Logos for People?

I read an article in central Michigan's Morning Sun today about the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe taking steps to copyright a logo and tag line they've created for themselves. It got me thinking about what kinds of things should be considered "logos."

Technically, people have used "logos" in the most basic sense of the word (a symbol representing a person or group of people) for thousands of years. Both coat of arms and flags could be considered logos. Then again, I think the word means something more (or less?). When I think of the word "logo" one major idea comes to mind; that it's a symbol representing a person or group of people who are working to profit from a business venture. The word "logo" is a representation of a business trying to sell products and services.

So when I hear that the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is working to copyright not a coat of arms, a mantra, a crest, a motto, or any of those other words, but a logo and a tag line it makes me die a little on the inside. Have we pushed the idea that consumerism is priority one so much that groups of people feel like they need to brand themselves and sell their identities? I would just brush this off as people using design jargon they don't really understand, but one of the members of the tribe tried to use this logo for a Facebook page dedicated to the tribe and was told to remove it. To me (and many members of the tribe) this is the equivalent of us making a group about loving America and the government telling us we can't use the Bald Eagle or the American Flag for the page's image. It shows very clear intent to use the image for the purpose of selling products and services, and fear that a group about the tribe may tarnish that logo's image.

I think what depresses me so much about the "Sag Chips" (as they call themselves) getting themselves a logo and tagline is that groups of people should be more than a business. As a Brand Director, as a graphic designer, as someone whose job it is to cultivate a company's image I am not trying to belittle what a business is, or what it can be. What I will say, however, is that the daily interactions people have, the experiences they share, and the human spirit in general amount to (and should amount to!) so much more than a business. To take a culture as unique and wonderful as that of the Native Americans and package it into a mere business is depressing to me. I understand that this one location is not an isolated incident for them, that Native Americans profiting on their image is nothing unique, but this is the first I've heard of a tribe making a business of their actual name.

If you're going to make a symbol for you, for a group of people, let it remain just that: a symbol. It is going to mean so much more as a symbol than it can as a logo.