Certification of Standing Rock petition will take time

There seems to be a new twist with each issue that arises down on the Standing Rock Reservation. From my perspective it almost appears that the full press/stall is on and that there are members of the tribal council that do not want to allow a vote/referendum on University of North Dakota’s use of the Fighting Sioux nickname.

Fighting Sioux nickname supporters on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation met with tribal officials this week, hoping to expedite a membership vote on the name and logo. But they’ve run into significant procedural hurdles.

“We’re not even talking about the petition yet,” Tribal Chairman Charles Murphy said Thursday.

“We have a petition with 1,004 signatures, but we have to go through a process of getting it certified,” he said.

Nickname supporters submitted the petition bearing 1,004 names of tribal members who want to vote on whether Standing Rock should endorse UND’s continued use of the Sioux name.

But the tribal council won’t consider the petition until its signatures have been certified, and Tribal Secretary Adele White said Thursday that she can’t begin to certify the names until the council provides her with a certification process.

The tribe has no formal guidelines in place to deal with such an issue, White said.

“We need to draft a policy for certification,” she said. “They have to give me a process to set the criteria for a vote like this — when to hold the vote, whether it would be advisory or not.”
[Read the rest of the story]

UND nickname supporters say issue not dead

This article was in yesterday's Minot Daily News. Looks like the petition in question was tabled just because Chairman Charles Murphy was not at the meeting due to a death in his family and the petition will be addressed at a later meeting.

FARGO (AP) - Supporters of the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname and logo continue to hold out hope for its survival, even as UND President Robert Kelley maps out plans to retire the moniker.

The North Dakota Board of Education has voted to scrap the nickname, after the Grand Forks school waged a four-year legal battle with the NCAA. An agreement with the governing body of college sports would allow UND to keep the logo if it gets approval from the state's two namesake tribes, Spirit Lake and Standing Rock.

Last year, 67 percent of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribal members who voted endorsed the nickname's continued use.

Higher education board president Richie Smith said if the Standing Rock tribe votes in favor of the nickname before the Nov. 30 deadline set in the NCAA settlement, the board would likely revisit the issue. The board earlier added a provision requiring the two tribes to sign 30-year agreements for use of the name.

''If we get those 30-year agreements, I think we have a deal,'' Smith said.

Tribal backers at Standing Rock have turned in petitions with 1,004 signatures asking the council to approve an election. Tom Iron, former tribal vice chairman and nickname supporter, said the issue was tabled at a recent council meeting because Chairman Charles Murphy was absent due to a death in the family.

''Mr. Murphy told us to hold off until he gets home and we'll take care of it,'' said Iron, who lives in McLaughlin, S.D. ''He's very much concerned about what the people want because they submitted a petition with more than a thousand signatures.''

Another nickname supporter, former Standing Rock council member Archie Fool Bear, said the debate will rage on until the tribe has a vote.

''I'm hoping this council sees the light and says, 'Hey, the people want a say on this issue. Let's give it to them,''' Fool Bear said. ''And get away from the constant day-after-day and year-after-year haggling over the same thing like it's that terrible.'' [Minot Daily News]

Kelly seems giddy about changing the Fighting Sioux name Edit: Audio included

First off I am an alumnus of the University of North Dakota and nothing pisses me off more than what has transpired with the Fighting Sioux nickname, this spring. UND has lacked leadership and someone to bring the University of North Dakota forward.

In my opinion Robert Kelly is the wrong person to lead this university forward, I find him uninspiring. When I read this article it makes my head want to explode of course Robert Kelly is committed to lead the transition, he has no commitment, no attachment and no understanding of what the Fighting Sioux stands for, not a clue what so ever. Robert Kelly is an alumnus Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX Kelly could give a “flying eff” about the Fighting Sioux name and its storied history. Kelly is an academic who probably has never held a real job outside of the University setting and probably looks at the Fighting Sioux Nickname as a impediment to UND and his vision of what UND should be.

I still to this day believe that UND should be run by a person that is from UND and more specifically a UND grad. You can’t tell me we don’t have someone from UND and North Dakota that isn’t qualified to run this University. I can't be the only one that feels this way? Here is the video of the this uninspiring speech. [Click to watch]

GRAND FORKS – UND President Robert Kelley told members of the University Senate on Thursday that he is “fully committed to the implementation” of marching orders he received last month from state higher education authorities concerning transition from the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

Two “task groups” have been established, one to “plan and implement the process of honoring the history and traditions of the Sioux name and logo” and another to “reach out to students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends – all our constituencies.”

