Municipal Stadium installed a new computer-programmed monocolor scoreboard in 1977, newspaper articles described how it could display animated depictions of Chief Wahoo yelling "Charge!" By the 1978 season home runs were celebrated with fireworks and a scoreboard animation of Chief Wahoo dancing. The complete package of commissioned animations included an arrow skewering two players to signify a double-play.

During his tenure as President of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, Peter Bavasi asked players how the team's uniforms should look. Bavasi has described Joe Carter and Pat Tabler suggesting that Chief Wahoo be added to the hats, with Tabler predicting that it would "sell like crazy". Bavasi recalls expressing concern that it would offend Native American groups, but that player Bert Blyleven reassured him, "Nah, it shouldn't. Really looks like [manager] Phil Seghi." Blyleven made a similar remark to Sports Illustrated, and the magazine described the resemblance as "uncanny". Tabler's prediction was ultimately borne out, with hat sales increasing significantly after the reintroduction of Chief Wahoo. The revised hat design has been described as a change "in keeping with Major League Baseball's trend toward 'old-style' simulacra."

Around the time Bavasi added Chief Wahoo to the team's hats in 1986, he also banned "derogatory" banners at the stadium. The elimination of references to Cleveland on the uniforms, including replacing the old style hats with Chief Wahoo, led to speculation that the team might be moved to another city ("Cleveland" was omitted on road jerseys from 1972-77 and 1983-88; from 1978-82, the city name was on the road grays, but the team often wore navy jerseys with the team name instead of the city name for many road games).

Move to Jacobs Field

In 1994, the Indians moved from the Cleveland Municipal Stadium to Jacobs Field (later renamed Progressive Field). The team considered replacing the logo in 1993, but it was ultimately retained. Several years later, the Associated Press reported that the Chief Wahoo debate had not hurt the team's souvenir sales, which at the time were better than those of any other team in the league.

Merchandise and promotional tie-ins

One early piece of Chief Wahoo merchandise depicts a squatting Native American figure holding a stone tool in one hand and a scalp in the other. Produced in 1949 by Rempel Manufacturing, Inc., of Akron, Ohio, the rubber Indian figure (marketed as "Big Chief Erie") was based on an original sketch by Cleveland Plain Dealer cartoonist Fred G. Reinert.

When Major League Baseball released a line of hats fashioned to resemble team mascots, a writer for Yahoo! Sports observed that the league had "wisely passed over fashioning Chief Wahoo into a polyester conversation piece". Although Chief Wahoo was the logo for the Cleveland Indians, the official team mascot is a character named Slider. Major League Baseball does in fact sell a hat shaped to resemble Slider, who himself wears a Chief Wahoo hat.

The Cleveland Indians have also sold Chief Wahoo bobblehead dolls.

A 1999 editorial reported annual revenue of $1.5 million from sales of licensed merchandise, and $15 million from sales at official team shops. An interview subject in a 2006 documentary on Chief Wahoo estimated that the logo brings in over $20 million per year.

As part of the Native American mascot controversy, Chief Wahoo has drawn particular criticism. However, the use of "Indians" as the name of a team is also part of the controversy that has led over 115 professional organizations representing civil rights, educational, athletic, and scientific experts to publish resolutions or policies that state that any use of Native American names or symbols by non-native sports teams is a harmful form of ethnic stereotyping that promotes misunderstanding and prejudice and contribute to other problems faced by Native Americans.

Opponents have been protesting and taking other actions against the name and logo since the 1970s. The team owners and management have defended their use as having no intent to offend, but rather to honor Native Americans, upholding many fans' beliefs and continued support. However, the use of Chief Wahoo was de-emphasized in favor of alternate logos. The logo was subsequently retired after the Indians' 2018 season, and "is no longer appropriate for on-field use", according to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. However, as to maintain their trademarks on the logo, along with the words 'Tribe' and 'Wahoo', and prevent their dilution, the team continues to sell limited merchandise with Chief Wahoo, only in its physical team store.

Chief Wahoo was also not featured on the playing field when the Cleveland Indians hosted the 2019 All-Star Game.

(Wikipedia)