Braves' rubber clubbers give Cherokees an economic edge.

• Position: Atlanta Braves; Saddlecraft Inc.'s sales of toy tomahawks

If the Atlanta Braves have another winning season, a Cherokee-based manufacturer might make a killing on tomahawks.

By the time the Braves lost the World Series in October, Saddlecraft Inc. had sold 20,000 toy tomahawks to Atlanta/Fulton County Stadium and local outlets, President Paul Brown says.

The souvenirs also proved popular in the mountain gift shops where Saddlecraft does most of its business. Overall, tomahawk sales doubled from a year earlier. "I could have sold twice as many had I been able to produce them," Brown says.

Some Indians aren't pleased with Saddlecraft, of course. "Using Indians as mascots or Indianlike actions like 'the chop' trivializes our culture," says Bill Means, national director for the Minneapolis-based American Indian Movement. "Our culture is not for sale."

Don't tell that to Saddlecraft's 100 workers, most of them Indians. Brown, the majority owner of the privately held company, is not. "My workers are happy that the tomahawks are being sold because it puts bread and meat on their tables."

Tomahawks have...