Fighting Sioux Name Elimination Plan on Schedule
FORT YATES, N.D. – The Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council has voted to reaffirm its opposition to UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, a council member says.
The tribal council’s vote last Friday was 8-1, but two members chose not to vote and six others were absent, council member David Bird said.
A settlement between UND and the NCAA gives UND three years to lobby for support of the nickname and logo among the state’s Sioux tribes. If it does not get that support, the nickname and logo will be retired.
Taken with this statement by the Chancellor and former Hoeven Chief of Staff Bill Goetz.
If those talks don’t yield a compromise by which UND may retain its nickname and logo, Goetz said he would advocate retiring the nickname and logo before the three-year window offered by a legal settlement with the NCAA is up.
“I think there’s a lot of consensus on that,” Goetz said.
You can get some background on the matter here.
I spoke with my attorney about the settlement. He said that he has a lot of respect for the Attorney General Wayne Stenejhem and he thought that e must have had an understanding with the tribes to keep using the Sioux name.
I guess that’s the only way this deal would make sense. We had a winning case so why turn the matter over from the North Dakota court system to the political system on not one but two tribes. Now with the decision by the Standing Rock Council it makes me think that they never had a deal. I suppose there’s still a chance that the Governor will come in on his white horse (press release) and throw a lot of money at the tribes. I don’t agree with that any more than I agree with threatening them.
So taking the tribes at their word as we always should have it looks like this was a terrible settlement by the attorney general and the governor appointed Board of Higher Education. At the time this was called a “change in policy” by the Chancellor.
What to make of this. I think that a decision was made at the highest levels of the state government to deal away the name. No consideration was giving to what the Grand Forks community, alumni, fans or students thought about it. After all they know what’s best for all of us children.
Doing this under the cover of a court settlement was good camouflage. We’ve now got a signed settlement which is as binding to us as if the legislature had passed a law and the governor had signed it. The beauty of this method is that they can deny responsibility. All we’re left are a few clues like the Chancellor saying there’s a consensus to drop the name and that it’s a policy change.
But really if the attorney general is a competent lawyer with a winning case why would he accept a settlement where we have to get the agreement to get not one tribe but two’s agreement on us using the name? And why would you settle for letting them change their minds at any point?
We need new leadership in Bismarck.
