“You Should Be Proud!” Native‐Themed Mascots and the Cultural Reproduction of White Settler Space

Abstract

My research explores the Cleveland baseball franchise’s role in the cultural reproduction of White settler space in the NE Ohio region. Using a multi‐site, mixed‐methods approach, I examine prominent narratives about Indian‐ness and ownership circulated for over a century in NE Ohio socio‐cultural spheres. I elucidate how the franchise’s storytelling regarding its “Indians” identity produces localized meanings of Indian‐ness that Cleveland baseball fans reiterate and manipulate in protest narratives (what fans said in interactions with Indigenous people and allies protesting the team’s “Indians” identity outside Cleveland baseball stadium) and published narratives (what fans said in published opinions following the team’s name change announcement). Ultimately, this study reveals how settler‐constructed histories that disregard US imperialism and colonialism commingle with regional stories of romanticized Indian‐ness to amplify processes of colonial unknowing and reproduce White settler space. Such spaces normalize settler possession of Indigenous territories and identities, prioritize settler interests (both material and psychological), affirm White innocence, and animate racialized emotions of repulsion and disgust for Indigenous peoples.