Thorold needs to emulate moves by other cities, schools and colleges around North America that have dumped inappropriate native logos and names, said Luciani. Even Denis Morris Catholic High School voted recently to change its ‘Redmen’ moniker to ‘Reds’ out of concern of possible negative connotations with its old moniker, he noted.

“As a city, we have to move forward with the times,” said Luciani. “We can’t have characters that are demeaning to our First Nations.”

Thorold AAA’s Citrigno pledged in a letter to city council on Aug. 9 that his organization is committed to replacing the logo. The association has a new committee and is close to a decision on a new image, said Citrigno.

But the switchover won’t be cheap because replacing jerseys, merchandise and stationery costs money, said Citrigno. He said the TAA has reached out to the community for financial help.

“We are motivated to move in a positive direction to complete this task for the 2017 hockey season,” said Citrigno. “We have made great strides and progress.”

Luciani said more than two years ago that native groups were willing to phase in a new logo as stock of Blackhawks merchandise is used up. They’re also willing to help design a culturally sensitive logo, he said.

But the time for inaction is over, said Luciani, who noted in his letter that legal action by native groups could involve both the Jr. B club and the city.

The city of Thorold has already removed Blackhawks logos from its walls. The next step of barring even jerseys, other apparel signs and marketing or advertising materials with the logo by June 1 of 2017 is necessary “to avoid exposing the city to any legal liability,” said Luciani.

In a letter to Luciani in early 2014, Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo called the logo a “cartoonish, stereotypical depiction” of First Nations.

“(It’s) inappropriate and, frankly, offensive” to both First Nations and non-indigenous people, he said.

In a recent letter to city council, Brock University Aboriginal Education Council co-chairs Ashley Lamothe and Dawn Zinga also called for the logo to be changed, saying it depicts aboriginal people in a “comedic” fashion.

“Many members of the council expressed concern that they would not let their children play for this team, as they may be ridiculed,” they said.

In a 2013 report, the National Congress of American Indians released a report on the topic, noting many professional teams adopted ‘Indian’ logos and names in an era when racism and bigotry were accepted, and when “the practice of using racial epithets and slurs as marketing slogans” was a common practice among white team owners.

The congress noted the very high suicide rate among native youth, and said studies show negative stereotypes of ‘Indian’ sports mascots play a role in perpetuating feelings of inadequacy among native youth.