No more fighting Sioux

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Publish date: Aug 12, 2011
North Dakota plans to retire nickname

INDIANAPOLIS – North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said he will push to resume the process of retiring the controversial nickname and logo from the University of North Dakota after the NCAA reiterated its policy on Native American mascots, nicknames and imagery during a meeting here Friday.

Dalrymple and a group of state representatives had hoped to convince the NCAA to grant the school a waiver of the policy, which prohibits nicknames and imagery that are deemed hostile or abusive toward Native Americans, before facing sanctions on Aug. 15. Those sanctions would prohibit UND from hosting postseason tournaments or using its Fighting Sioux nickname and logo in any NCAA postseason events.

After Friday’s meeting, Dalrymple said it was clear that the NCAA would not alter its stance.

“It’s our understanding coming out of this meeting that the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo will be dropped,” said NCAA Vice President for Communications Bob Williams. “The contingent from North Dakota made it clear that they were committed to changing the legislative action that would require retention of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. However, our settlement agreement remains in effect, and,  as a result, the University of North Dakota will be subject to the policy effective Aug. 15.”

The meeting was the latest in a six-year odyssey that has played out in court rooms and the floor of the North Dakota legislature. The North Dakota Board of Education was in the process of retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname over the last two years, but it was stalled by a legislative bill passed in April. The new law, which took affect Aug. 1, mandated the continued use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and placed the authority for a name change in the legislature’s hands.

At that time, Dalrymple said the school expected potential punishment would be limited to the NCAA’s postseason bans. But the Big Sky Conference said in June that continued use of the nickname would complicate UND’s future membership in the conference, which was set to begin in November. Dalrymple said the possibility of scheduling boycotts from other schools was another unforeseen consequence.

The damage incurred from a continued fight outweighed the principles driving it, he said. “I have come to the conclusion that the cost of retaining the Sioux logo is too great,” Dalrymple said. “There’s no question that the settlement agreement will stand according to the NCAA, and there will be no further negotiations.”

Dalrymple said he will ask the North Dakota legislative leadership to allow legislation to be introduced during a special session on Nov. 7 that will transfer the responsibility for the logo and nickname from the legislature back to the Board of Higher Education, which could then retire it. Dalrymple said a nickname change would also require the approval of the UND Alumni Association’s Board of Directors.

• Florida State Seminoles
  
• Central Michigan Chippewas
  
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  
• Illinois Fighting Illini
  
• William and Mary Tribe
  
• NJIT Highlanders
  
• Penn Quakers
  
• Iona Gaels
  
• SDSU Aztecs
  
• Utah Runnin' Utes

Purplegeezer wrote:
The Tribe claim they no longer refer to native Americans, but to the broader concept of community.

Purplegeezer wrote:My favorite, though is Brewer, the alcoholic beverage mascot of Vassar College.

(Founder Matthew Vassar brewed beer)

RipCityPilot wrote:It's my understanding that in order to have a nickname of a native american tribe (i.e. Seminoles, Chippewas, etc.) your school has to have the permission of the tribe. But, the NCAA is pushing for these things to be dropped, so I really don't understand why FSU Seminoles and CMU Chippewas are still okay.

The most generally accepted explanation is that the press coined the nickname as a characterization of Notre Dame athletic teams, their never-say-die fighting spirit and the Irish qualities of grit, determination and tenacity. The term likely began as an abusive expression tauntingly directed toward the athletes from the small, private, Catholic institution. Notre Dame alumnus Francis Wallace popularized it in his New York Daily News columns in the 1920s.

DoubleDipper wrote:OMG, did anyone else recognize these Pilots fans cheering UND's decision to keep the Fighting Sioux name?



Image courtesy of the UP Alumni office (Although I don't know why they would feature the guy in the dark shirt).

(Reuters) - Voters in North Dakota on Tuesday overwhelmingly endorsed a proposal to abolish the state university's "Fighting Sioux" nickname and Indian head logo, banned under a national college sports policy that deems such symbols as racially offensive.

More than 67 percent of voters supported the move that will allow the University of North Dakota to end its use of the nickname and logo - based on a Native American caricature - in order to avoid possible sanctions by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

However, supporters of the symbol have said they will continue their fight to retain the "Fighting Sioux" name and logo after years of appealing to alumni and to the state Legislature, which just last year passed a law to keep the images, only to then reverse itself with a repeal.

The university's alumni association and foundation had stayed neutral on the topic for decades, but in early February stepped in to support retiring the nickname and logo, spending $250,000 on the issue.

"The issue wasn't preference. If that were the case than clearly the name would be staying," said Tim O'Keefe, executive vice president and CEO of the alumni association and foundation. "It was about the significant price the University of North Dakota athletic program would pay under NCAA sanctions."

The NCAA, which governs college sports, adopted a policy in 2005 to bar images considered offensive by some Native American groups, but allows schools to use them if they gain approval from namesake groups.

It bars schools that don't from hosting championship events or wearing uniforms with the images during NCAA playoffs.

Retention of the name and logo could also make it harder to recruit players, complete athletic conference affiliations and schedule some opponents.

"GREAT DIVISION"

O'Keefe, who played hockey at North Dakota from 1967 to 1971, said the debate "has brought great division to a passionate and loyal alumni and friend base."

The NCAA had given North Dakota three years to obtain permission from two namesake tribes. One tribe approved, but the second never voted on the request, forcing the university to prepare to abolish the nickname and logo.

North Dakota lawmakers did intervene, passing a law in early 2011 that required the university to keep the name and logo, but repealed it months later under the threat of NCAA sanctions. Nickname supporters then gathered enough signatures to force the statewide vote held on Tuesday.

Indian mascots, nicknames and logos have been used widely in U.S. sports, and approval of their continued use or retirement by major universities has been mixed.

Under pressure from the NCAA, the University of Illinois retired its Chief Illiniwek mascot, who danced on the field at football games, but the namesake Seminole tribe approved Florida State University's continued presentation of a mascot who wears an Indian headdress and rides horseback at football games.