KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Education has been a key principle of the Kansas City Chiefs’ approach in recent years to a complicated history of appropriating Native American imagery.
It also was central to the team’s decision to ban fans from wearing headdresses and certain styles of face paint at Arrowhead Stadium moving forward, Chiefs President Mark Donovan said Wednesday on a video conference with reporters.
Donovan admitted that he didn’t understand enough about Native American culture and how fan-appropriated imagery impacted those communities.
The more he learned, the more convinced he became that some practices needed to end.
Donovan also said it led to changes in other stadium traditions and rituals.
“We didn’t realize the sacred position of the drum in the American Indian culture,” Donovan said. “When we realized that, we went to them and asked, ‘What can we do?’”
That led to the Blessing of the Four Directions and the Blessing of the Drum, but so far it hasn’t produced a decision on the “Arrowhead Chop.”
Commonly known as the Tomahawk Chop, the fan celebration also has been used at Florida State University and Atlanta Braves games.
Donovan didn’t offer specifics about the ongoing conversation the team has had over the gesture.
“It’s going to take some time,” Donovan said. “These aren’t things that we’re going to be able to successfully change overnight.”
Education also is central to the team’s support of voter drives, an initiative spearheaded by safety Tyrann Mathieu and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Donovan said the Chiefs hope to use Arrowhead Stadium as a polling place for the upcoming election.
