Tomahawk chop facts for kids
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The tomahawk chop is a special way that sports fans cheer for their teams. It involves moving your arm back and forth like you are chopping with a tomahawk. This cheer is often done with a special song or chant.
It is most famous among fans of the Florida State Seminoles (a college team), the Atlanta Braves baseball team, and the Kansas City Chiefs American football team. The English Exeter Chiefs rugby team also used it until 2022.
Many high school teams also use Native American names and pictures. This has led to discussions about whether these practices should be changed. The Atlanta Braves even made foam tomahawks for fans to use while doing the chop.
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Florida State University
No one knows exactly when the tomahawk chop started. However, a former president of Florida State University (FSU) said it was created by the FSU Marching Chiefs band in the 1980s. They wanted it to go along with their war chants.
Over the years, fans of the FSU Seminoles started doing the chop too. Even so, the university's leaders do not officially support the action. They have said, "Some traditions we cannot control... It's a term we did not choose and officially do not use."
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs football team first heard the tomahawk chop in November 1990. The band from Northwest Missouri State University performed the chant. Their band director, Al Sergel, had graduated from Florida State in 1969.
Phil Thomas, who worked in promotions for the Chiefs, said, "It is a direct descendant of Florida State." He added that the band started the chop, and the players and coach Marty Schottenheimer really liked it.
The tomahawk chop has become a special tradition before home games. Chiefs cheerleaders used to hit a large drum to the beat of the chop. Sometimes a former player or a local famous person would hit the drum instead. The crowd would do the chop motion at the same time. Since 2020, Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders have been asked to lead the chop with a closed fist instead of an open hand.
Atlanta Braves
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Fans of the Atlanta Braves baseball team started doing the tomahawk chop in 1991. Some people thought baseball player Deion Sanders brought the chop to Atlanta. But it was actually the Braves' organist, Carolyn King, who started playing the "tomahawk song."
King had been playing the song before players batted for a few seasons. But it became very popular with Braves fans when the team started winning games in 1991.
Using foam tomahawks led to some criticism from Native American groups. They felt it was "demeaning" (disrespectful) to them and asked for the foam tomahawks to be banned. The Braves' public relations director said it was "a proud expression of unification and family." Carolyn King, who did not fully understand the issues, spoke with one of the Native American chiefs who was protesting. The chief told her that leaving her job would not change anything. He said if she left, "they'll find someone else to play."
In 2016, the Atlanta Braves played their last game at Turner Field. Before moving to SunTrust Park, the very last official act at Turner Field was called "The Final Chop." The Atlanta Braves war chant was played one last time, and fans did the tomahawk chop.
Foam tomahawk
A foam tomahawk is a toy made of foam rubber. It looks like a tomahawk. Fans use it to cheer, much like a foam finger. These foam tomahawks were first made in 1991 for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. They were created after the team's fans started doing the tomahawk chop.
How they were made
A foam salesman named Paul Braddy invented foam tomahawks. He heard Skip Caray say on a radio broadcast that the Atlanta Braves needed tomahawks for their new chop celebration. Braddy then talked to John Eifert, the Braves' concessions manager. He suggested making foam rubber tomahawks. Eifert agreed, as long as they cost around $5. Braddy carved a tomahawk out of foam using an electric knife. Eifert bought 5,000 to sell to Braves fans.
The foam tomahawks became very popular with Braves fans at the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. They were so popular that Braddy was able to quit his $60,000-a-year sales job. He started making foam tomahawks full-time, producing 8,000 every day.
Braddy began selling the foam tomahawks himself. However, a month later, Major League Baseball contacted him. They said the foam tomahawk copied the Atlanta Braves' copyrighted tomahawk logo. So, Braddy made a deal with Major League Baseball Properties. He got permission to use the MLB symbol and help with shipping. In return, he gave them 10% of his profits.
Exeter Chiefs
The English rugby team Exeter Chiefs started using the name "Chiefs" in 1999. In 2010, they began using the Tomahawk chop and a war chant. This happened after they were promoted to the English Premiership. They used it as their walk-out music at Sandy Park. Their fans also used it as a chant when traveling to other rugby matches in the UK.
In June 2020, some Exeter Chiefs supporters started a petition. They asked the club to stop using Native American images, including the Tomahawk chop. In August 2020, it was reported that BT Sport would not include the "tomahawk chop chant" in its fake crowd noises. This was for games played by the Exeter Chiefs that were broadcast on the BT Sport platform, especially during games played without fans.
In 2022, the Exeter Chiefs changed their team logo. They chose a Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe crest, moving away from the Native American crest. They also announced that they would no longer play the Tomahawk Chop as their anthem from the 2022–23 season onwards.
In popular culture
The 1993 movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights by Mel Brooks shows a crowd from medieval times doing the chop. They do it to support Robin Hood during an archery contest.
