Stop the Chop: No one should do the tomahawk chop, as it’s an outdated and racist tradition

“And the home of the..”

As the band slows its tempo and the national anthem draws to an end, the student section collectively starts to take their right hands from their hearts. Lifting their arms in unison, they all suddenly slice their palms down.

“Chiefs!”

This motion and chant, known as the tomahawk chop, is supposed to resemble a Native American using a tomahawk axe to scalp their enemy in battle. East students and Kansas City Chiefs fans use it as a rallying cry to hype up crowds or celebrate good plays, but no one should be doing this cheer due to its racially insensitive implications.

From its inception in 1980, Cherokee and Creek tribal leaders have called for the end of the tomahawk chop due to its dehumanizing nature. Ignoring these tribes after over 40 years of pushback is blatantly disrespectful and ignorant.

“Although the Tomahawk Chop may be a game day tradition, it is not an appropriate acknowledgment of tribal tradition or culture,” Creek Nation Principal Chief James R. Floyd stated to CNN in 2019. “It reduces Native Americans to a caricature and minimizes the contributions of Native peoples as equal citizens and human beings.”

While it may seem like a way to join in on the fun at a sports game, it’s directly mocking indigenous culture and perpetuating racist and untrue stereotypes of the “violent Indian.” 

Stereotyping goes beyond pure rhetoric. In this case, it creates tangible, real-life danger. The Jim Crow Museum reports that the perception of Native people as “dangerous” contributes to negative interactions and consequences for them, including higher rates of incarceration and a predisposition to violent hate crimes. Portraying an entire race of people as violent, tomahawk-wielding murderers makes most people perceive them as such.

Caricaturing indigenous culture also diminishes self-esteem in impressionable Native youth. Native Americans experience the highest rates of suicide among all races, and it is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24, according to the National Indian Council on Aging.

Think about how these kids feel seeing their culture mocked at their high school football games for the sake of a few easy cheers after a first down. It’s an unfair portrayal of their people and a gross disrespect to them.

In recent years, the NFL and the Chiefs have both taken steps to dismantle the institutionalized racism in their organizations: banning headdresses in Arrowhead, ending the “Warpaint” horse riding tradition and leading diversity-focused ad campaigns with messages of “End Racism” and “It takes all of us” plastered on everything from helmets to football fields. So why not end the tomahawk chop too? It’s strikingly backward for a crowd to imitate a Native American scalping their enemy fifty feet from an endzone reading “End Racism.”

Some make the claim that the tomahawk chop is “just for fun” and an integral part of the fan experience. While it may be fun for fans in the moment, it certainly isn’t for indigenous people seeing their sacred culture mimicked to celebrate a touchdown. Plus, there are a million more ways to have fun at a football game without mocking Native culture, like wearing your favorite player’s jersey or singing along to Tech N9ne’s “Red Kingdom” at the top of your lungs.

When our students see the crowd of mostly adult fans do the tomahawk chop at Arrowhead Stadium while watching Sunday night football, it sends the message that this behavior is accepted — or even encouraged. Whether it’s a Friday night East football game with a packed student section or the Super Bowl, the chop is always a direct insult to indigenous people everywhere.

It’s embarrassing to have the fans representing our program so unwilling to change this cheer for the sake of “tradition.” This is a real, solvable problem with an easy solution — stop doing the tomahawk chop.

With two Super Bowl wins in the past three years, a 2023 Team of the Year ESPY award and the world record for the NFL’s loudest stadium, there is so much more about Kansas City football to be proud of instead of an outdated, racist tradition. If you love your team, your school or your city, listen to what Native people have been saying and stop the the tomahawk chop.