Baseball team to be named today; Flatheads offensive to some

This afternoon, Richmond baseball officials will announce the name of the area's incoming minor-league team.

Some people hope the choice won't be Flatheads.

The word has undertones for Native Americans. Team officials said they haven't had any calls or complaints about the potential use of Flatheads, which was proposed as a reference to catfish found in the James River.

Team officials did remove Hambones from the list Tuesday after protests that the name refers to a dance brought to America by West Africans and later performed at minstrel shows.

Flathead is the name of a Native American reservation in western Montana that is home to the Confederated Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille tribes. A tribal spokesman reached by phone said he asked tribal elders to see what they thought of the name.

"We are a complex, diverse community with many points of view," said communications director Robert McDonald.

"We have tribal members who are fans of the Washington Redskins, and we have people who argue how those mascots are demeaning. Some in our tribe would find offense" in Richmond's usage, he said.

McDonald said there are about a half-dozen stories about the origin of the Flathead name, including a reference to facial features, the shape of headdresses, and a cultural practice of binding infants' skulls with boards -- which the Confederated tribes haven't done.

In Virginia, Native Americans said the name could be offensive.

"I would hope that 'Flatheads' wouldn't be the name," said Stephen R. Adkins, chief of the Chickahominy tribe in Charles City County.

"If you're in a game in a sea of non-Indians, with people chanting mutterings, and you see someone dressed in ceremonial regalia, you feel like a target for derogatory remarks, things that aren't complimentary to your heritage," he said.

Adkins did not call Richmond baseball officials, though he saw in the Richmond Times-Dispatch where they dropped Hambones and thought they would do the same for Flatheads.

"But I'm probably way too trusting," he said.

Karenne Wood of the Virginia Indian Heritage Program said: "If people want to celebrate sports athletics, why does it need to be associated with native people? You don't find them associated with other races."

Contact Chris I. Young at (804) 649-6754 or .