A third group has not yet been activated, he said, identifying it as a “new-directions task group,” which – when and if activated – “will help us think through the process of selecting a new name and logo for the university.”

Kelley, who will report to the state Board of Higher Education in Bismarck Monday on the transition, said that “for the immediate future,” he will recommend “that UND simply use its name – the University of North Dakota – and that our athletic and academic teams use the term ‘North Dakota’ or the interlocked ND as an outward identity for activities that require such designation.”

Due to licensing and contractual considerations, including the fact jerseys and other items already have been ordered, “we will use the Fighting Sioux name and logo through the coming year,” he said. “We’re certainly not going to cover up (that part of) any team item that has been ordered.”

However, “as we get through that cycle (the 2010-2011 school year), we would expect to see no Fighting Sioux logo” in use by UND teams, he said.

Kelley said he has had “cordial, businesslike talks” with representatives of the NCAA and with managers at Ralph Engelstad Arena concerning terms of the lawsuit settlement negotiated in 2007 by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. The NCAA stipulated that many of the Sioux logos and other features at the arena would have to be removed.

Standing Rock votes to table petitions on Fighting Sioux nickname

You have to wonder if the Standing Rock Tribal Council will ever have a vote on the issue, it's not looking good. I guess those 1,004 signatures don't mean a thing if the Standing Rock Tribal Council don't allow their members to have a vote.

Grand Forks Herald --- The Standing Rock Tribal Council decided again Tuesday to delay action on petitions that had been submitted by tribal supporters of UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

The petitions, bearing 1,004 signatures — about half the number of people who voted in the last tribal election — ask that the council allow the people of Standing Rock to have a voice in determining whether the university may keep the 80-year-old nickname.

A spokeswoman in Chairman Charles Murphy’s office said the council “tabled” the issue as it organized the agenda for its scheduled two-day meeting, but she did not know whether council members intended to bring the matter up again later.

Archie Fool Bear, a leader of the petition drive, said the council didn’t formally table the petition but delayed action again “because the tribe did not receive official notice that the State Board (of Higher Education) had acted on the name.”

The vote was 6-6 on a motion to affirm the council’s April 6 decision not to discuss the nickname issue until the State Board “finalized” its decision to retire the nickname. Vice Chairman Mike Faith broke the tie, Fool Bear said.

Faith and other council members did not return calls Tuesday. Chairman Murphy was traveling because of a death in the family and did not participate in the meeting.

“I don’t know how much more quibbling we can have on this,” Fool Bear said. “I guess we’ll have to get a copy of the letter the board sent” to Kelley.

Remember The Name! (Waving Flag - New Version)

Here is the latest updated version of Remember the name by Ryan Schaefer. You can also view this video on Face Book group - Fighting Sioux forever.

Everything I’ve done, I owe to hockey and UND

This letter to the editor was in today addition of the Grand Forks Herald, it's from a former Fighting Sioux hockey player that is also of Native American decent. I would like to see Sudie Hofmann or Winona LaDuke try to refute his letter...

By Bill LeCaine
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — I’m a Lakota Sioux and was born on the Wood Mountain Lakota Sioux reservation in Wood Mountain, Sask. That was where Sitting Bull and his people fled to in order to escape the U.S. Army after the battle of the Little Big Horn.

My mother took me off the reserve at age 4 or 5, and I lived with her on skid row until the government took me from her. After that, I lived in children’s shelters and foster homes.

I attended UND on a hockey scholarship and later played 14 years as a pro, including playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League.

I’m proud to have worn the “Fighting Sioux” logo and of what it stands for.

The name was chosen for all the right reasons: honor, pride, courage, respect and dignity, along with family and religious ethics that people are proud of.

Most alumni with whom I’ve spoken did not attend UND for the “Fighting Sioux” logo or name. But they did learn to love the name and school and everything that they stand for today.

Somebody once said that nothing happens until someone says something. More important, nothing happens unless someone is listening. I hope that 100 years from now, North Dakotans can say we made the right decision. Good things happen when good people do the right thing.

A few years ago, I met an author who wrote books about genocides that happened in the course of history. He also raised money for synagogues so that the world would not forget the Holocaust.

I asked him if he included in his books the genocide perpetrated on American Indians by our own government. He was embarrassed to tell me that he had forgotten that very significant part of our history and assured me it would be in his next book.

Only 130 years have passed since the battle of the Little Big Horn; how soon we forget.

The Fighting Sioux name and the programs that UND has for American Indians are a tribute to and should serve as a reminder of that part of history.

