Sioux want costume back

[Sioux-cia]

The first Chief Illiniwek actually traveled to a reservation-perhaps one in the North Dakota area-to learn about the dance. And others may also have done so, but its not mentioned anywhere so I won't claim it has been done since.

I don't know if it was the first Chief Illiniwek who did it but a Chief did go to South (not North) Dakota to learn the dance. It is documented somewhere but for the life of me I can't remember where. I lived in Champaign for a couple of years and that was a while ago.

[Sioux-cia]

I'm having a real problem with the thought of the UofI returning the regalia. It was freely sold to the University by it's owner. How many of our own families sold important family heirlooms because they needed money. I know mine did. Can I go to the people who bought them and tell them to return them to me because they are rightfully mine?

[Chief Illiniwek Supporter]

I don't know if it was the first Chief Illiniwek who did it but a Chief did go to South (not North) Dakota to learn the dance. It is documented somewhere but for the life of me I can't remember where. I lived in Champaign for a couple of years and that was a while ago.

I looked it up. It was the second person who portrayed Chief who went to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to obtain clothing. He purchased a suit of clothing (custom made for him, not anything that was a heirloom) and other items. This happened at the very begining of the Great Depression, during the winter of 1929-30.

Here is a quote of interest:

When Webber Borchers traveled to the Pine Ridge Reservation during his tenure as Chief Illiniwek, he spent many hours with several of the Sioux men on the reservation learning and perfecting his dance steps. Upon his departure, they inducted him as an honorary tribal member.

http://www.uillinois.edu/trustees/dialogue...t_files/IV.html

[PCM]

The Daily Illini caves in to the lastest controversy.

[Chief Illiniwek Supporter]

The Daily Illini caves in to the lastest controversy.

The DI has gone back and forth. A long while ago they were anti-Chief. Then the next year, a new group of students came in and changed the editorial stance to essentially neutral. One of the real newspapers contacted the leader of the pack who didn't like the Chief, a new grad who had gotten a job in the Seattle area. The young alum replied that he "didn't think that issue was important anymore", didn't care that much about it and basically hung up. I haven't kept up with the mood swings of the DI lately, but if you read the editorial you'll see that they blame the Board of Trustees for not making "a decision" but clearly the decision they favor is getting rid of Chief Illiniwek. I think if the Board had made the decision that Chief Illiniwek should stay, these students wouldn't like it at all.

I'd like to trace the DI's editiorial stance on using the name "Illini"; they probably didn't like it very much until the NCAA figured out that they couldn't change it. I noticed that the nickname wasn't mentioned today.

[Chief Illiniwek Supporter]

The latest on this story is that not only did the University of Illinois return the eagle feathers that Frank Fools Crow sold to us in the early 1980's, we actually sent him more eagle feathers that we had in our possession. And all of those sacred items were either lost in a fire or perhaps stolen from Fools Crow's truck. Was the truck on an Indian Reservation at the time of the theft? There is no information given on that question. But if so, what does that say about how someone on their own reservation treats the items of their religion?

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/200..._illiniwek_garb

This only reinforces the idea for me that this was primarily a publicity stunt.

A theme for those protesting Chief Illiniwek has been that the dance is a mockery of their religion. This article seems to say that more than one Indian observer views the dancing as more social than religious. I realize this isn't an issue for North Dakota, but it does speak to the idea that some Indians (and others) are willing to try anything to make it seem like these schools do everything in a discrimantory and callous manner, uncaring of other's traditions.

I noticed over the weekend that your hockey team beat Minnesota, congrats on that. If the Gophers decide they don't want to play you next year, you can be sure that more than a few people will say that it has nothing to do with the PC issue and everything to do with them not wanting to lose.

[HockeyMom]

I realize this isn't an issue for North Dakota, but it does speak to the idea that some Indians (and others) are willing to try anything to make it seem like these schools do everything in a discrimantory and callous manner, uncaring of other's traditions.

We have that here too.

[Chief Illiniwek Supporter]

We have that here too.

Seems to be a common theme. I've heard it called "throw all the (things) against the wall and see what sticks". Of course, people are never called on their false arguments.

I misspelled "discriminatory" above, but I won