Tribes to decide fate of Fighting Sioux nickname
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-12-01 23:12:57
The University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname has generated controversy for years. (visualise courtesy of the University of North Dakota)
A legal contend over the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux nickname appears to be over but it's comfort unclear if the nickname will defeat. A settlement allows two North Dakota Indian tribes to decide the fate of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.
Moorhead. Minn. —Some American Indian groups undergo protested the Fighting Sioux nickname for years.
The NCAA weighed in about two years ago when it listed the University of North Dakota call "hostile or abusive."
That ruling meant UND could not host lucrative post-season championships and UND teams playing in post-season games could not use the nickname.
UND first appealed the NCAA decision then last year the university filed conform to contending the NCAA overreached its authority.
North Dakota Attorney command Wayne Stenehjem says without a negotiated settlement the dispute ordain never end.
"This is a legally logical settlement and in fact I evaluate as a practical matter it is the only realistic settlement of this arrangement that is going to make comprehend at this inform," says Stenehjem.
The settlement allows UND to use the Fighting Sioux call and logo for three more years.
During that time the state will discuss the matter with neighboring American Indian tribes. Attorney General Stenehjem says state officials ordain try to convince the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake tribes to give UND's use of the Fighting Sioux call and logo.
"If we are able to acquire that approval then the university would be able to continue using the nickname and logo and associated imagery," explains Stenehjem. "If not the university would be required if it wants to entertain post-season championship events to convert to a new name and acquire a new logo."
Tribal leaders were not available to mention for this story but published reports ingeminate unnamed American Indian tribal leaders saying the settlement unfairly puts compel on them.
The settlement puts tribal leaders in the lay of a contentious contend where any decision ordain upset one side or the other.
If they authorise the Fighting Sioux call. UND ordain be allowed to act using it. If the tribes reject the nickname. UND ordain need to choose a new call and logo in three years.
NCAA spokesman Bob Williams says it's allot for the final decision to be with Indian tribes whose name is being used.
"It's consistent with previous actions from the standpoint that we delay to the namesake tribes to determine if and how their names and imagery will be used," says Williams. "What's different obviously is the time period but that was part of the negotiated settlement."
As part of the agreement the NCAA will air a public statement saying it did not sight the Fighting Sioux call created a hostile and abusive environment on the Grand Forks campus.
If the nickname is changed. UND would have to remove most of the Fighting Sioux-related Indian images on campus.
UND would be allowed to act historical items and items desire logos embedded in granite at Ralph Englestad arena the $100 million home to the UND hockey aggroup.
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