I’m also a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota because of my great-grandfather, Black Moon, who fought with Sitting Bull. My grandfather, John O’kute Sica, was a historian and writer. A German publishing company just printed a book with his writings of history and what might happen in the future. This summer, it will be published in English.

For my part, I only hope that my writings of the present can say that good people who do good things can have a profound impact on history and on the Indian nations that have not had many good things happen to them.

And I hope that my writings about the future will say what an uplifting occasion this was for all American Indians.

Let’s think about the future and not get stuck in the “now and immediate” time frame.

To sum up, I can say that everything I’ve accomplished today as an athlete, a father and a business person, I owe to hockey and UND.

LeCaine is president and CEO of Arrow Technologies, an Indian-owned company that designs and installs copper and fiber-optic systems.

He was the first American Indian to play in the National Hockey League.

Nickname fans willfully ignore complexities

So when you disagree with someone's point of view the best thing to do is resort to name calling and labeling. The social racial Sal Alinsky would be proud of Ms Hofmann; she probably has a copy of his book Rules for Radicals herself. Against my better judgment I am going to use this latest opinion piece to illustrate this point. This latest diatribe in today’s Herald is from one of SCSU’s self proclaimed Elite professors, let me make sure that I am getting this right. Sioux fans who like the logo are racist and miss informed, so we are just a bunch of uneducated rubges. So what about the Native Americans that support the Fighting Sioux nickname? I mean seriously the last thing we need is someone from SCSU lecturing us on race relations. SCSU is a university that has been marred by racial incidents.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Editors, publishers, sports fans and coaches are scratching their heads over the decision by the State Board of Higher Education to retire the UND logo and nickname.

They say they just don’t get it. They say they don’t understand what is going on with these tribal governments.

I agree. They don’t get it. I believe that they have no real concept of complex Dakota/Lakota/Nakota culture, tribal life or governance, nor do they comprehend the profound challenges in many tribal communities across the Dakotas.

They don’t understand because they haven’t had to understand. That is what privilege looks like.

Nickname supporters essentially have learned nothing about the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota people after all these decades of using their image and name for athletics at UND. All the claims of “learning” about these American Indian populations through the use of the nickname/logo would not earn most fans a passing grade.

They know little about how this issue has torn apart tribal communities in North Dakota and South Dakota. Nickname supporters likely are not aware of how groups have been pitted against each other over the nickname issue in terms of gender, age and districts within the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake nations. They don’t understand how the tribal governments have agonized over being put in this unenviable position of determining the fate of the nickname when it should have been the decision of the state board long ago.

Supporters also don’t identify the larger issues of race. They want to hang onto the image of the fighting warrior in some macho way. They don’t understand that the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota male “warrior “ was someone who was protecting his family and land from well-armed settlers and the military representing territorial interests.

It is a bloody, tragic history. It is time to stop memorializing — or even romanticizing — this image at athletics contests.

No one is learning anything at UND games about these genocidal atrocities. Could pro-nickname fans write even one coherent page on Dakota/Lakota/Nakota history and contemporary concerns that they would be willing to defend in a Native Studies course?

If UND has specific educational objectives or student outcomes linked to learning the history and culture of Indian people, then move this mission to a racial issues requirement within the General Education curriculum. That is where it belongs.

Students should be required to read deeply about Indian issues and dialogue about course content with skilled instructors.

The curriculum that has been learned at sporting events is a superficial or tourist approach to learning about Indian culture and arguably could be a lesson in bigotry and racism.

It seems that pro-nickname enthusiasts are not sincerely interested in learning the true history and contemporary issues affecting Dakota/Lakota/Nakota people but have used this as a ruse in defending the nickname and logo.

If pro-nickname UND fans honestly wanted to embrace and honor Indian culture, then they should abandon the one-dimensional image of the male warrior and learn the rich, diverse story of the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota people.

The UND logo and nickname do not tell this story any more than, for example, “Gone with the Wind” did for African Americans held in slavery in the antebellum South.
[Grand Forks Herald]

Chat with UND AD Brian Faison

Today there was a chat with Brian Faison the Athletic Director of UND.

12:16 [Comment From Grand Forks Guy:] You say your personal thoughts don't matter in the process. We think they do! What are your thoughts on losing the nickname?

12:18 Brian Faison: In my two years at the University, I've repeatedly been struck by the incredible emotion and support of our alumni and fans for the University and for Fighting Sioux athletics. I've been privileged to serve at different institutions around the country and nowhere is the allegiance as strong as here. There's no question this decision is a difficult one for our fans and people are struggling to deal with this in their own personal way.

