Thorold Blackhawks logo under fire

The Thorold Blackhawks is the latest sports team to get into trouble over its use of native imagery. The controversy has been slowly percolating over a number of months and is centred not on the team name — but the logo.

The team changed owners just nine months ago, and the new owners were taken somewhat by surprise, as the logo has been in use since 1982. But there are questions now as to whether the cartoon image portrayed on the logo is disrespectful, and offensive.

The team owners tried to address the controversy early on, by posting a statement on the team website — saying that Blackhawk, a famous American Native chief, was a powerful and respected warrior — and the team intention, was to honour his legacy.

“I believe that drawing inspiration from our fearless leaders and commemorating their intrepidness is important. It helps our children to learn history and pass a valuable heritage on to succeeding generations.”

“The Thorold Blackhawk icon symbolizes the spirit of a great warrior and exemplifies strength, courage and determination.”

But a Facebook page questioning the suitability of the image gathered more than 300 supporters who agree that the logo should be changed.

In addition St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Thorold gathered a petition from its congregation supporting the change. The site also has a letter from Canada’s grand national chief, Shawn Atleo, supporting a change.

Talks between the club, the city of Thorold, and native representatives have been proceeding for roughly a month. A meeting Monday afternoon brought a bit of good news from mayor Ted Luciani:

“We’re close. We had meetings. We’re down to a few final things. Things that we have to solve. It’s looking very positive. I don’t want to comment too far on that because it’s still a sensitive issue. But we’ve got the parties talking and we’ve got everyone on a positive situation and we want to stay that way right now.”

There will be another meeting at the end of the month between the parties, and they are hoping for a complete resolution at that point — although it may drag out a little longer than that.

One of the big issues is that the Junior B Blackhawks aren’t the only team that uses the logo. Minor league rep and select teams in Thorold also use the logo, and to rebrand all of them will incur some significant cost.

There is general agreement on the principles, and some uncertainty over the details. But things seem to be headed in a direction that will be satisfactory to all.