Bismarck, ND – The Fighting Sioux nickname of the University of North Dakota was the focus of a panel discussion on Indian mascots at an Intertribal Summit being held in Bismarck. The summit titled A Cultural Context for Tribal Development is a chance for state and tribal leaders from the upper Great Plains to share ideas and concerns. Most tribal officials at the summit stand opposed to the Fighting Sioux nickname and mascot.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe representative Jesse Taken Alive says his opposition to the Fight Sioux nickname is not anti-University of North Dakota he says he is only defending his tribe.
We must defend ourselves. We must defend our children. We've been through so many decades and so many generations of this type of treatment and in this new millennium this shouldn't go on anymore by this very prestigious university in the United States of America the land of the free.
Taken Alive says Native Americans are the only race of people in the United States to be used as mascots
And one of my colleagues, a fine elderly gentleman who is Caucasian, begged to differ with me. He said we have the Fighting Irish. I responded back and said the moment those little leprechauns walk into this meeting we're going to have to listen to them. But until then we're the only race of people that are used in this demeaning fashion.
Dr. Leigh Jeanotte (gen-not) of the U-N-D American Indian Student Services says the mascot issue is a dark shadow over the entire U-N-D faculty and student population.
This issue divides our campus. We have faculty for it on one side and faculty opposing the name on the other. We have students for the name and against the name. We have white versus Indian. We have Indian versus Indian. It keeps going on and on. Our governor of our fine state had something to say about the NCAA decisions in this issue. Did he talk to the tribal leaders in our state? I don't think so. I have to be honest in saying UND does try really hard to use the name in a respectful fashion. But quite honestly there are no policies to deal with misbehavior. There are no policies to address some of the abuses that take place with this name.
Seven Sioux tribes in North Dakota and South Dakota have signed resolutions opposed to the U-N-D nickname. Tribal officials say U-N-D has not acknowledged the requests of the sovereign nations. Jeanotte says he thinks it is a matter of time until U-N-D gets the go-ahead from the N-C-double-A to continue using the nickname despite the earlier ruling that bans the use of Indian mascots during postseason tournaments.