The Exeter Chiefs will end Native American-themed branding in the summer.
After criticisms of the club’s continued use Native American imagery, they announced last year that they were reviewing their branding.
Exeter will retain their ‘Chiefs” nickname, but will now use imagery from Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe.
Tony Rowe, chairman and chief executive of Exeter Rugby Club, released a statement stating that he was excited to welcome the new era of rugby in Exeter.
“Exeter has been and will continue to be the most important term within our overall identity. Rowe said that the term Chiefs is also deeply ingrained in our identity. It dates back to more than a century ago, when teams in this area would call their first teams “the Chiefs”.
“As rugby clubs, we have been open to listening. We have consulted all over the world and are now ready to incite change.”
‘Dehumanising stereotypes’
Many clubs have asked Exeter fans to visit their clubs. not to wear Native American-themed headdressesAfter being criticized by the National Congress of American Indians, (NCAI), the club’s branding was changed.
Dante Desiderio was the chief executive of the NCAI in October. He stated: “Native-themed mascot imagery, and the dehumanizing stereotypes it perpetuates must go.”
Initial criticism of the club’s branding was directed at the Native American depicted on the club’s emblem. In 2020, it will also include places such as the “Wigwam” and “Campfire Grill” in Sandy Park. a petition by some fans.
Exeter was at that time determined to drop their mascot ‘Big Chief’But they will retain their branding.
The American football team of Washington is the best in America. dropped their controversial Redskins name and logo,While Cleveland’s baseball team changed its name from the Indians to the Guardians.
Exeter’s new imagery was created by the Dumnonii tribe. The club says that they were based in Devon, Cornwall, and parts Somerset for “many hundred of years prior to the Roman occupation starting at AD43”.
Exeter said that historians at that time believed that people lived in small kingdoms called ‘chiefdoms’ and were ruled by high chieftains. This provided a link to the term Chiefs’.
