Frank Black Cloud: Fighting Sioux will not be silenced

This was a letter to the editor that was posted in the Fargo Forum. Before you label this gentleman a racist, don't do it, he's a member of the Dakota Sioux. This is one of the assumptions that people make when they talk about the Fighting Sioux. There are a lot of natives American that like the Fighting Sioux nickname.



In response to the outlandish claim that we Sioux are “racist”:

You obviously have no clue as to what you are talking about, nor do you have a full and complete understanding as to the name Fighting Sioux or its origins.

I, for one, am a proud Dakota Sioux and a very proud Fighting Sioux supporter as are many, many other members of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe. Our support and dedication to the name and logo are rooted deeply within our connection to our elders and the “gift” they bestowed upon the University of North Dakota in the 1930s and later solidified in the Sacred Pipe Ceremony in 1969.

I am a member of the group “The Sioux Were Silenced” because we were silenced and it’s a shame that you, as reporters, don’t explore that fact.

Nor do you even try to dig deeper into the facts that surround the removal of the gift that was given to UND by my ancestors and the elders of both Spirit Lake (Devils Lake Sioux Tribe back then) and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Why hasn’t the news media tried to explore the facts behind the sealing of the documents that could reveal the true reason and the real agenda behind the attack on the Sioux people and the name and logo at UND?

Were there any natives represented at that meeting with the NCAA and if so, who were they? What’s in the documents that they are trying to hide? What are you afraid of?

A good reporter would investigate these types of questions that the residents of North Dakota have the right to know. Then again, you may not be that good of a reporter.

We will never be quiet. We will not be silent any longer. We want answers and we will get them.

Frank Black Cloud from Fort Totten, N.D