INGLEWOOD, California — FIFA paid tribute to California’s Native American tribes as part of the pregame festivities ahead of Friday’s match at SoFi Stadium, the tournament’s first in the United States.
So-called native land acknowledgments have become common in North America, especially on the West Coast of the United States and across Canada, but have faced criticism and ridicule as the “latest woke ritual,” as one Wall Street Journal commentary put it.
The prerecorded video that played as the stadium filled up with U.S. and Paraguay fans acknowledged the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation and Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians, among others, as “the original inhabitants of Los Angeles County.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s campaign-style efforts to win support from local political officials across the United States last year included visits with tribal leaders, POLITICO reported at the time.