12:20 Friday April 16, 2010: It would appear from the articles earlier in the week that Tom Douple or Brian Faison are not being up front with Wayne Nelson. Douple told Wayne Nelson on Wednesday that he didn't know if UND's application for membership in the Summit League would be reviewed. After that story appeared in yesterday's GF Herald, Brian Faison contacted Wayne Nelson with information that Tom Douple "told him that UND's application" would indeed be reviewed in May (or June). Which is it? Seems there have been many people running with the CYA approach this week; including Grant Shaft and Duaine Espegard, as well as Wayne Stenehjem. I hope that the Sioux name wasn't sold out for a "promise" on the Summit League that likely isn't ever coming. Would also be nice to see the UND Administration, including athletics, be VOCAL in SUPPORT of the SIOUX NAME.

12:22 Brian Faison: Commissioner Douple has been consistent in his conversations with me in terms of timing and the process for possible membership consideration. Specific to my most recent conversation with Commissioner Douple, he stated that he would place UND on the agenda for the Summitt Conference president's meeting in June, at which time they would discuss UND, as well as any other schools that may have applied. The conference has a specific process they go through in considering membership application.

12:23 Brian Faison: Commissioner Douple indicated that he will continue to monitor the situation at UND.

12:43 [Comment From UND Q: ] If UND can't get into the Summit until 2012 or 2013, and the nickname issue will be resolved by Nov. 30, 2010, why won't the Summit consider UND now? And is the nickname really that big of an issue to the Summit schools if almost all of them are currently playing UND in one sport or another?

12:45 Brian Faison: Great question. We've made that argument but the answer has been that the issue needs to be officially resolved.

12:47 [Comment From Guest Guest:] If we are unable to enter the Summit until 2013 what was the hurry in abrubtly ending the process of gaining tribal appoval? Is it fair to say that the only quick resolution that you mentioned earlier is/was changing the name...therefore is it safe to say that is the direction you recomended to the SBOHE.

12:48 Brian Faison: Resolution is resolution. It has never been about doing away with or keeping the nickname; it has been about getting the issue resolved and satisfying the terms of the NCAA settlement agreement.

Spirit Lake group urges Governor Hoeven to step in on Sioux nickname issue

Here is the latest news on the Fighting Sioux nickname. Members of the Spirit Lake Tribe are urging Governor Hoeven to get involved in the nickname issue. Govenor John Hoeven has said he will look at this issue. It will be interesting to see if soon to be North Dakota Senator John Hoeven will get involved in the nickname issue. You can send him an email with your feeling on the issue at this email address governor@nd.gov.

Bismarck, N,D. (AP) — Gov. John Hoeven says he'll review a letter from some Spirit Lake Sioux tribal members who want his help in keeping the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname.

The Board of Higher Education has decided to retire the nickname. The Spirit Lake tribal members want Hoeven to ask the board to take back its decision. They say the Standing Rock Sioux tribe needs more time to respond to the issue.

Hoeven wouldn't say whether he would approach board members directly on the issue. He says he'd like the board to work things out.

State Board of Higher Education President Richie Smith says he'd be surprised if Hoeven intervened.

Smith says the Standing Rock Sioux tribal council has passed on several chances to show support for the nickname.

Links

Plains Daily; Tribe wants Hoeven to presssure Higher Ed Board

SayAnyThingBlog.com; Sioux Indians Ask Gov Hoeven To Intervene On UND Nickname, Board Says They’ll Listen If He Does

Summit League to address UND application in June

Now the Summit League will discuss UND's application for admission to the Summit League during their June meeting. Does anyone else's head hurt yet?

The Summit League will discuss UND’s application to join the 10-team conference in June.

UND athletic director Brian Faison said he talked to Summit commissioner Tom Douple on today. Douple told the UND athletic director that the school’s application to join the Summit will be discussed at a meeting of league presidents in June.

“That is just the first step in the process,” Faison said.

UND has applied to join the Summit, the league that best fits UND and its move to Division I athletics.
[Grand Forks Herald]

Being in a rush to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname has no benefit to UND

The UND president and athletic director were in such a hurry to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname and yet it has yielded not positive results for the University of North Dakota. So my first question is; was the Summit conference a proxy for the NCAA in pressuring UND to drop the Fighting Sioux? Now that the Summit/NCAA is successful in getting UND to drop the Fighting Sioux name there really is no hurry for the mediocre Summit League to rush to act on UND’s application to the Summit conference. Why should they? The Summit holds all of the cards. Second it would appear that UND has been had, what do you think? I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Summit rejected UND’s application. It doesn’t appear that UND to the Summit is a slam dunk like some said it was.

