Chief of Cherokee Nations asks Jeep to stop using tribe’s name
Cherokee to Jeep: drop name.
The principal chief of the Cherokee Nation has asked the carmaker to stop using the name of the Oklahoma-based tribe in its products.
“I’m sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not honor us by having our name plastered on the side of a car,” Chuck Hoskin, Jr., told Car and Driver magazine in a statement published on Saturday.
“The best way to honor us is to learn about our sovereign government, our role in this country, our history, culture, and language and have meaningful dialogue with federally recognized tribes on cultural appropriateness,” he added.
Jeep has been building vehicles named Cherokee for more than 45 years.
During that time, and on a number of occasions, the company has defended its decision to use the name of a Native American tribe in its vehicles.
After first using the name Cherokee in a two-door wagon in 1974, the company continuously manufactured the vehicles until 2002, when for the next 11 years the vehicles were re-branded as Liberty.
Since the brand was reintroduced in the American market in 2013, the Cherokee Nation has publicly commented on the use of its name in Jeep’s SUVs, but according to the magazine, Saturday’s statement marked the first time the tribe explicitly asked Jeep to stop using its name.
“I think we’re in a day and age in this country where it’s time for both corporations and team sports to retire the use of Native American names, images and mascots from their products, team jerseys and sports in general,” Hoskin added.
Jeep carefully selected the name “to honor and celebrate Native American people for their nobility, prowess and pride” over the years, a spokeswoman for Jeep’s parent company, Amsterdam-based Stellantis, Kristin Starnes, said in a statement according to The Associated Press.
She didn’t elaborate on whether the company is considering renaming the vehicles.
