Super Bowl 57 Controversy: Native American Activists Speak Out Against Kansas City Chiefs’ Tomahawk Chop
3 min read
While running towards the State Farm Stadium field during this year’s Super Bowl 57 kickoff, the Kansas City Chiefs were greeted with a racist Tomahawk chop gesture. It is not the first time their fans have engaged in offensive behaviour. Tomahawk chops and accompanying chants are still condemned by several Native Americans. During the Super Bowl this year, many Twitter users noticed Chiefs fans performing derogatory actions. Despite the NFL’s claims of standing against racism, a netizen took to social media platforms to question why they failed to take action against the move.
Indigenous activists to protest Kansas City Chiefs name and “tomahawk chop” pic.twitter.com/oHbRfcBYg9
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) February 13, 2023
This is not the first time Kansas City fans have performed offensive chops and chanted their team’s chants. Despite their awareness that it is racist, they have previously attempted to defend their practices by stating that the team’s name honours American Indians. Tomahawk chops and imitations of Native Americans are still considered offensive by many. In an interview with the New York Times, Haskell Indian Nations University instructor Rhonda LeValdo said: They may not be intentionally mocking our culture, but that is what we perceive.
Germans doing the Tomahawk Chop is certainly a thing that Fox could choose to broadcast. pic.twitter.com/ZYNwrx6On6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 13, 2023
Why Is The Tomahawk Chop Offensive? A Brief History Of The Kansas City Chiefs’ Chant
To those unaware, the chop is an arm-waving gesture accompanied by a made-up Native American chant often performed by Kansas City Chiefs players. In the Native American community, it is considered racist and offensive. Rob Hill, a Tomahawak Nation fraternity member, invented the chop during a 1983 football game when he was accompanied by an accompaniment drum beat from a marching band, according to Slate. At games since then, thousands of fans have performed the same action. The chant and chop were also nodded by former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Marty Schottenheimer. A marching band song from Florida Slate University inspired the music accompanying the chant. It has also been a tradition for Chiefs fans to perform the “War Chant” since then, which was inspired by the marching band of the University of Illinois.
In addition to the theory that the tomahawk chop originated at FSU, it is also believed that the practice was inspired by Pow Wow the Indian Boy from the children’s television show Adventures of Pow Pow. Certain episodes of the television show were based on Indian folklore, which led to accusations of racism. Tomahawk chops are often performed at NFL games, and native Americans have protested vehemently. According to them, feathered headdresses and war paint-covered costumes are racist. It has also been recognized that banging a fake “Indian” drum is offensive. During the Super Bowl Opening Night festivities, a startling image was also captured. Just minutes after Kansas City Chiefs fans chanted the Tomahawk chop chant loudly, Native Americans performed at the annual mega event for the first time.
When I see the words “END RACISM” on an NFL helmet with an arrowhead on it, and tens of thousands of people who look like me doing a faux war chant and the tomahawk “chop,” I’m thinking the @Chiefs and @NFL really don’t mean it. pic.twitter.com/nE81XIJ3nS
— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) February 7, 2023
#EndRacism, @NFL?
— Rep. Chris Rabb (@RepRabb) February 13, 2023
Before or after you broadcast *Chiefs* fans doing the #TomahawkChop? 🙄@NCAI1944 pic.twitter.com/lZfNfGft9V
