Braves, Native Americans To Discuss Future Of Tomahawk Chop

ATLANTA, GA — After facing criticism from a St. Louis Cardinals player and Native American tribal chiefs, officials with the Atlanta Braves have said the Major League Baseball team will take a look at the long-standing tradition of the "tomahawk chop" by fans.

After the first game of the postseason series between the Braves and Cardinals on Oct. 3, Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley, 25, said in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article written by reporter Derrick Goold the tomahawk chop is “disrespectful” and “kind of caveman-type” behavior. Helsley, an Oklahoma native, is a member of the Cherokee Nation.

The tomahawk chop first began in 1991. "Chop On" is a rallying cry for Atlanta fans, and the words are on the top of the team's website.

“I think it’s a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general,” Helsley said in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article before Game 2 of the Braves-Cardinals series at SunTrust Park. “Just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot of more than that.

"It’s not me being offended by the whole mascot thing," Helsley told the Post-Dispatch. "It’s not. It’s about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and it devalues us and how we’re perceived in that way, or used as mascots. The Redskins and stuff like that. That’s the disappointing part. That stuff like this still goes on. It’s just disrespectful, I think.”

Both the Post-Dispatch and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported "Helsley's grandfather was full-blooded Cherokee, and the family has deep roots in the heart of Cherokee Nation."

Now the Braves organization says it will look into the tradition and speak with Native Americans after Cherokee and Creek tribal chiefs supported Helsley's statement, the AJC said.

“The Cherokee Nation is proud of tribal citizen and Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in a written statement to the AJC, “for speaking out against stereotypes and standing up for the dignity of Native Americans in this country. Hopefully Ryan’s actions will better inform the national conversation about inappropriate depictions of Native Americans."

Braves spokeswoman Beth Marshall told the AJC on Wednesday the team "will continue to evaluate how we activate elements of our brand, as well as the overall in-game experience. We look forward to a continued dialogue with those in the Native American community after the postseason concludes.”

The potential changes have caused plenty of feedback from fans, both for and against the Tomahawk Chop.