Opinion: Sioux tribes deserve a seat on university naming panel

It’s ironic to me that UND has hired another high-level administrator to be responsible for diversity and inclusion, while the university has neither included nor heard from North Dakota’s two major Sioux nations on the topic of searching for a new UND nickname.

I have visited with members of both the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock tribes, and they feel their voices now have been ignored twice regarding their gift to UND of permission to use the Sioux name.

First, they were ignored by the NCAA, which some legal experts believe did not have the authority in its bylaws to demand the nickname change in the first place.

Second, they were ignored by former Board of Higher Education and UND leaders, who have neither visited tribal leaders on their reservations nor asked them to come to UND to be involved in the naming discussion.