Letter: Tribe's 'Fighting Sioux' committee a big waste of time

Tuesday, January 17, 2012  

"Do the actions of the Spirit Lake Tribe’s Committee for Understanding and Respect serve the interests of the University of North Dakota?

During 2009, after Standing Rock disallowed further use of the Sioux nickname, the State Board of Higher Education did what the NCAA-UND settlement agreement called for: It retired the name and logo.

How did the committee react? It sued the board, insisting the name be retained until November 2010, the end of the three-year consideration period.

Though rebuffed by the court, the committee wasted months of the board and UND’s time. In brief, it fiddled. Early in 2011, in another instance of trifling and fiddling, the committee supported House Bill 1263, which required UND to continue using the Sioux namesake. This brought NCAA sanctions and the threat of ejection from the Big Sky Conference."

Get the Story:
Donald Bruce Beard: Too much fiddling from tribe's Committee for Understanding and Respect (The Dickinson Press 1/17)

Related Stories:
Opinion: Not all tribes offended by 'Fighting Sioux' nickname (1/16)