The decision to retire the UND nickname and logo hasn’t been a topic of hot conversion at the Summit League.

What that means, however, is anyone’s guess.

Summit commissioner Tom Douple said Wednesday that the league is watching the situation at UND now that the school has begun the process of retiring its controversial nickname and logo.

The league, however, has not acted in any official capacity regarding UND’s desire to join the 10-team conference.

“Right now, we’re going to monitor the situation,” Douple said.

UND has applied to join the Summit, the league that best fits UND and its move to Division I athletics. The Summit, however, said it won’t consider UND until the controversy surrounding the school’s nickname and logo is resolved.

Last week, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education set in motion the process to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

Douple said he was out of town last week and did not return to the Summit office in Elmhurst, Ill., until Tuesday. The commissioner said he has yet to talk to UND athletic director Brian Faison about the SBoHE’s actions.

The league’s presidents will meet in June. But Douple said there is no indication the presidents will address UND’s application to join the league at that time.

“I’ll update the presidents in June,” he said.

The league currently is at 10 teams, although Centenary — a small school in Louisiana — will leave the Summit after the conclusion of the 2010-11 season. At that time, South Dakota — a school that made the jump to Division I athletics at the same time as did UND — will join the Summit.
[read the whole article]

Eschewing The Move On Mentality

Scott Hennen has a really good blog post today over on sayanythingblog.com about the Fighting Sioux name and it's worth a look. I would have to say that I agree with him.

The “move on” mentality is everywhere. “Let it go, Scott…” That’s what I’m starting to hear from some of lackluster Fighting Sioux faithful, and I can’t believe my ears. You would rather abandon 80 years of tradition than continue to fight an injustice being served not only to the Fighting Sioux fan base, but more importantly to the respective native tribes as well. Well fortunately for us real fans, there are still some folks out there who aren’t fazed by the continuation of the controversy.

We’ve all read the papers…the local media has revealed its ho-hum indifference to erasing the identity of our beloved UND athletics, but your Chairman isn’t ready to raise the white flag of surrender quite yet. Not until the real voices in this debate—-those belonging to the Native American tribes—-get their say. Sadly, last week’s board of higher education decision to abolish the Fighting Sioux nickname shows contempt for these voices. 1 board member revealed the pressure from the name change was coming from UND leadership. Not so fast folks! We still have some real leaders on the reservations trying to let their people speak out and put the issue to a vote.

We learned last week that Standing Rock Chairman Charles Murphy is committed to a referendum vote. Archie Fool Bear, Chairman of the judicial committee, has worked tirelessly on the reservation to garner over 1000 signatures asking for a vote. So Standing Rock will soon join Spirit Lake and each Sioux tribe is prepared to allow the people to decide. Then the NCAA objections and lawsuit, which had a November 2010 deadline, will have been answered. But we’re going to tell them it’s too late?

It's all about the Summit league

I am sure people all over the country are inspired by UND President Robert Kelley’s leadership, yeah probably not. I can’t believe he is this bold. Basically he sold our sole for the Summit League. If you think I am wrong check out his statement quoted below. It's all about the Summit league. We are changing our name for a chance to play Oakland University in basketball. Yippee!

Way to fight for the Fighting Sioux name. Oh that's right; you didn't go to UND so you have no emotional attachment to the Fighting Sioux name. It’s time to get a president that has ties to North Dakota and the University of North Dakota. Enough of the stuffed shirts that have no connection to the University. I would be willing to bet that Kelly was giddy as hell when he made that statement. I would actually waited on that declaration.

Kelley said that people "all over the country are watching to see how we handle this," including thousands of UND alumni.

Noting that many alumni are passionate about the logo and nickname, he said they also have proven to be "very resilient."

Kelley said he will call the commissioner of the Summit League Friday morning "and say the board finally acted."

He said he hopes that "puts us into the game (Summit League membership) no later than 2013." [Grand Forks Herald]

Press Conference tomorrow on the Nickname.

MAYVILLE, N.D. -- The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education has decuded to retire the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

The State Board directed UND President Dr. Robert Kelley to begin the transition process immediately. However, UND's athletics teams will remain the Fighting Sioux for the 2010-11 season.

UND athletics will hold a press conference at 9 a.m. on Friday to address today's decision. Attendees will include UND director of athletics Brian Faison, men's hockey coach Dave Hakstol, football coach Chris Mussman, men's basketball coach Brian Jones and women's basketball Gene Roebuck.