Baseball Hall of Fame to feature Spokane Indians in ‘voices of the game’
The Spokane Indians will be featured by the National Baseball Hall of Fame at 11 a.m. Thursday as part of an event called Virtual Voices of the Game.
Senior Vice President Otto Klein and Spokane Tribe of Indians Councilman Tiger Peone have been invited to discuss the partnership between the team and the Spokane Tribe.
The baseball club has donated numerous items to the hall of fame over the years, including a home jersey depicting the native Salish language that is part of the permanent collection at Cooperstown, New York.
“It’s cool,” Klein said of the invitation.
“We’ve had a relationship with the hall of fame since when they put our jersey on display. To see them circle back to us on this is tremendous.”
The event is online and free to attend. Klein and Councilman Peone will discuss the history of the lasting partnership between the club and the tribe, as well as feature some of their successful initiatives, including the Redband Rally Campaign.
To register to attend Thursday’s free virtual event, click bit.ly/2VoHg0b.
“The Spokane Indians are a part of (the HOF)’s education wing, and one part of their curriculum is about the Spokane Indians and the relationship with the tribe and our cultural and diversity initiatives,” Klein added. “I think it’s pretty neat they wanted to do this.”
For more than 100 years, the team has been partners with the Spokane Tribe of Indians. The tribe and team worked together in 2006 to develop an emblem representing both parties: an “S” outlined in the Indians’ signature pale blue, crossed by a feather as an icon of the tribe.
In 2014, the Indians introduced an alternate uniform that featured “Spokane” in Salish across the chest of their uniform. Today, the uniform is worn every day.
In September, Klein and tribe chairwoman Carol Evans participated in a moderated discussion for Northwest Passages, hosted by The Spokesman-Review, entitled “Baseball and Culture: A discussion about Native American imagery in sports.”