"Sometime Wednesday night at the University of Illinois' Assembly Hall, hundreds of folks will linger around the basketball court awaiting what will be a rather historic halftime show at the men's basketball team's final home game of the regular season. Chief Illiniwek will dance his last dance. It surely will be greeted by the mournful glances of thousands of frat boys in face paint, cool sun shades, fuzzy orange wigs, sweaty orange bandanas, ball caps, T-shirts and headbands; they will stand shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, rocking and swaying to solemn drum beats, not quite sure why any of this should have to end. Good gosh, I can't begin to express how glad I am that we'll never see this nonsense anymore. Every time I've attended an Illinois game and seen the 'chief' do his so-called tribal dance around the court, I felt completely and utterly creeped out. People kept telling me this kid in the grease paint without a drop of American Indian blood in his veins was performing a tribute to the Illiniwek tribe. I kept thinking it never felt right in the same way it never felt right to hear Pat Boone sing 'Tutti Frutti.'" Get the Story:
Bryan Burwell: Chief llliniwek is leaving us, and not one day too soon (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2/20) NCAA Update:
Status of Indian Mascot Policy (April 28, 2006) NCAA Executive Committee Decision:
Native American Mascot Appeals Decisions (April 28, 2006) NCAA Policy on Indian Mascots:
NCAA Executive Committee Issues Guidelines for Use of Native American Mascots at Championship Events (August 5, 2005) Relevant Links:
Chief Illiniwek, University of Illinois - http://www.uiuc.edu/dialogue/index.html
Retire the Chief - http://www.retirethechief.org Related Stories:
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Native lawyers file lawsuit against Chief Illiniwek (03/16)
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Editorial: Stop 'pussyfooting' on Chief Illiniwek (11/17)
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Students vote to retire Illiniwek (5/3)
Retain or retire, but no apology for 'Chief' (3/14)
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Illiniwek foes win round in court (4/6)
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