Warchant

The Warchant is a rallying cry played at Florida State University football games and other sporting events featuring teams with Native American mascots.

Depending on what you believe, there are two histories of the War Chant. One such scenerio is that it took almost forty years in its evolution. With the popular cheer of the 1960s, "Massacre" led by members of the Florida State University Marching Chiefs chanting its melody, and changing it little by little each year until what we hear today.

Another version is that it was born during a 1984 game with Auburn. During that EXCITING game, the Marching Chiefs began to perform the cheer. Some students behind the band joined in and continued the "chant" portion after the band had ceased playing. The result, which was not very melodic at the time, sounded like chants by American Indians in Western movies. Spirited fans added the "chopping" motion a repetitious bending of the arm at the elbow, to symbolize a tomahawk swinging down. The chant continued among the student body during the 1985 season, and by the 1986 season was a stadium wide activity. The Marching Chiefs refined the chant, plus put its own brand of accompaniment to it.

Other sports teams, like the Atlanta Braves and the Kansas City Chiefs, have adopted one or both, the chant, or the arm motion called "The Chop". When Deion Sanders, a former Florida State player, played for the Atlanta Braves, fans started doing the Warchant, along with "The Seminole Chop". Even though Deion doesn't play baseball anymore, it has continued on at Atlanta Braves baseball games. Every year, more sports teams are doing The Chop. It has been seen in stadiums for the Washington Redskins, among others not even associated with Indians. Regardless, no one argues that, it was first "The Seminole Chop."