One year after the University of North Dakota filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for banning the use of its mascot and nickname, the Fighting Sioux, the two parties have agreed to a settlement. Under the terms announced on Friday, UND will have three years to solicit the approval of the Spirit Lake and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes to continue using the Fighting Sioux logo. If they fail to obtain permission from these tribes, they will have to officially retire their logo.
This follows a related incident at Dartmouth last fall, when athletic director Josie Harper wrote a controversial letter to The Dartmouth apologizing for having scheduled a hockey game against UND. The mascot issue was only one of several Native American issues raised that fall, coming soon after Native American groups published a full-page advertisement in The Dartmouth, a Native American drum circle ceremony was interrupted by fraternity pledges and The Dartmouth Review published a cover featuring a Native American clasping a scalp under the headline "The Natives are Getting Restless."
In 2005, the NCAA listed UND among 18 other schools in the nation whose mascots or nicknames were hostile or offensive, and banned the use of the mascots in post-season competition. UND and the state of North Dakota sued the NCAA to challenge the ban last year. On Friday, North Dakota's Board of Higher Education voted unanimously to accept an agreement which gives UND till Nov. 30, 2010, to either seek approval from the two major tribal councils or retire its logo.
"This settlement treats UND like all other schools," said Bernard Franklin, NCAA senior vice-president for governance, membership, education and research services, in a statement. "If UND cannot secure namesake tribe approval, it will either transition to a new nickname and logo, or it will be subject to the policy."
Some Native American students at UND speculated that it is unlikely the tribal councils will agree to any further use of the current UND mascot.
"I feel very strongly that the tribes will not be swayed in their already firm decision to have the nickname removed," said Amber Annis, a UND junior who is president of the Indian Studies Association and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. "I think that it is rather unfortunate that these tribes will have to endure three years of UND officials tempting them with whatever they can to keep the name."
Greg Gagnon, an Indian Studies professor at UND, agreed with Annis, saying he was "reasonably confident that Standing Rock tribe will not under the current conditions approve this settlement."
"We are pleased that they recognize the idea of tribal sovereignty, the right to say yes or no," he said.
Several people close to the controversy cautioned that the debate is likely to remain even with the settlement.
"The settlement will definitely not end the controversy," said Leigh Jeanotte, the director of American Indian Student Services at UND. "In fact, I think you will see an increased lobbying effort to gain tribal approval which will once again unfairly disrupt the business of the tribes and tribal councils. Students, particularly American Indian students, are simply tired of this issue and the negative impact it has on their educational experiences here at UND."
Gagnon also voiced concerns about the "harassment and physical backlash" on anti-logo students that he feared would result from retiring the Fighting Sioux mascot.
Annis agreed, adding, "People are going to be angry that the name will be removed and I worry about that anger. The next three years at UND are going to be rough."
Although the ongoing controversy is not likely to disappear soon, it may be approaching a resolution.
"We all see a light at the end of a very long and strenuous tunnel," Annis said. "We are happy that after 40 years of asking UND to stop using an American Indian culture as their nickname our voices are finally being heard."
