Cobre High School alum petitions to keep baseball mascot Chief Wahoo at stadium

BAYARD, N.M. – Samantha “Sami” Morales, a self-described activist for the millennial generation, says both sides of the story need to be told in regard to Lt. Gov. Howie Morales’ request to remove the Chief Wahoo mascot from Howie Morales Stadium, home of the Cobre High Indians baseball team.

“I feel like millennials are a generation that is ignored,” Sami said. “I want to be a voice for my generation.”

She is a 2014 graduate of Cobre High School and says she does not agree with New Mexico’s Lt. Gov. Howie Morales and his recent agenda.

The Lt. Gov. is requesting the high school baseball mascot of Chief Wahoo be removed from the signage at Rominger Field where the stadium bears his name. The cartoon caricature of Chief Wahoo was adopted as a mascot by Cobre High Indians baseball program in the 1960s. Morales coached and headed the Cobre baseball program through the 2000s.

The mascot has been used by professional baseball’s Cleveland Indians since the 1940s. They too have come under fire for use of the mascot which has been termed racist, demeaning and insulting to Native Americans. The Washington Redskins of the National Football League announced early this month that they would no longer use the Redskins as a mascot, team name, or logo.

Rominger Field in Bayard, NM is the home field of the Cobre High Indians. The signage reads Howie Morales Stadium as you enter the grandstand. To the right of that signage is the Chief Wahoo mascot and it is also painted over an archway.

Sami and her friend Kendra Wheeler have organized a movement in Bayard to keep the logos where they are, citing politics and Cobre Baseball do not mix. “The logo is a source of pride for this community,” Sami stated. “My father and workers from the mine worked hard on that stadium, and it is something our community can be proud of.”

The two Cobre High grads have collected over 750 signatures on a petition as of noon on Thursday that continues to grow online. They plan to turn the petition over to the Cobre Consolidated School District during the board of education’s regular meeting on Monday. “We have requested to be included in the agenda,” Sami said.

Wheeler started the petition and it reads:

We, the current and past residents and alumni of Grant County and Cobre High School, do not agree with the changing of Cobre's Baseball Team Logo. It has been a part of our history for years. Taking our mascot takes away everything that proud Cobre Indians have worked for all these years; especially from our boys that took State in 2008 under the guidance of Howie Morales. We come together to stand up for what we believe to be right. If Howie is ashamed of being a part of this history and wants the mascot logo changed, we suggest to take his name off of the field and return it to Rominger Field as it once was so proudly named.

Petition is at change.org.

Sami caught wind of the Lt. Gov’s request when he posted it online. “I follow his postings and I wondered why he wanted the mascot removed now. Why didn’t he pursue this when he coached here back in the 2000s,” she told the Headlight.

Sami and Kendra are planning a peaceful protest at noon on Saturday in front of Howie Morales Stadium. “I have had a lot of response to what we are doing to keep the logos in place,” Sami said. “I firmly believe that if they take away the logos, we will no longer be Cobre Indians. …You know what happened at Onate High School.”

Earlier this month, the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education voted 3-1 to change the name of Onate High School. The Las Cruces Sun-News wrote: The school's namesake, Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar, was colonial governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México when he gave the orders that led to a brutal massacre of the Acoma Pueblo in 1599. He was eventually banished from New Mexico for his crimes.

Sami added that the Lt. Gov. doesn’t understand the culture of being a Cobre Indian. “He isn’t from here – he just coached here.”

Bill Armendariz can be reached at 575-546-2611 (ext. 2606) or biarmendariz@demingheadlight.com.