Editor:
I recently learned from another parent that the minor league baseball team I signed my kid up for is called the Burnaby Braves.
Our team chose an animal to name ourselves after this season. The Burnaby Baseball Association in no way promotes this name on their website. In fact, I had to “Google it” in order to find evidence that the name is used at all. I found an Instagram account that references the Braves, but it hadn’t been used since 2019 and I never did find the Burnaby Braves logo. It made me wonder if, what needs to happen, had already happened.
But when I emailed a contact at the BBA, sure enough, they confirmed that “we’ve been the Braves since our league’s inception” along with the email address to the board.
The name needs to go.
It’s evident that there is no pride in this name, in 2022. But even so, I didn’t know if I was going to go to my son’s first baseball game and find people doing a tomahawk chop or some other ridiculousness about my culture.
The thought of having to witness this is humiliating to the city of Burnaby and it is time to disassociate from this name entirely, that represents a mockery of Indigenous culture.
The Atlanta Major League Baseball team hasn’t changed their name or logo yet, but it’s going to happen, just like in Cleveland. Just like the Braves AAA Gwinnatt affiliate changed their name from Braves to Stripers. Just like the Saanich minor hockey team change their name from Braves to Predators.
It is time for Burnaby Minor Baseball to change our name.
Janine Chartrand, Burnaby
