"Is the name Fighting Sioux an insult or a compliment? Even North Dakota's tribes can't agree on that one. What is clear, though, is that supposed leaders — in this case, the North Dakota Legislature — can get on their high horses about anything, putting personal agendas ahead of common sense.

The University of North Dakota ran afoul of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules that ban the use of Native American team mascots. The university has long played its games as the Fighting Sioux. After a long wrangle, though, both sides sat down and negotiated a reasonable agreement: The school could continue to use its mascot if it could win the approval of the state's two Sioux tribes; otherwise it would have to eliminate the mascot by Aug. 15.

Some of the Indians liked the name, considering it an honor; Chief Sitting Bull was, after all, the heroic leader of the victory at Little Big Horn, where the Sioux were defending their rights to land under a treaty that had been violated by the U.S. government. Other Native Americans in the state considered the name to be the sort of stereotype that portrays Indians only in the context of physical aggression. (Sitting Bull also was a holy man, but that's not conveyed by the mascot.)"

Get the Story:
Editorial: Another Indian war in North Dakota (The Los Angeles Times 8/17)

Also Today:
SIOUX NICKNAME: Strinden says it’s time to move on (The Grand Forks Herald 8/17)

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