[Peace-discuss] NCAA denies UND's appeal over Fighting Sioux nickname, logo

[Chuck Minne]

NCAA denies UND's appeal over Fighting Sioux nickname, logo 
 
By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY
 
The NCAA on Wednesday denied a University of North Dakota appeal to remove restrictions on the school's Fighting Sioux nickname and mascot.

After granting three previous appeals — Florida State, Utah, Central Michigan — the NCAA stood firm on its original ruling that North Dakota's sports nickname and related imagery create a "hostile or abusive environment." Critical, said Bernard Franklin, an association vice president, was opposition from two of the three local Sioux tribes and a resolution by the board of directors of the United Tribes of North Dakota in support of the NCAA restrictions.

FSU, Utah and Central Michigan all could point to agreements with local namesake Indian tribes.

"The decision of a namesake sovereign tribe, regarding when and how its name and imagery can be used, must be respected even when others may not agree," Franklin said in a statement.

The Standing Rock Sioux and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux both clearly opposed "the university's use of the 'Fighting Sioux' nickname and imagery," Franklin said in a statement.

The Spirit Lake Sioux tribe has made statements both favoring and opposing the nickname and logo, and Franklin said the NCAA was unsuccessful in getting a clarification. 

The board of United Tribes, which includes representatives of the five American Indian tribes in North Dakota, also unanimously approved a resolution supporting the NCAA ban. 

Donna Brown, assistant director of American Indian Student Services, said: "It was what I expected considering the evidence presented to the NCAA. Had it gone the other way, I would have lost faith in the system. This will shock a lot of people on campus, but I don't expect any backlash."

The NCAA lightened the blow to North Dakota in one respect, staying a requirement that the school "take reasonable steps to cover up" all Indian references in March when it hosts a hockey regional in Ralph Englestad Arena — where there are more than 2,000 Fighting Sioux logos.

North Dakota President Charles Kupchella had raised the threat of legal action in an August open letter to the NCAA. The school argued in its appeal that the nickname and logo "are used with the utmost respect and class and are in no way inherently hostile or abusive," and maintained it is "totally unreasonable" for the NCAA to change terms of the contract in place for UND to host the hockey tournament.

Franklin, in his statement, noted the existing contract and the unfeasibility of covering all the imagery in the arena. But the school will not be awarded future championships, he said.

David Gipp, president of the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, called the decision "the right thing, the correct thing, the ethical and the moral thing to do." 

The new NCAA guidelines apply only to postseason events the association oversees or certifies. Effective Feb. 1, North Dakota and 14 others with "hostile or abusive" nicknames or imagery will be barred from wearing uniforms with those references at championships or they must cover up the offending areas. That will apply to North Dakota if it makes the 2006 hockey field.

"The university will probably take legal action," Brown said. "Instead of that, they should be ordering new uniforms and begin phasing out the logo and nickname."

Barring appeals, all 15 schools will be prohibited from hosting future NCAA championships. One more appeal, by Bradley, is pending with the NCAA. 

		
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