Looking over my son's shoulder as he played FIFA, I was struck by the fact that the badge of the Belgian football club KAA Gent is a Native American (1) man, with feathered headdress, and I wondered why that was.
On the club's website (Flemish, French, English) is the story of how Buffalo Bill's show came to Ghent (English spelling has the "h", the Flemish does not). That is the origin of the chant which is the title of this post. The club's badge came from the fact that there were Sioux people in the show. The club argue that the image is not stereotypical, and that the man shown is looking into the future.
Although, this blog post from Beyond the Spectacle should be read too, about the nature of Buffalo Bill's show. (Beyond the Spectacle is a project of the University of Kent and the University of East Anglia, looking at Native North American presence in Britain).
The club's site has a page describing the social conditions of Native American people, and it does talk about the club's wish to work with Native American communities on projects (although I did not see any specifics (2)). That page does say:
"To this day, Native Americans fall victim to poverty, health problems, poor housing condtions and shortages, poor working and living conditions and a lack of education. With its logo, KAA Gent seeks to draw attention throughout Europe to the social situation the Native American population is facing today."
I also found this from the New York Times in 2018, which looks from an American viewpoint at images of Native Americans in Europe.
That made me think more, and I think change my views.
KAA Gent are discussed in the article. The paper had set up an interview with Buffalo Ben, the club's mascot (the article has a picture), but when KAA Gent found out, they cancelled the interview and indicated they did not want to enter into discussions.
The English Exeter Chiefs rugby union side are also discussed. KAA Gent have been associated with their badge since the 1920s, the name change for Exeter Chiefs is much more recent. The Chiefs' stadium has sections named after Native American nations, and a message board called a Pow Wow, and their mascot looks to me as stereotypical as Buffalo Ben. Two people with links to both Exeter and Native American nations point out in the article that the mascot aggregates features of lots of different nations, and treats them the same.
The title of the New York Times article and a video in the article makes me think that there is a stereotypical action that the crowds do - I have to say I have not looked.
So, I find myself wondering. I wonder who thought the name change for the rugby club was appropriate. In the case of KAA Gent, the badge and chant do have a historical origin, but I am not sure that makes it any less awkward.
So does KAA Gent's logo draw our attention to the social situation of Native American people today?
Or do the views we might already have crowd send our attention elsewhere? Is it time for the badge, chant and mascot to be part of a club museum and used in that context as a way to start discussions and draw attention to that social situation?
PS. Buffalo Bill's show also visited Owlerton in Sheffield, near where I live, and a Native American died while the show was visiting and was thought for a while to have been buried in the nearby Wardsend Cemetery.
Notes
I am grateful to my son Joe, a history graduate, for discussions - although these interpretations and notes are mine.
(1) recent academic literature prefers this term.
(2) this rather neglects the fact that some at least of those conditions were caused or made worse by European settlers, and also begs the question of whether Native American communities can only address these conditions with help from European communities.
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