Lary Bloom
Writer, Editor, Teacher
The Bloom Blog
Photo by Nancy Dionne
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Chief Wahoo, Proudly
The poet David Holdt sent me a gift the other day. He explained that years ago his children bought him a Cleveland Indians jacket, and that he no longer wears it. He tried to think of someone to give it to -- in New England, there is something less than a great demand for Tribe memorabilia (though I have often argued, to deaf ears, that the Indians are Connecticut's real home team, because they play in what once was the state's Western Reserve). David remembered that I have something of an attachment to the Tribe. Or, more precisely, I have not been able to overcome childhood behavior.The problem, of course, with Cleveland Indians gear is that it displays, proudly, the mascot: Chief Wahoo. It is a symbol I grew up with, and one that became over the years the object of scorn from those who think it is demeaning to Native Americans. It may well be. And yet I display it. And so does my friend, the artist Sol LeWitt, who is the champion of all liberal causes. When I asked him why Chief Wahoo is so prominent at his studio in the woods, he just shrugged. I can only conclude that baseball fans, all of us, are conveniently nuts. Or, as the sage put it: Baseball is not a matter of life and death. It's more important than that.
By the way, I'm wearing my Tribe jacket as a write this. (And Chief Wahoo says hello.)
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 8:32 AM
Web
Design by Arvid
Tomayko-Peters
Lary Bloom • Telephone: 860.526.2067 • Fax: 860.526.8088 • Email: