Say Anything Blog

The Minneapolis Star and Tribune had a terrific article about the Fighting Sioux Nickname.

But Archie Fool Bear, chair of the Standing Rock judicial committee, says his tribe’s leadership doesn’t represent the vast majority of tribal members.

Fool Bear himself voted for such a resolution in 2005. “They told us just negative things—that UND was a racist place,” he explains. Now, he says, he believes that he and others were fed a bill of goods.

“When I went around to my constituents on the reservation,” says Fool Bear, “a majority of people said, ‘Why can’t we vote on it?’ “Most tribal members would support the name if they got the chance,” adds Joe White Mountain, another committee member.

That would be consistent with Indians’ views nationally. In a 2002 Sports Illustrated poll, 81 percent of Native American respondents said no when asked whether high school and college teams should stop using Indian nicknames.

Members of the Standing Rock judicial committee visited UND early in 2006 to assess the situation for themselves. “We spoke to everyone, from students on the street to people at the gas station,” says Fool Bear. “Not one gave us any evidence of racism. We went to a hockey game, and they talked about the courage and integrity of the Sioux people. We looked at each other like, ‘Wow, we don’t even honor our Sioux warriors or veterans like this on the reservation.’ “

White Mountain recalls the committee’s meeting with a UND group that opposes the name. “I asked them, ‘What tribe do you belong to?’ “ he says. “Not one was a Sioux Indian."This group insisted that the name promotes racism on campus,” adds Fool Bear. “I told them, ‘Put any instances of abuse in writing.’ Today, I’m still waiting—I haven’t gotten one complaint.”

Wow, read the whole article.  The Minneapolis Star and Tribune gets a gold star for getting one exactly right.