The Kansas City Chiefs will not admit fans to Arrowhead Stadium wearing Indian headdresses or face paint that “references or appropriates American Indian cultures” under a new policy announced Thursday.
The NFL team said it also is “engaged in a thorough review process of the Arrowhead Chop” – an arm-swinging motion used by fans – and “exploring all options for a modified engagement moment” with its “Drum Deck” – a stage-like area in the upper tier behind one of the goalposts where a drum is struck to rally the crowd.
The statement did not make any reference to Warpaint, a pinto horse mascot ridden by cheerleader “Susie” at games.
The announcement comes more than a month after the Washington Redskins announced it was dropping its Indian-based nickname and would be called “Washington Football Team” until a new name was chosen.
The Chiefs said in its statement that the NFL club had been in discussion with local groups of “American Indian Backgrounds” since 2014.
“Based on those conversations, as well as the work we've done alongside the local working group over the past six years,” the team adopted its new policies.
In reference to the Drum Deck, the Chiefs are exploring “how to shift the focus of the drum to something that symbolizes the heartbeat of the stadium.”
The Chiefs derived their name from then-Mayor H. Roe Bartle, who was instrumental in convincing then-owner Lamar Hunt to move his team, the Dallas Texans, to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963. Bartle’s nickname was “The Chief.”
The Chiefs earlier this week announced it would make available about 15,000 seats, or about 22 percent of capacity, of Arrowhead Stadium for its Sept. 10 season opener against the San Francisco 49ers in a replay of February’s Super Bowl.
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