The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
All it took was a few thousand signatures.
Back in November, I wrote about the controversy at the University of North Dakota, the last NCAA school with a Native American-related nickname whose status is still in dispute. After the university dropped its nickname at the beginning of the year, it looked like it was all over. But there is one more plot twist.
A law requiring the school to use its longtime nickname and logo, which shows the profile of an American Indian warrior, was repealed eight months after it took effect last year in a bid to help the university avoid NCAA sanctions. But ardent nickname supporters filed petitions with more than 17,000 signatures late Tuesday, demanding that the issue be put to a statewide vote.
To put it the simplest way possible, this is a petition to establish a referendum to overturn the repeal of a law that contradicted the NCAA rule which requires the university to cease using the Sioux nickname and logo. The state legislature repealed the law when they saw the NCAA had not budged and the required use of the Sioux nickname would only cause a hardship for the university.
A little more history:
The NCAA has famously deemed the University of North Dakota's athletic nickname as "hostile and abusive" and several noisy protest groups (only a very small minority of them actually containing Native Americans) have called - for decades now - for the teams there to find a new name. The school even announced its intention to bow to the pressure and retire the nickname by the end of the current season.
Then, the state legislature in North Dakota stepped in, and passed a law mandating that teams representing the state's oldest institution of higher learning be called the Fighting Sioux. Caught between the demands of the NCAA (which controls their athletic fate) and the state legislature (which pays their bills), the university was stuck in a state of limbo, hopeful that the lawmakers in Bismarck will repeal the state law later this month and allow them to move forward.
Even though the statewide election won't be held for months, the North Dakota referendum process has an interesting immediate effect.
As part of that process, the law -- which the university, the state Board of Higher Education and local lawmakers oppose -- temporarily goes back into effect. ...
"As soon as that petition was filed last night, the law reverts," University president Robert Kelley told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't want to violate the law."
So the school will temporarily reinstate the old mascot in accordance with the un-repealed state law, disqualifying its sports teams from NCAA competition. March is tourney time, and that potentially sets up a major clash. North Dakota is currently ranked #14 in the USCHO.com poll and #14 in the Pairwise Rankings, which would likely put them in the 16-team tournament as a 4-seed in the Midwest Regional. The team would either have to violate state law by shedding their nickname and logo, or be disqualified from the tournament.
Another really interesting part of this saga is that there are two Sioux tribes in the state of North Dakota: the Spirit Lake tribe and the Standing Rock tribe. The tribal council of the Standing Rock opposes the nickname and even refuses to let their tribe members vote on the issue. On the other hand, the Spirit Lake tribe supports the nickname and is suing the NCAA to allow the university to keep it. Some of their members worked on the petition drive.
“We worked in the cold weather. We froze. But even though we went through all that, it was really an experience, learning how to do this,” Eunice Davidson, a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, told the AP. She supports the Fighting Sioux nickname and has spent hours over recent weeks outside UND’s Ralph Engelstad Arena to gather signatures.
Let it not be said that political correctness always produces boring results.
(photo credit: Eric Hylden, Grand Forks Herald)
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Mar '11
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
It's one think to ask the Cleveland Indians to do something about Chief Wahoo or the Washington Redskins (argh my PC phone wants to autocorrect that!) to change their name now that it's a pejorative. It's something else entirely if it's used out of respect or honor. Perhaps this would be a bad time to remind the Left that Richland High School's mascot is the officially the Bombers and the student body is fond of chanting "NUKE EM" during football games.
Nov '11
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
I think you touched on this in your response to the high school teacher marrying his student article; when adolescence is stretched into the mid-twenties, many people never actually grow up. Lots of people in authority now have the mentality of children. This is a serious problem.
May '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
Just a little taste of what happened at William and Mary here: http://chronicle.com/article/NCAA-Rejects-William-and/37043/.
Dec '11
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
One of the most egregious offenses: the Fighting Illini were forced to say goodbye to The Chief.
May '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
The university dropped the mascot at the behest of the NCAA. The legislature didn't like that, so they officially established the mascot in state law.
May '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
In my original post on this topic I also mentioned my old high school in Minnesota. The Burnsville Braves were changed to the Burnsville Blaze. Coincidentally, a few months after the name change, an arsonist poured gasoline all over the hallways and torched the place.
May '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
Pseudodionysius
The former owner of the 16th largest hotel in the world, Imperial Palace Las Vegas, did it himself for some price north of USD $100 Million anticipating just such buffoonery. He threw in the construction of the arena itself for free.
Ralph Englestad · 4 hours ago
Yep. Check out the floor:
May '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
I suggest they change their name to the "Fighting Lawsuits"
Feb '12
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
When, Mr. Wilson, the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux icers beat my Michigan State Spartans (Personal apology here to all offended Greeks, who have enough problems right now already) for the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship, I was despondent. I'd like a do-over with the moniker "Formerly Fierce But Currently Whiny Warriors".
Aug '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
I only wish my alma mater (Marquette) had shown some spine years ago. Their teams remain Warriors to me.
May '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
Looks like they've done it twice, actually, in '59 and '87. I suspect the photo at the bottom of that webpage is from the '59 game. My condolences.
Mar '11
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
Note Chief Illiniwek cap in profile pic ------------------------->
The University of Illinois has never been among the thoroughly corrupt NCAA's favored nation status going back decades, namely the Deon Thomas, Bruce Pearl controversy. This latest assault on institutional autonomy is just the most recent selective outrage. What's worse is the UIUC administration just caved due to political pressure from left-wing professors and the NCAA was just the excuse they needed.
I applaud the fortified spine of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
On a related note, Chief Illiniwek used to perform a Lakota Sioux fancy dance with authentic regalia provided by a North Dakota Lakota Tribe. Since the confederated Illini tribes are extinct, there is no one to object save the remnant Peoria in Oklahoma, who have an excellent Chief , who is suspiciously not offended at all by the Fighting Illini or our beloved symbol.
Jul '10
Re: The Fighting Sioux, Still Alive and Kicking
My two favorite examples of this PC tomfoolery entering sports are:
1) The Hofstra Flying Dutchmen (one of the coolest and most unique names in all of college athletics) changed their mascot to the Pride (like a lion pride) because the term Dutchmen was considered sexist ... even though it's a ship.
2) Stanford changed their mascot from the Indians to the Cardinal, the color not the bird, and now their mascot is a ridiculous looking tree.