Day of the indigenous peoples – exclusion and appropriation: colonial history in current sport

One of the most important football clubs in Latin America plays his home games in the Estadio Monumental in Santiago de Chile. On the way to the main grandstand you pass a black bust. It is supposed to represent the upper body of the man named after which the club is named. This figure is also met on the outer walls and in the club museum, for example on the four -pointed coat of arms. A man with long black hair and a white headband is shown on it: Colo Colo.

The fans of the Chilean record champion look proudly at the name spades, an indigenous leader from the 16th century, who had pushed back the Spanish colonial power for a long time. Colo Colo was considered brave, steadfast, prudent. And in 1925 a group of Chilean teachers selected that personality to recharge their new club with importance. “For generations, sports clubs have been using caricatures of indigenous people for their logos and mascots,” says Chilean researcher Daniela Bustamante, who deals with her country’s colonial history. “Colo Colo, however, was a concrete person in contemporary history. This is a prime example of cultural appropriation. “

Dilated identity

Colo-Colo rose to the most successful club in Chile in the 20th century, now with 34 championships and 14 cup victories. At the same time, different governments deepened the exclusion of the Mapuche, the largest indigenous minority in the country. Again and again their properties in the south were expropriated in favor of industry or transferred to settlers from Europe. “Many Mapuche denied their identity and borrowed a Spanish -sounding surname,” says the Chilean author and Podcaster Alvaro Campos. At Colo-Colo, Alfonso Neculñir was the first player with Mapuche roots in the 80s. Today Mapuche is disproportionately often affected by unemployment, poverty and alcohol addiction.

On August 9, the United Nations celebrated the international day of the indigenous population annually. It is an opportunity to point out the achievements of indigenous minorities, but also to name their problems. The UN refer to their explanation of the rights of indigenous peoples. Among other things, the consent of those affected for the use of their pictures is highlighted as elementary.

No approval

However, this consent is rarely available in Latin America. Some football clubs named themselves after the Guaraní. Relatives of this minority live in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. In the early 20th century, the Guaraní was stolen a large part of their lands. “They are one of the most endangered indigenous groups in the world,” writes the Brazilian non -governmental organization Cimi. At Guarani FC from the state of São Paulo you don’t find out anything about it. And also in Paraguay there is no discussion about cultural appropriation at the eleven -time national champion Club Guarani.

One could get the impression that the topic of games only in earlier colonies such as Chile or Brazil, but that would be shortened. In Great Britain, the Rugby team of the exeter chiefs had long had the drawing of an indigenous leader with hair accessories in the logo. Local fans signed a petition against it. After a long hesitation, the club agreed to a change and now alludes to the Celtic tribe Dumnonier, who had settled in the southwest of today’s Britain more than 2000 years ago.

Even in the former colonial power of Belgium, images of indigenous leaders can still be found in sports, for example at Kaa Gent. On its website, the football club is dedicated to the oppression of the American indigenous people. It also explains the logo, the “cultural context” of which is positive. The Kaa Ghent stands for “respect, courage and honor”, for values that are more likely to be attributed to the American indigenous people than their “white oppressors”.

Stigmatization

The debate is the loudest in the USA. Several hundred sports teams had described themselves there in professionals, universities and schools as “Indians”, “Red Men” or “Warrior”. Her coat of arms showed indigenous men with oversized lips, red skin and feather jewelry. “As a result, young people of indigenous origin feel stigmatized and dehumanized,” says Rebecca Nagle, activist of the indigenous Cherokee. »And unfortunately there is rarely a counter -narrative. The current everyday life of indigenous people is hardly shown in media or films. “

Since the civil rights movement in the 1960s, protests have repeatedly formed in the United States. According to the National Congress of American Indians, almost three quarters were stored by the approximately 2000 racist sports symbols over time. Exotic dances of cheerleaders and the facial painting of stadium musicians gradually disappeared. Enlightenment campaigns mostly came from indigenous groups, almost never from the clubs.

Black Lives Matter

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the Black-Lives-Matter movement, more and more prominent clubs came under pressure. In Cleveland, the baseball team “Indians” has been called Guardians since 2021. In Washington, the former “Redskins” have had the name “Commanders” since 2022. But many fans felt betrayed for their tradition. Recently, US President Donald Trump demanded that the club to return to the name “Redskins” should return. Otherwise he will block the construction of a stadium. Many of his supporters cheered.

There is no such debate in Chile. And so the capture of the most famous football club has been part of everyday life for generations. The right-wing entrepreneur Sebastián Piñera, for example, was the owner of Colo-Colo between 2006 and 2010. He met representatives from politics and business in the grandstand. Piñera was later elected President Chiles twice. During this time, human rights organizations report, arrests and controls of the Mapuche are said to have increased massively.

No majority

But the pendulum also swings in the other direction. In 2019, hundreds of thousands in Santiago protested the Piñeras government and against high living costs. “The rights of the Mapuche were also intensively discussed at the time,” says the indigenous author Claudio Alvarado Lincopi: “And many fans of Colo-Colo took part in the demos.” According to the protests, a popular assembly in Chile was to develop a new constitution. There was an advanced draft: Indigenous groups such as the Mapuche, which did not even occur in the old constitution from the military dictatorship, should receive special rights, for example the right to autonomy and the promotion of their traditions.

Many Colo-Colo supporters campaigned for this advanced draft. The club shows the flag of the Mapuche in its stadium and sometimes uses its traditional language. A message: “Defend our jersey as the Mapuche defend its country.” Is it a political fan culture? Or have centuries being downdated to oppression? These questions are still being discussed. Incidentally, the new constitutional draft was clearly rejected by a majority of the population.