‘I will not be moving on’: sale of WNBA’s Connecticut Sun leaves Native fans facing cultural loss
The Mohegan Tribe made the Sun the first Native American-owned franchise in pro sports. Fans say the team’s move to Houston echoes centuries of erasure and displacement
TL;DR
- The Connecticut Sun WNBA team, owned by the Mohegan Tribe since 2003, is being sold and moved to Houston.
- Native fans view the sale as a violation of the Mohegan Tribe's sovereignty and a continuation of historical erasure and displacement.
- The Mohegan Tribe faced challenges in the sale process, ultimately agreeing to a lower sale price ($300m) than an initial deal ($325m) that would have kept the team in New England.
- The team's unique identity, including uniforms that honored Mohegan culture and language, is at risk of being lost with the move and rebrand.
- Fans are concerned about the erasure of the team's 24 seasons of history and its connection to the Mohegan Tribe.