Showing posts with label Warroad Minnesota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warroad Minnesota. Show all posts

Monday, August 18, 2014

Star Tribune: Lawsuit threat dropped by Bellecourt's group

Very good news for the Warriors logo. Clyde Bellecourt has dropped his his plans to sue Warroad High School for using the Warriors logo. Here's my suggestion to Bellecourt, maybe you should have done some research before you tried to strong arm the Warroad community and Warroad High School.
Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune -- Clyde Bellecourt and his cohorts caved in on the Warroad Warriors after a meeting with Henry Boucha on Monday. Basically, Bellecourt's group released a statement admitting that it did not properly research the connection between the nickname, Warroad High School and the Warroad Indian Community.

Here was the statement released to Jess Myers, formerly a Warroad resident and a reporter who has been following this story:
Here's a post in question from Henry Boucha's Facebook page.


Star Tribune: Henry Boucha responds to Bellecourt

If you haven't seen this, it's worth a look. Former Warroad Warrior and Minnesota North Star Henry Boucha let Clyde Bellcourt and the National Coalition Against Racism  know how he felt about their efforts to get Warroad to change it's logo. These comments were posted on his Facebook account.
Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune Henry Boucha offered this response on his Facebook page on Friday night:

“It the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, the Warroad Indian Community, the Indian Education Department and the Warroad Indian Parent Committee supported keeping the name Warroad Warriors. [The Warroad Indian Community] still does today!

“We are proud of what the Warriors represent. Warroad [Kay-Bay-Kah-Nong] is derived from War Road, a trail to the West where the Warriors (our ancestors) traveled down to fight and battle the Sioux. We fought many fierce battles and won the war, keeping our land on Lake of the Woods.

“This is what the name is all about, and we are proud to have it.

“The Indian Parent Committee and the Warroad Indian Community designed the logo for our school. We use it today and wear it with pride.

“We haven’t had a mascot in 40 years. No-May-Poke, a brother to KaKaGeesick and Little Thunder, sold part of his land allotment at a very reasonable price to the Warroad School. It was at [that] time the Warroad Warriors name was instilled, with pride.

“This issue should be left to the communities to decide. Warroad decided once, and we’ll keep the name!

“The National Coalition, with members David Glass, Clyde Bellecourt, Michelle Mills, Norman Renville and Alan Yansey, who instigated this issue with Warroad, along with their lawyers using donated monies and wasting it on this lawsuit, only want fame and national recognition. They should feed the homeless and use the money for something good.’’

Take the hint, Clyde, and go back to the noble task of getting rid of the Washington Redskins.
 Boucha posted this picture on his facebook page.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Grand Forks Herald: Group threatens suit against Warroad school’s Indian logo

This story was on the front page of the Grand Forks Herald this morning. I was under the impression that the Ojibwe tribe had given Warroad High School their blessing to use the Warriors nickname. It will be interesting to see what happens in this case.
Charly Haley, Grand Forks Herald -- National organization is threatening to sue the Warroad, Minn., school district over its use of an American Indian mascot, the Warriors.

The National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media sent a letter to Warroad Public Schools on Thursday, asking the district to begin transitioning away from using the Warriors logo, which is an American Indian head.

If the school district doesn’t contact the coalition and start that process in 30 days, the coalition may pursue legal action, according to the letter, which cites the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 as making the logo discriminatory and illegal.

“If you choose to remain in denial, we will after a 30 day waiting period file all necessary and available actions to enforce the laws,” the letter stated.

Representatives from the Warroad school district did not return calls from the Herald Friday.