UND Considering Replacing Fighting Sioux Nickname With Custer's 7th Cavalry?
As part of their on-going process of transitioning away from the controversial “Fighting Sioux” nickname the University of North Dakota has released the list of public suggestions they gathered from the internet.
You can read read the list of nicknames which, per the official UND nickname website, “contains nickname suggestions recommended to the Committee for consideration” here. The list of nicknames that won’t be considered is here.
It’s honestly a little difficult to discern how exactly potential nicknames were sorted onto these lists.
For instance, here are some gems from the non-consideration list:
- A-holes from Grand Forks
- Fighting Nazis
- Evil White People
- Eskimo Brothers
It’s pretty obvious why those names aren’t in consideration. But then there is the consideration list, which has these among its suggestions:
- 7th cavalry
- Flickertails
- Frackers
Now, to me, one of those names jumps out. The 7th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army was, infamously, commanded by Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
No, I’m not kidding.
Keep in mind, the whole reason the University of North Dakota is engaging in this rigamarole is that the “Fighting Sioux” is considered racist and offensive by a small but vocal minority of activists.
But the committee tasked with coming up a new and non-offensive nickname is recommending for consideration the name of an Army regiment responsible for the Wounded Knee Massacre?
I’m not kidding you. It’s really on the list. And the people who submitted the suggestion weren’t exactly hiding why they picked it:
Either the folks on UND Nickname Committee are just mailing it in, or they’re badly in need of a remedial history class.
Backup copies of the lists for when UND realizes what’s going on are available here and here.
