No fight left in the "Fighting Sioux"



We read:

"North Dakota's Board of Higher Education has agreed to drop the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname and Indian head logo, a move intended to resolve a decades-long campus dispute about whether the name demeans American Indians.

The name and logo, which is a profile of an American Indian man with feathers and streaks of paint on his face, could still be saved if North Dakota's Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes agree by Oct. 1 to give the university permission to use them for at least 30 years. However, tribal officials say that possibility is remote. Unless the name and logo receive tribal endorsement, they will be retired for good on Aug. 1, 2010.

"What this permits the University of North Dakota to do is to start a marketing initiative," Kelley said. "Over time, I think we would see enhancement of our revenue structure for athletic programs. I think we would see the enhancement of fan interest."

UND sports teams have been known as the Fighting Sioux since 1930, when the moniker replaced Flickertails. Arguments against the nickname's racial origins have flared regularly for decades. Its supporters say the name is intended to honor North Dakota's Sioux tribes, while critics say it is demeaning and fosters racial tension on the university's campus in Grand Forks, in northeastern North Dakota.

The debate came to a head in September 2005, when the NCAA declared Fighting Sioux as "hostile and abusive" to American Indians and said UND would be barred from hosting NCAA postseason tournaments if the school continued using it...

American Indian backers of the nickname, who have been campaigning on the reservations to garner support for it, asked the Board of Higher Education before Thursday's vote to back the nickname and logo. Many residents of both reservations take pride in "Fighting Sioux," they said.

Source

When the team chose its name it was obviously an expression of admiration for the brave Sioux warriors of the old West. It should be obvious that teams don't names themselves after something they think ill of. But asking the Left to see the obvious is a big ask. They don't want to see it. All they want to do is destroy and disrupt -- and any excuse will do for that.

Posted by John Ray.