The Spokane Indians Baseball team will have new logo this season, the first professional team to use a Native American language. Spokane Tribal Chairman Rudy Peone says The Spokane Indians Baseball team has worked in conjunction with the Spokane tribe to establish the team name as a tribute.
Peone: “And it’s different in that they are respectful of what they do, they do not have a Spokane Tribal Indians mascot, you know the tomahawk chop, or any of that stuff that people think of as derogatory.”
The Tribe helped to create a circular team logo, with the name of the tribe written in the Salish language:
Peone: “Sp’q’n’i, Sp’q’n’I, you can see how the English folks spelled I that way, Spokane, I can see how they came up with that.”
Now for the first time, the logo and the Salish name will be featured on the team’s jerseys. Because of a delay in getting the name registered for this season, the jerseys will be worn at about 30 of the team’s home games. Next year, it will be worn at all games held in Spokane.
Many of the signs at the team’s ballpark will also be in English and Salish this year. This years Jerseys will be auctioned off at the end of the season, and proceeds will go to tribal youth programs.
