Legal News

The Fights and Suits over the Fighting Sioux

By Ashby Jones

Some three-and-a half-years ago, the LB blogged about a lawsuit filed by the University of North Dakota against the NCAA, fighting the NCAA’s directive that the school stop using “Fighting Sioux” as its mascot. The school was swimming against the tide of others that had, over the years, halted the practice of using Native Americans as mascots (see, e.g., Stanford, Arkansas State).

In a piece out Wednesday, the NYT updates the story, with details of a new lawsuit over the matter.

The lawsuit, filed last month by eight members of the Spirit Lake Tribe grew out of a the earlier lawsuit, which was filed in response to the NCAA warning the university and 17 others to change their nicknames and mascots if they wished to show the images at NCAA-controlled championships or to host such events.

Since then, some colleges changed their logos, others sought and received permission from local tribes to keep them, and a few resolved the matter in other ways.

But, according to the NYT, North Dakota is still fighting. In 2007, the school and NCAA reached a settlement that let it keep the name and logo if the Sioux tribal councils in the state - at Spirit Lake and Standing Rock - agreed to the idea by the end of November 2010. Spirit Lake sued in attempt to keep Standing Rock’s objection from scuttling the deal.

On Wednesday, lawyers for the state will be in court on Wednesday to oppose Spirit Lake.

The battle over the mascot has cleaved the school and, to a degree, the state itself, writes the NYT. The members from Spirit Lake behind the lawsuit assert that many of the American Indians opposed to the Fighting Sioux nickname are simply from tribes other than the Sioux, and are jealous of all the recognition.

Others see the matter differently. "[T]o do what they're doing, you're more or less selling out," said Frank Sage, a Navajo and one of about 400 American Indian students at the university. "They're just being used."

But those suing said they were proud of the nickname.

"I am full blood and I grew up on this reservation," said Eunice Davidson. "I have to tell you, I am very, very honored that they would use the name."

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).