Fliers denounce "Sioux" supporters

Nickname struggle intensifies

Fighting Sioux nickname opponents make an allegation Engelstad family can’t ignoreTake the single most offensive racial epithet in American English, add “Prairie” to it and you have what may be the most offensive thing anyone can call a Prairie Indian.

Those words appear in bold, three-quarter-inch type on fliers that are now spreading all over the Spirit Lake reservation.

They’re part of a quote opponents of UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo are alleging the late Ralph Engelstad spoke a dozen years ago in a bar, when referring to Sioux Indians trying to change the nickname of the hockey team he once played on.

Today, those trying to make that change are using the fliers as part of a campaign to convince voters on the reservation to say “no” to a referendum on the nickname and logo Tuesday.

The explicit goal is to demonstrate that Fighting Sioux is connected with racists.More on the fliers:Another flier had pictures from a 2007 UND sorority party in which some men—two of them white and one Asian—wore loincloths, war paint and feathers. A woman wearing an Indian maiden dress appeared to be in the middle of war whoop.

Longie said this one was his best weapon in converting nickname supporters into opponents.

Still another flier had quotes evidently taken from a Facebook group, “Petition to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname.” Among the quotes were insults directed at Indians and this one: “Not to sound like a (expletive), but we did win the war. White America was kind enough to not kill them all, so ... yeah, we shouldn’t have to give up the name.”Comment:  Thanks for demonstrating the racist attitudes behind the "Fighting Sioux" nickname, people.

For more on the subject, see Team Names and Mascots.