CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Indians today announced our decision to begin the process of changing from our team name “Indians.” Since July, we have conducted an extensive process to learn how our team name affected different constituencies and whether it aligned with our organizational values. As a result of that process, we have decided to move forward with changing the current team name and determining a new, non-Native American based name for the franchise.
In our statement in June 2020, we acknowledged the importance of taking a leadership role in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the community and enhancing our support for underserved and under-represented groups. As part of that commitment, we heard from individuals and groups who shared a variety of views and opinions on the issue. We are deeply grateful for the interest and engagement from Native American communities, civic leaders, leading researchers, fans, corporate partners, players, and internal teammates devoted to these formal and informal conversations. After reflecting upon those discussions, we believe our organization is at its best when we can unify our community and bring people together – and we believe a new name will allow us to do this more fully.
The Cleveland Indigenous Coalition and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) were both active contributors to our listening and learning process. The Cleveland Indigenous Coalition provided the following statement about today’s announcement:
“For six decades our community has fought tirelessly to be recognized as diverse and vibrant, instead of portrayed in inaccurate and harmful ways. By agreeing to change the team name away from Indigenous themes, the Cleveland baseball team is helping to create a place where Native American children and their families feel valued and fully seen. During this period of transition, we look forward to continued collaborative efforts with the team to move in a direction of healing, and to create a better future for all generations to come.”
Team Owner and Chairman Paul Dolan said, “Hearing firsthand the stories and experiences of Native American people, we gained a deep understanding of how tribal communities feel about the team name and the detrimental effects it has on them. We also spoke to local civic leaders who represent diverse populations in our city and who highlighted the negative impact our team name has had on our broader population and on under-represented groups across our community. I am truly grateful for their engagement and input, which I found enlightening and insightful. When a sports team is aligned with its community, it unlocks the ability to unite people from different backgrounds and bring people together in support of their home team. While Indians will always be a part of our history, it is time to move forward and work to unify our stakeholders and fans through a new name.”
The team’s decision to change the current name is phase one of a multi-phase process. Future decisions, including new name identification and brand development, are complex and will take time. While we work to identify a new and enduring franchise name, we will continue using the Indians name.
The decision to move forward with a name change is just one of several efforts the organization is making to continue to unify our region. Through Cleveland Indians Charities and partnerships with local civic organizations and institutions, we will enhance our continuing support of underserved groups and work to create a stronger, more equitable community. Currently, we are working with the Cleveland Indigenous Coalition along with other organizations to help support and raise awareness about the Native American community and other under-represented populations.
To learn more about Native American imagery and representation, and for more information on this announcement, visit MLB.com/CLETeamName.
About the Cleveland Indigenous Coalition: The Cleveland Indigenous Coalition consists of four Northeast Ohio Native American organizations: The American Indian Movement of Ohio, The Committee of 500 Years of Dignity & Resistance, the Lake Erie Native American Council, and the Lake Erie Professional Chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
Letter From Paul Dolan
To Our Fans,
This afternoon, we officially announced our organization has decided to begin the process of changing the name Indians and move forward to determine a new name that will better unify our community and build on our legacy for a new generation.
As a fifth-generation Clevelander, I understand the historic impact and importance of this decision. Like many of you, I grew up with this name and have many great memories of past Indians teams: the World Series appearances, Cy Young winners, the longest win streak in MLB history, and countless other unforgettable moments that brought our team, fans, and community together. These memories will forever stay in our hearts, minds, and record books, and we will continue to recognize our ball club’s remarkable legacy. While I have often associated these unforgettable memories with the name Indians, I sincerely believe Cleveland is the most important part of our team name.
Today’s decision is the result of a process that began in June, following our public commitment to take a leadership role in helping address many of the social challenges affecting our community and to support the underserved and under-represented groups in Greater Cleveland. After we made this commitment, I, and many others across the organization, spent time reflecting on the role our franchise plays in the community at large and our responsibilities as community leaders inside our organization. As a result, in July, the organization announced we would begin a process of listening, learning, and then acting on the best path forward relative to our team name.
Over the course of the past several months, we conducted meaningful conversations with a variety of stakeholders, including Native American groups, fans, civic leaders, leading researchers focused on Native American culture and issues, internal teammates, players, and corporate partners. These conversations were both enlightening and, at times, challenging. We often found that individuals, even those within the same organization or demographic, maintained differing views and opinions of our team name. We valued hearing all perspectives, and we took them into consideration as we moved through the process.
Ultimately, we found our organization is at its best when we can unify our community and bring people together around our shared interest in our home team – and we believe a new name will allow us to do this more fully. We often celebrate being the first team in the American League to have an African American player in Larry Doby and the first African American manager in Frank Robinson. These forward-thinking acts by our predecessors have helped shaped our team and community, and today’s decision helps us continue to live up to these high standards and expectations.
Our decision to change the current name is phase one of a multi-phased process. Future decisions, including the new name and brand development, are complex and will take time. We believe our new name will take us into the future and proudly represent this storied franchise for decades and generations to come. In light of the importance, we will not rush these decisions.
As we take the necessary time to determine a new name and brand, the team will continue using the Indians name and branding. We will also continue to listen, learn, and partner with local civic leaders, including those in the Native American community, to deepen our support of under-represented groups and make a meaningful, positive impact in our community.
My family loves baseball and loves Cleveland. We believe in the ability of our organization to make a positive impact within our city and to unite and inspire those around us to do the same. I look forward to seeing the ways we can continue to accomplish this on and off the field – in the upcoming season and for years to come.
Thank you for your continued support of our team, our players, and our shared Cleveland community.