Louis Sockalexis

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Maine banned Native American mascots. ‘Why haven’t others followed?’ by The Bangor Daily News Editorial Board       January 2, 2021 The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com. “Maine remains only state to fully ban Native American mascots. Why haven’t others followed?” USA Today asked in a headline last week. It’s a good question. In May … [Read more...]

http://sockalexis.net/2021/01/785/

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This Penobscot baseball player inspired the Cleveland Indians name ‘for all the wrong reasons’ by Emily BurnhamDecember 18, 2020                      Bangor Daily News Louis Sockalexis, in an undated photo taken during his professional baseball career between 1897 and 1907. Credit: Public domain It was a historic day in 1897 when Louis Sockalexis, a 26-year-old member of the Penobscot tribe, became the first Native American Major League Baseball player, taking the field for … [Read more...]

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Cleveland to Drop Controversial Nickname

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Cleveland Indians to drop controversial nickname affiliated with player from Maine’s Penobscot Nation by Larry Mahoney, Bangor Daily News December 15, 2020   Ed Rice’s phone was ringing off the hook on Monday. People wanted to talk about the news that Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians intend to abandon their longstanding name, one that is considered by many to be offensive. “I am stunned,” said an elated Rice, who has spent nearly 40 years researching and telling the … [Read more...]

Cleveland to Drop Controversial Nickname

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Cleveland Indians to drop controversial nickname affiliated with player from Maine’s Penobscot Nation by Larry Mahoney, Bangor Daily News December 15, 2020   Ed Rice’s phone was ringing off the hook on Monday. People wanted to talk about the news that Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians intend to abandon their longstanding name, one that is considered by many to be offensive. “I am stunned,” said an elated Rice, who has spent nearly 40 years researching and telling the … [Read more...]

Cleveland to Change Nickname

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He’s why Cleveland came to be called the Indians. How should they honor him? Members of one Maine tribe hope that the team’s first know Native American player, trailblazer Louis Sockalexis of the Penobscot Nation, is properly recognized. by Erik Ortiz, NBC News                                                                             December 14, 2020 Erik Ortiz is a staff writer for NBC News focusing on racial injustice and social inequality. Cleveland's major-league baseball team … [Read more...]

Celebrating end of Indian mascots in Maine high schools

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SPECIAL TO THE MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM MAINE VOICES: No schools in Maine retain Native American nicknames, mascots – that’s something to celebrate The focus has been on the bill banning the practice in the future, but it should be on the heroes who brought about its end. Can’t begin to grasp why 330 million Americans are incapable of reaching a peaceful consensus about a statue of Columbus or a Confederate general, or whether sports teams should be using a Native American nickname and … [Read more...]

Skowhegan has opportunity again to cleanse itself of insensitive mascot

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The "Indian" mascot of Skowhegan area schools is once again stirring debate in town. By Ed Rice, Special to the BDN • January 22, 2019 I’m seeing two inconvenient truths as the Skowhegan Area High School’s 23-member school board — again — considers whether to do the right thing, and end its use of an insensitive Indians nickname and mascot, or, maintain the status quo by continuing to bury its head in the sand, bringing shame and condemnation upon its communities. Inconvenient Truth … [Read more...]

Hidden heroes have done the right thing on Indian mascots

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We don't hear enough about the schools that have stepped up over the last decade. BY ED RICE All through the late 1990s and well into the 2000s, I was part of the growing national movement to get the Cleveland Indians to drop Chief Wahoo — perhaps, the most racist caricature in use in American society. Frustration with that effort, ultimately successful after many years, led me to more than a decade of trying to work to see that all such offensive nicknames and mascots end in my home state … [Read more...]

Demise of Cleveland’s ‘Chief Wahoo’ opens the door for proper recognition of Maine’s Sockalexis

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By Ed Rice, Special to the BDN February 13, 2018 1:00 am Thanks to the courage and persistence of just one man, the end of the appearance of Chief Wahoo on the playing uniforms of the Cleveland Indians will finally end but, sadly, not until the start of the 2019 season. While I’m not sure Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, knows anything about the history of Louis Sockalexis, I do know he cared enough to make a stand against an image that many people believe is the … [Read more...]

Curse of Sockalexis, Means casts dark shadow on Cleveland’s World Series dreams

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Ed Rice Special to the Bangor Daily News Not meant to be anywhere near as darkly humorous as Boston’s celebrated “Curse of the Bambino” or the Chicago Cubs’ concerns about curses related to a billy goat or a reviled fan named Bartman, a curse from the late Native American political activist Russell Means was put on the Cleveland Indians baseball team for its inappropriate nickname and racist caricature logo/mascot, Chief Wahoo. His curse specifically directs that the team make it to the … [Read more...]