National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall said he is worried that the NCAA may be backing away from its policy on Indian mascots.

Hall told USA Today in an e-mail that NCAI wants all Indian mascots removed. "We expect all mascots that are offensive to Native Americans be done away with, including and especially, worldwide recognized pro teams such as the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians," he said.

But he said he was worried that the NCAA is allowing Florida State University to use the "Seminoles" mascot. He acknowledge the Seminole Tribe's support for the name but said it was an isolated case. "The real message we need to take away from this is that the Seminole Tribe's decision was exactly that � a decision made by the tribe itself," he said in the e-mail. NCAI, which represents more than 200 tribes, has passed resolutions against mascots as far back as the 1970s.

The exemption has other school officials encouraged, though. The "Fighting Sioux" of the University of North Dakota, the University of Utah "Utes" and the Central Michigan University "Chippewas" hope their appeals of the NCAA policy will be successful. The University of Illinois is still deciding what to do about its "Chief Illiniwek" mascot.

Get the Story:
Other schools set to appeal Indian names (USA Today 8/24)
COLLEGE NICKNAMES: NCAA removes FSU from list (The Grand Forks Herald 8/24)
pw1
U. of .I weighing options on ban (The Chicago Sun-Times 8/24)
Illini case isn't similar to Seminoles (The Chicago Tribune 8/24)
pwday
FSU ruling might clear path for U. (The Salt Lake Tribune 8/24)
Glimmer of hope for Ute nickname (Deseret Morning News 8/24)

NCAA Announcement:
NCAA Executive Committee Issues Guidelines for Use of Native American Mascots at Championship Events (August 5, 2005)

Relevant Links:
NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee - http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/
membership/governance/assoc-wide/moic/index.html
National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media - http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm

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