Spirit Lake nickname supporters again contact Big Sky

Image via WikipediaThis issue doesn't seem to be going away and time soon and it appears that it's going to linger on for some time to come. The only thing that is going to sway the NCAA and the Big Sky Conference is if Standing Rock Tribe gives UND permission to use the Fighting Sioux nickname. The NCAA and the Big Sky Conference do no care if the Spirit Lake Sioux approve of the name or not.

Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald --- Fighting Sioux nickname supporters at the Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation have again contacted the Big Sky Conference commissioner to underscore their commitment to seeing UND continue using the name.

In a letter dated Sept. 30, leaders of the Committee for Understanding and Respect reminded Commissioner Doug Fullerton that they speak for the tribe, citing a resolution adopted by the Tribal Council on Sept. 2.

The resolution, adopted unanimously, noted that the council and an earlier tribal referendum “affirmatively approved and supported UND’s use of the name and imagery of the Fighting Sioux.”

With the “overwhelming support of the people of this tribe,” the resolution continued, the tribe “entrusted UND with the responsibility of working with the tribe to increase the number of Native American graduates from Spirit Lake and create a Native American program on the UND campus which would bring respect and understanding amongst all students, faculty and staff at UND.”

Like I have said in the past, I think it's funny that the NCAA and the Big Sky Conference are unmoved by the efforts of the Group from Spirit Lake to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname, this is not a group from Ralph Englestad Arena, Grand Forks or Fargo, ND. This an actual group from the Spirit Lake Nation, and this group represents this wishes of the Spirit Lake Tribe. The NCAA claims the nickname is hostile and abusive but the Spirit Lake Tribe disagrees with the NCAA. Without the approval of the Standing Rock Sioux the point is mute and the NCAA and the Big Sky Conference will continue to be unmoved.

A couple of Links

Image via Wikipedia
Here are a couple of stories of interest.

The Next Little Big Horn: Black Cloud Cloud Says NCAAs Actions Discriminatory Against Spirit Lake Sioux

Well ahead of the August 12 meeting, the Spirit Lake Chairman and Tribal Council wrote a letter to the NCAA asking if they could come to the meeting and represent their tribe’s position on the issue, but NCAA officials denied the sovereign nation’s request.

Here they are going to talk about the fate of the Fighting Sioux, and the name and the proper use that UND has given it, and the tribe that supports it, they don’t even want to hear from, said Frank Black Cloud, a Spirit Lake Leader, on the Scott Hennen show yesterday. “How do you not want to hear from the people that it affects the most?

The name was given generations ago,” stated Black Cloud, “and the NCAA really has no bearing as to what the tribe does and how the tribe gives their namesake away. We gave it in honor.

Carlson Says The Battle Is Not Over Yet on Sioux Nickname.

FARGO, ND - Those people [ND Legislators] don’t throw protest votes around. They were listening to the citizens of North Dakota when they cast their votes, and every one of them was well aware of what would happen in terms of conference affiliations and all of those things,” House Majority Leader Al Carlson (R-Fargo) said today of the legislature’s spring decision on the Fighting Sioux nickname bill.

Carlson went on to say that there is also no certainty that the law will be repealed in November.

At no point in time was there a promise made that we will change the law tomorrow, in spite of what was said in the media. I can't guarantee that those 93 people will all switch their minds, Carlson said in an interview on the Scott Hennen show today.

I think the name should have stayed, said Carlson. In the end if it can't stay, then so be it. But that day is not here yet.

Related articles

• The NCAA a bunch of hypocrites? (mvn.com)
• NCAA won't budge (mvn.com)
• Former Sioux football players Jim Kleinsasser weighs in... (mvn.com)
• UPDATE: Shaft: NCAA meeting about Fighting Sioux nickname postponed (mvn.com)
• Fighting Sioux nickname meeting with NCAA rescheduled for Aug. 12 (mvn.com)