UPTOWN — In one of its last stops before it returns to a permanent display case at the end of October, the Stanley Cup held court at the American Indian Center, 1630 W. Wilson Ave., Tuesday afternoon.
Despite a small group of protesters outside rallying against what they viewed as a racist team logo, dozens of hockey fans streamed through the city's flagship Native American cultural center to take pictures with the trophy.
Visitors were asked to give $10 donations to the center, and were invited to buy tickets for a raffle that included signed jerseys and memorobilia donated by the team.
A far cry from the vitriolic battles over teams like the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins, which critics say alienate Native Americans, the Blackhawks have maintained a close and longstanding relationship with the American Indian Center. Through regular donations, grants and sponsorships, the team has helped keep the center afloat and active, its leaders said.
"There haven't traditionally been a lot of organizations out there supporting us, and from the Blackhawks we've had a wonderful continuing partnership for a long time," said Andrew Johnson, executive director of the American Indian Center. In 2012, Johnson said, the team helped fund a renovation to the center's third floor, and it awarded grants for a new archery program.
"What's important to remember is that they never asked for any kind of acknowledgement or anything in return for this — they've really just been looking out for us," added Johnson, a Cherokee Indian.
But for the five people who endured pouring rain to hold hand-made signs outside the event, financial support isn't enough to make up for what they call a condescending and racist team name and logo. Several of the protesters called the donations "hush money" and "kickbacks" designed to stifle an important dialogue over cultural sensitivity.
"When I look at that logo all I see is a racist stereotype that doesn't show us the way we really are, and the Indian Center is just letting the team exploit us," said Janie Pochel, who is descended from the Cree and Lakota tribes. "People need to understand that we're still here, and we're real. ... We're not some conquered race that can be paraded as a mascot."
The protest turned physical when Pochel's nephew, 13-year-old Adrien Pochel, asked to go inside the center so he could use the bathroom. When the boy tried to push into the event, a hired security guard grabbed him by his waist and wrestled him out of the room.
The confrontation led to a shouting match in the building's lobby, until Susan K. Power, the center's 90-year-old co-founder, approached wearing a Jonathan Toews jersey. Scolding the protesters for their "disrespect," she told them to return to the sidewalk.
Power, who helped establish the center in River North in 1953 and move it to its current Uptown location in 1967, described the protesters as "a few nuts" who "don't understand their own heritage."
For her, the team's name and logo — representing Black Hawk, the Sauk warrior who fought white settlers in the early 19th century — has always been a point of pride.
"As far back as the 1950s, people from the team would climb three flights of steps just to come to our little office and show us their love and their support," said Power, a Lakota Indian. "At a time when there were so few of us, and no one really knew who we were — to have such a major team like that really acknowledge us just meant so much."
The team's history with local Native Americans was news to Matt Donohoo and his girlfriend Erin Murray, two fans who came to take pictures with the cup after seeing on Twitter that it would be on display.
"I can definitely understand why there's a controversy, especially with some of these other teams like the Redskins. ... I mean if I were a Native American, I wouldn't want to be shown as a mascot or a character like that," Donohoo said. "But hearing all the people here talk about how much the Blackhawks have been supporting their culture ... that pretty much settles it in my mind."
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