The Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota...?

[Maggie]

In Twist, Tribe Fights for College Nickname

Sometime soon, the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota were to be no more, another collegiate nickname dropped after being deemed hostile and abusive to American Indians.

Except that some members of the Spirit Lake Tribe, one of two groups of Sioux in the state, say they consider the nickname an honor and worry that abandoning it would send them one step closer to obscurity.

“When you hear them announce the name at the start of a hockey game, it gives you goose bumps,” said Frank Black Cloud, a tribal member. “They are putting us up on a pinnacle.”

And so, in a legal standoff that has turned some preconceptions upside down, North Dakota’s top state lawyers will be in court on Wednesday to oppose members of the Spirit Lake Tribe who have sued to preserve the Fighting Sioux name and logo, an image of an Indian in profile, feathers draping down.

[ShockTalk]

That's the way I've always looked at a college nickname. Something that represents the state or region that one can take pride in.

That's probably why I never understood calling yourselves the Beavers or Ducks. But then again, that's Oregon.

[rjl]

I believe the Seminole tribe has done the same with FSU.

[SubGod22]

Most of the indian nicknames aren't offensive if you ask me. I don't know why they'd be seen that way. Why would anyone want to name themselves after something they don't have any respect for? The Fighting Sioux like many of the others is a show of respect and pride. There may be exceptions to the rule, but the state telling the tribe that they're wrong is laughable. Is this another case of the white man trying to put his foot down on the natives?

[ShockTalk]

Boll Weevils

[SubGod22]

Boll Weevils

At least it has historical significance and was a mighty pest that made life difficult for it's opponents

[ShockTalk]

Boll Weevils

At least it has historical significance and was a mighty pest that made life difficult for it's opponents

So did Hilter and the Black Plague.

[Maggie]

Most of the indian nicknames aren't offensive if you ask me. I don't know why they'd be seen that way. Why would anyone want to name themselves after something they don't have any respect for? The Fighting Sioux like many of the others is a show of respect and pride. There may be exceptions to the rule, but the state telling the tribe that they're wrong is laughable. Is this another case of the white man trying to put his foot down on the natives?

There appears to be other factors at play - which is why I thought it was interesting. According to the article:

The state’s Board of Higher Education and the university sued the N.C.A.A. to preserve the nickname and logo, and in 2007 reached a settlement that let it keep them if the Sioux tribal councils in the state — at Spirit Lake and Standing Rock — agreed to the idea by the end of November 2010.

But the Board of Education changed its position which resulted in the TRO.

On Wednesday, the statewill argue against the Spirit Lake members’ restraining order, raising questions about their legal standing, said Wayne Stenehjem, North Dakota’s attorney general. This puts him, too, in an unlikely spot: Mr. Stenehjem, an alumnus of the university who, like many other political leaders here, has been supportive of the nickname, filed the initial suit against the N.C.A.A. to protect the name. But if the Board of Higher Education wants to be rid of it now, he said, that is its authority.

[ShockerFever]

Totally stupid.

It makes sense that the state lawyers, who likely have no ties to the tribe at all, will argue something they have nothing to do with and the people who do have ties to the tribe are arguing for it.

Another case of politically correct overkill.