INDIANAPOLIS — With news that the Cleveland Indians will be dropping its nickname, 13News reached out to the Indianapolis Indians for its stance.
The team released a short statement Monday afternoon:
“Our committee has been gathering information from stakeholders and continues to meet. This is an important and extensive evaluation process for us.”
In July, the Indianapolis Indians formed a committee to explore a name change.
A statement from the team at that time read in part:
"Knowing that the appropriateness of our team name is being questioned, we will be forming a committee to explore it while also gathering community input. As background, the name is derived from our state, Indiana, which means 'Land of the Indians' and our city, Indianapolis, which means 'City of Indians.'"
The American Indian Center of Indiana called for the team to choose a new name.
"This is a moment where people should remember whether they decided to be on the right side of history or not," said Executive Director Carolina Castoreno-Santana, who is also a member of the Lipan-Apache Tribe of Texas.
The center said the team has made changes in the past and is hoping it will do it again.
The Cleveland Indians confirmed they are changing their name, but they don’t know to what or when.
After months of discussions with a variety of groups, including Native Americans who have long protested against the team’s use of a moniker and symbols that many deem racist, the American League team is dropping the name it has been known by since 1915.
Owner Paul Dolan told the Associated Press in an interview Monday that the team will continue to be called Indians until a new name is chosen. That process is in its early stages and it’s possible the team will play their entire 2021 season as the Indians.
