Mississauga Blackhawks hockey team forced to change name

A Mississauga minor hockey team will be forced to find another name and logo because of new recommendations proposed by the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL).

The Mississauga Reps, also known as the Mississauga Blackhawks, have until June 1 to come up with a new identity as the GTHL looks to implement widespread changes meant to eliminate discrimination and racism within the game.

The Blackhawks are the last team in the minor hockey system to use Indigenous imagery and references. The team, one of the oldest in the GTA, has been operating since 1961.

Released yesterday by the GTHL, Roadmap for Change: The Independent Committee’s review of racism and discrimination in the GTHL was initiated by the league–the world’s largest minor hockey system–to address perceived issues surrounding equity, diversity and inclusion following numerous complaints.

In the case of the Blackhawks, the GTHL has specifically adopted the recommendation that calls for the elimination of ethnic or stereotypical mascots or imagery from all teams and cubs. The policy now completely prohibits the use of any Indigenous names and logos as of June 1.

In 2016, the Ontario Human Rights Commission asked the City of Mississauga to remove all Indigenous imagery related to non-Indigenous teams from ice rinks and other facilities when a complaint was filed over cultural appropriation.

The Blackhawks, one of the teams at the centre of the complaint, were asked to change, but have been slow to comply.

The team could not be reached for comment.

When the City of Mississauga was established in 1974, local teams often took Indigenous names because popular thinking at the time believed the names honoured the history of the area. Shifting moral values have changed that notion, with almost all teams abandoning the Indigenous affiliations.

Some of the historic names attached to Mississauga community hockey teams were Mississauga Algonquins (Clarkson), Mississauga Cree (Cawthra Park and Dixie), Mississauga Navajo (Cooksville), Mississauga Iroquois (Erindale), Mississauga Hurons (Port Credit), Mississauga Mohawks (Malton and Meadowvale) and Mississauga Ojibwa (Lorne Park).

The Mississauga Blackhawks name and logo mimic that of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, who were named after a U.S. military infantry division. That division was named after Black Hawk, a Sauk who sided with the British in the War of 1812 and later attempted to regain tribal land in the Black Hawk War of 1832.