Moontee Sinquah spent only one minute onstage inside the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix during the NFL鈥檚 Super Bowl Opening Night. But it鈥檚 a minute that will remain unforgettable.

The Native American hoop dancer had never been that close to football players and coaches about to compete in the league鈥檚 biggest game. As he and other Indigenous performers sang and danced, they heard elated whoops from Indigenous people in the audience.

It gave Sinquah chills.

鈥淚鈥檓 just really grateful that they did highlight our people because I think it鈥檚 really important,鈥� said Sinquah, who is a member of the Hopi-Tewa and Choctaw nations. But when he thinks of that inclusion coupled with Super Bowl cameras panning to Kansas City Chiefs fans doing the maligned 鈥渢omahawk chop,鈥� Sinquah says that juxtaposition leaves him 鈥減erplexed.鈥�

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the only thing that really bothers me about that whole thing is that, and I don鈥檛 know where it came from. And I don鈥檛 really fully understand it, but it is almost like a mockery,鈥� Sinquah said.

The Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs embarked on their victory lap Wednesday, with players and fans alike doing the 鈥渃hop鈥� during a raucous parade and rally. Indigenous people are grappling with the national spotlight once again falling on the team鈥檚 mascot and fan 鈥渨ar chant鈥� 鈥� which they deem racist. This past week in Arizona, where at least a quarter of the land base is tribal reservations, there鈥檚 been a complicated mix of delight for the NFL involving Native and Indigenous cultures but disdain for those cultures being appropriated.

Fans of the Chiefs long ago adopted the chanting and arm movement symbolizing the brandishing of a tomahawk that began at Florida State University in the 1980s 鈥� though the school has an agreement with the Seminole tribe to use the moniker and tribal imagery. In 2020, the Chiefs banned headdresses and war paint in the stadium and pushed for cheerleaders to do the 鈥渃hop鈥� with a closed fist instead of an open hand.

There were plenty performing the chop in a red sea of fans in Chiefs gear along the parade route and in front of Kansas City鈥檚 Union Station, where the parade ended. The team then closed out the rally by doing the 鈥渃hop鈥� in unison in a slurry of confetti.

Andrea Robinson, an 18-year-old psychology major at the University of Kansas, hollered while doing the open-handed chop with the crowd.

鈥淚 think we should keep it,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淚 mean we need to be respectful about it. I understand but I mean it鈥檚 a tradition.鈥�

David Cordray, a 38-year-old heating, cooling and refrigeration technician from Kansas City, Missouri, said he doesn鈥檛 see the harm in the gesture or the mascot. He also pointed to changes such as the retirement of the live mascot, a horse named 鈥淲arpaint鈥� that a cheerleader would ride in the stadium after the team scored. Previously, a man donning a Native headdress rode the horse.

鈥淚f they don鈥檛 think it is OK to do then maybe we should stop. But the Native Americans I鈥檝e come in contact with have said that they didn鈥檛 have any issues with it. Basically it is all opinion-based,鈥� Cordray said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gone a long way to make sure that we are respectful of everybody鈥檚 culture and being vigilant about it.鈥�

The origin of the Chiefs nickname may have more to do with the mayor who helped lure the franchise from Dallas in 1963 than any connection to Native Americans.

Mayor H. Roe Bartle was a large man known as 鈥淭he Chief鈥� for his many years of leadership in the Boy Scouts. Team owner Lamar Hunt reportedly named the team the Chiefs in honor of Bartle.

Even the connection with Bartle has undertones that some find offensive. Though he was white, Bartle started the 鈥淢ic-O-Say Tribe,鈥� a youth camping organization that remains active and continues to use Native American attire and language. Young participants are 鈥渂raves,鈥� and the top leader is the 鈥渃hief.鈥�

last week that Bartle obtained permission from the Northern Arapaho Tribe to use the term 鈥渃hief.鈥� Rhonda LeValdo, founder of the Kansas City-based Indigenous activist group Not In Our Honor, disputed that narrative.

James Simermeyer, a member of the Coharie Tribe based in North Carolina, watched most of the game from his home in Baltimore. He appreciated the involvement of Sinquah鈥檚 dance troupe and a University of Arizona student who is Navajo and deaf using Native American sign language during 鈥淎merica the Beautiful鈥� before the game. At the same time, it felt like 鈥渙ne step forward two steps back鈥� when he heard the chant Kansas City fans do during the chop.

With the publicity around the Chiefs鈥� win, Simermeyer said it鈥檚 like an implicit condoning of all the things Native and Indigenous people find hurtful.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no positive reason to support it. But it just kind of affirms the negative behavior that Kansas City fans are doing,鈥� Simermeyer said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine how many other people are out there and having the conversation with their non-Native colleagues about whether or not they鈥檙e offended by this.鈥�

鈥擳erry Tang And Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press