The statue was first erected at the Superior Pontiac dealership, then located on Broadway near downtown, in the 1960s. Credit: Samantha Serna

After 40 years of keeping a watchful eye over commuters, the iconic 26-foot Native American statue at the McCombs Superior Hyundai dealership is coming down, as first reported by the Express-News.

McCombs Enterprises Vice President of Marketing Peter Brodnitz told the Express-News that the beloved statue, known locally as “The Chief,” will be removed from the car dealership’s parking lot on Monday, July 31.

Brodnitz told the daily that The Chief no longer met Hyundai’s guidelines for the look and feel of their dealerships.

“It is the end of an era,” Brodnitz told the Express-News. “We’re bummed about it.”

The fiberglass statue was first unveiled at the Superior Pontiac dealership, which was then located on Broadway near downtown in the 1960s. The Chief was relocated when the dealership moved to its current spot in 1977.

Billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Billy Joe “Red” McCombs bought the dealership in 1989.

According to the Express-News, over the years, onlookers would see The Chief dressed in a giant Spurs jersey during playoff season, and he even sported a “Just Say No” T-shirt during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The statue was also sometimes the victim of bullet holes and even the occasional bow and arrow.

Although beloved by some, The Chief was no stranger to controversy and allegations of cultural appropriation.

In 2019, the Executive Director of American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions in San Antonio, Ramon Vasquez, told the Express-News that he had “no bad blood” with the McCombs family or The Chief. But, Vasquez did wish that the statue was more representative of a specific tribe rather than a “generic symbol” of Native Americans.

It’s yet to be seen what will become of The Chief. However, Brodnitz told the daily that the statue could be moved to a museum for educational purposes.

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This article appears in Jul 12-25, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...