Mets Alter Event, Upsetting American Indian Group Braves fans doing the Tomahawk Chop. The Mets were planning a heritage celebration for July 25, when they host Atlanta. It has not been an easy season for the Mets, who are lurching toward the All-Star break with a losing record. Opposition has come in the form of hard-throwing pitchers, mounting injuries and marathon-length games, but the team suddenly finds itself facing heat from an unexpected source: an American Indian organization. When the Mets approached the American Indian Community House, a New York-based nonprofit organization, in March about helping to organize a Native American Heritage Day, the proposal struck members of the group as a good opportunity to celebrate their involvement in the community. A date was selected - July 25 - and they began to plan pregame festivities that would include traditional dancing and singing outside Citi Field. But there was a glitch, as far as the Mets were concerned: they were scheduled to host the Atlanta Braves that day. So in the past week, concerned that such activities might be interpreted by the Braves organization as a form of protest over its nickname, the Mets drastically reduced the day's activities: no singing, no dancing. And now there won't be any American Indians, either. On Monday, the A.I.C.H. pulled out of the event, citing frustration with the Mets for thwarting months of planning. The team has removed the event from its online schedule of activities. "Being a nonprofit in the city, we're not in the business of making enemies," said Kevin Tarrant, the deputy director of the A.I.C.H., which describes itself as an organization that aims to "cultivate awareness, understanding and respect" for thousands of American Indians who live in New York City. This whole thing wasn't even our idea. But it just feels like we're being marginalized again within our own community. A Mets spokesman said the team "opted to forgo the group sale in this case as our multicultural days and nights are celebratory versus political in nature." The Mets host multicultural events throughout the season as a form of community outreach. During the first week of August, for example, the team will stage Irish Heritage Night and Taiwan Day. Tarrant said his group originally hoped to hold the festivities in early June so that the game would coincide with an area powwow, a traditional American Indian gathering. But with the Mets on a road trip that week, the group suggested July 25 as another option. It was a 12:10 p.m. game, Tarrant said, which meant more children were likely to attend. Also, another powwow was planned for the following weekend in Queens. That the Mets were scheduled to face the Braves that afternoon was coincidental, Tarrant said, though the group was not so naïve as to ignore the political overtones. Various groups have criticized the Braves for their use of American Indian imagery, in particular the team's Tomahawk Chop chant. "It wasn't like we were planning to protest anything," Tarrant said. We just thought it would be great to show natives in a positive light - that we're human beings, and we're not from 300 years ago. We're visible. He added: "It was a win-win situation. We'd be supporting the Mets, the Braves and Major League Baseball. On March 27, a Mets ticket sales representative, who was working with the A.I.C.H. on the event, sent an e-mail requesting that the group draft a letter explaining why it had chosen a Braves game. The Mets" foremost concern, at least at the time, appeared to be squarely on the sensibilities of the American Indian community. "It is good to inform others that the Braves do not make a profit off of the sale of the game," the Mets representative wrote in the e-mail, "and no money would be going to support their organization." She attached an invoice for payment. As part of the deal, the A.I.C.H. agreed to pay a $2,000 deposit to cover roughly 15 percent of the cost for a block of 500 tickets, which the group would then help sell. In exchange, the A.I.C.H. would be free to stage pregame festivities outside Citi Field, including traditional dancing and singing as fans made their way to the stadium from the subway station. Rick Chavolla, the A.I.C.H."s education and development officer, said the performances were largely intended to raise awareness for Native Americans living in the city. "Not a lot of people invite us to step on a great stage like that," Chavolla said. We were really looking forward to it.