Chief Tom-a-hawk and Setting Heifer

Amy Phillips, Grand Forks, letter:  Nickname recalls a disrespectful eraAs homecoming approaches, along with the “Sioux-per Gala and Auction,” I’m reminded of the 1930 football season in which the “Sioux” nickname was first used. For the 1930 homecoming game against South Dakota State, juniors and seniors planned a “Tribe of Sioux” pep group adorned with “Indian blankets and brightly colored robes” and “Indian head-dresses.” Freshmen and sophomores responded by organizing a “Tribe of Papooses.”

The winning sorority homecoming float featured “squaws pow-wowing around here and there,” and the Homecoming program showed cartoon drawings of various university dignitaries in apparent Indian attire, including “Chief Tom-a-hawk Kane” (then UND President Thomas Kane).

The Dakota Student newspaper, in the spirit of the name change, suggested that the title of one of its sections might be changed from “The Rack” to “Sitting Bull” and that an accompanying column for female students could be entitled “Setting Heifer.”Comment:  These examples show that the claim of choosing a "Sioux" mascot to "honor" the Sioux people is false. UND didn't choose the "Fighting Sioux" so it could pay its respects to the nearby Indians. It did so because Indians were colorful and exotic and wouldn't protest the comical stereotypes.

If UND supporters were honest, they'd say something like, "Yes, we originally chose the 'Fighting Sioux' name so we could poke fun and laugh at Indians. We were stupid and insensitive then and thought Indians were little better than animals. We apologize profusely for half a century of belittling Indians.

"Only in the last couple of decades have we grown to admire the Sioux. Before then we were lying when we said we admired them. Whether an Indian was dancing on the sidelines or lying in a ditch made no difference to us."

If any UND officials, students, or alumni admitted that the school didn't care about Indians for 2/3 or 3/4 of the "Fighting Sioux's" existence, then I'd consider the possibility that they were sincere. Until then, no. UND supporters are basically lying when they claim they always intended "Fighting Sioux" to be a sign of respect.