Chairman Says Tribe Won’t Approve Fighting Sioux Nickname

Very interesting situation. My first question is, if Ron His Horse is Thunder is voted out of office how is he going to continue continue to oppose the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname, even if he loses his re-election bid. my first question is how, if the people of the Standing Rock Tribe are allowed to vote and accept UND's use of the Fighting Sioux name. Is one man that powerful that he can stop the people from voicing their opinion?

From everything I have read that the Standing Rock Tribe is going to wait until after the tribal election to re-address the approval of UND's us of the Fighting Sioux nick name. It would be interesting to see what kind of action does RHHiT plans to use to stop it? The article says that the vote was 9-3 against the nick name but who is to say that they won't change their mind?

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said Thursday that tribal officials will continue to oppose the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname, even if he loses his re-election bid later this month.
The North Dakota Board of Higher Education has voted to abolish the name and Indian head logo unless it gets a 30-year agreement from the state’s two Sioux tribes by Oct. 1. The issue was not on the agenda at the board’s meeting Thursday, but a handful of supporters and opponents of the nickname spoke during a public comment period.

Standing Rock Chairman Ron His Horse Is Thunder told the board that most recent vote by the Standing Rock tribal council was 9-3 against the nickname. He said the result shows the council’s position does not depend on whether he stays in office.

“Let’s move forward with this,” His Horse Is Thunder said. “We have beat each other enough as it is.”

Nickname supporter Archie Fool Bear, also of the Standing Rock reservation, asked the board to allow more time to vote on the nickname and logo.

“I say that with a good heart and an open mind because I respect everybody’s opinion,” Fool Bear said. “If it’s negative and it’s bad against the logo, I respect that opinion. But our culture has always been considered by a lot of people to be a strong point for surviving as a Sioux nation.”