Deadline For Second Fighting Sioux Ballot Petition Has Come And Gone
On the June ballot, North Dakotans shot down a petition that would have kept in place a law requiring the University of North Dakota to keep the “Fighting Sioux” logo and nickname. But backers of that petition, including the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe, vowed to push ahead with signatures they’d already been gathering for a constitutional amendment to keep the name.
But the deadline for that petition has now come and gone, according to Secretary of State Al Jaeger.
I supported the Fighting Sioux issue, and the measure to keep the nickname in statute, but I opposed the constitutional measure. I was apprehensive about enshrining a sports nickname in the state constitution, and after voters shot down the statute I didn’t really think it was appropriate to then ask them about a constitutional amendment.
As frustrating as it is, and for better or worse, North Dakota voters bought into the idea that keeping the nickname would harm UND.
Tags: al jaeger, fighting sioux, North Dakota News, Spirit Lake Sioux, University of North Dakota
