Thanks for the invite. Here's my first post on Goon's excellent hockey blog.
I wish the opposition, like Grand Forks Herald employee Tu Uyen Tran, would realize they lost the racism angle when they lost yesterday's vote.
There were tons of people [tribe members] wearing Fighting Sioux gear, too, which impressed me. I tried to envision what nickname opponents must think seeing that and it would be like a black man in blackface.
Give up the whole you know better than us meme. You don't. You ignored the UND commissioned survey that showed strong support for the name. You ignored the Sports Illustrated poll that showed the same thing.
Now, after smearing someone who's been so generous to the community who's no longer around to defend themselves this guy is smearing everyone (and it's a lot of people) who proudly wear the Fighting Sioux logo.
To address the issue, no it's nothing like blackface. We wear the Sioux logo with pride. The blackface was meant to belittle and demean black people. It's not that hard to understand.
Time will tell if the majority on the reservation and in the community get their way. However it's time the Herald and the other self appointed elites drop the whole racist meme.
I think the City Beat writer needs to maybe step back from the issue for a while because he is stepping all over and in it.
ReplyDeleteWhat, I have to worry about calling two people Goon without realizing it now? Jeez, what kind of person do you think I am ;)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't think a Sports Illustrated poll is a very credible or reliable poll.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of americans don't feel the name is racist. Unfortunately, american indians don't make up the majority of americans.
That said, I've never had a problem with the name, but I am not american indian.
T.J. The poll while maybe not have been very scientific it still reafirmed what many of us thought was true. The anti-logo people are losing and they amp up their rhetoric and dirty tricks.
ReplyDeleteDid you know what the opposition does not want you to know? The model for Mr. Ben Brien's new logo design for UND is an actual person who was 14 years old at the time, his name is Dane Allapowa, a Dakota/Zuni who's mother is enrolled at Spirit Lake Dakota Nation. The reason he posed for Mr. Brien, was because when he was walking in front of Wilkerson Hall, a group of summer hockey camp attendees came out from lunch and said get the "Indian," because he had long hair, Mr. Allapowa was subsequently beaten up, however, he agreed to pose for the new logo because he wanted them to always see his face, that is what the "Fighting Sioux," spirit is all about. Mr. Allapowa considered the incident one to write off as ignorance because of their parents(summer camp hockey attendees) ethnocentric upbringing.
ReplyDeleteI think the public has a right to know the story behind the story and as a graduate of UND (1992) B.A. Indian Studies, I wonder why UND with all its foundation money and other funds cannot seem to expand the Indian Studies Department at UND, because I would like to receive my M.A. in Indian Studies from UND and not online from Standford or UCLA. UND's Indian Studies Department has only three instructors with a few more instructors and a larger budget perhaps they would have the time to develop a Master's program of study. I am writing this because I am Mr. Allapowa's uncle and I went to UND specifically because of the "Fighting Sioux," nickname! I am a proud UND Graduate and Dakota Man from Spirit Lake Dakota Nation and I say, "Hoka Hey," it is a good day to die! That is a saying that all Dakota/Lakota/Nakota Warriors would say before a battle.
Cetan Sapa (Blackhawk)