Indians Chief Wahoo Mascot Facing Scrutiny From Native American Groups

It seemed odd that the Washington Redskins were under so much fire for their nickname while the Cleveland Indians were not being taken to task for their Chief Wahoo mascot.

That has changed however as CBS Celeveland is reporting that Robert Roche, a Chiricahua Apache and director of the American Indian Education Center, is planning to file a federal lawsuit in late July against the Cleveland Indians organization.

Roche, who is also the leader of the group People Not Mascots, says the lawsuit will challenge that the team's name and Chief Wahoo logo are racist.

"We're going to be asking for $9 billion and we're basing it on a hundred years of disparity, racism, exploitation and profiteering," Roche told WEWS-TV. "It's been offensive since day one.

We are not mascots. My children are not mascots. We are people."

It's hard to look at the logo and not at least consider that the case may have some merits.