Coquitlam minor hockey team retires ‘Chiefs’ name, logo
Posted August 16, 2020 5:27 pm.
Last Updated August 16, 2020 5:55 pm.
COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) — Coquitlam’s minor hockey team is looking for a new name and logo.
The Coquitlam Minor Hockey Association executive has voted unanimously to “retire the Chiefs logo and branding.”
“The board has directed that a committee be struck to plan both member engagement and the transition to new branding which will better reflect the values of our membership and the community we serve,” reads a stetement from the association.
The city’s mayor supports the move, noting it comes on the heels of other high-profile name-changes by teams in the NHL and CFL after criticism over the use of names that invoke Indigenous stereotypes and logos that caricature Indigenous culture.
“If we’re trying to use the culture of some other group for some purpose that has nothing to do with that culture then I really think we need their perspective, and we need their permission. If we don’t have their permission then we ought to back off,” Richard Stewart says.
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The mayor explains that while not everyone agrees with the decision, but stresses the need to listen to the communities who say these team names negatively affect them.
“We certainly are hearing voices on both sides. But it’s true that people who aren’t Indigenous are the only ones that are saying that this isn’t an issue for them. I want us all to contemplate not what it means to us but what it might mean to the group whose culture we’re appropriating.”
The league will strike a committee to consult on options for a new name and logo.
“It is expected that the full transition to the new branding will take up to a year,” according to a statement from the league.
When it comes to a new name, Stewart says he thinks ‘Coquitlam Crunch’ has a nice ring to it. It would be a nod to a local hiking trail and a logo could be inspired by the local landscape.
“But it’s up to the team and not the mayor,” Stewart says.
