North Dakota No Longer Fighting Sioux

Steve Mohan in Native Challenges. Discussion »

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Grand Forks - The University of North Dakota had one last chance to keep the nickname Fighting Sioux as they brought the battle all the way to NCAA President Mark Emmert on Friday. They met for over an hour and Emmert said that he would not compromise on a court imposed settlement to change the Fighting Sioux nickname by the August 15th deadline.

Until North Dakota changes their nickname they will be banned from hosting NCAA tournaments in all sports and will not be allowed to use the nickname and logo at NCAA tournament games.

In an October 2007 agreement with the NCAA, UND agreed to discontinue using the logo and nickname by August 15, 2011. The NCAA would let UND keep its nickname and logo if it received approval from North Dakota’s Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes. The university has received an endorsement from the Spirit Lake tribe’s governing council, but The Standing Rock Sioux have long opposed the “Fighting Sioux” nickname and have refused to change their stance.

The State of North Dakota passed a law on January 4, 2011 that ordered that the University of North Dakota remain the Fighting Sioux as well as maintain a logo featuring the profile of an American Indian Warrior. North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple is planning to bring forward legislation that will allow the school to change the nickname, repealing the April law. However that is not planned until November 7th.

The NCAA is not the only one pushing North Dakota into a corner, other schools are threatening to cancel their games with the university. North Dakota is planning to move to the Big Sky Conference next fall and they have told them that they may not be welcome if they do not change the nickname. This comes on the heels of 8 American Indian students at North Dakota suing the school on Thursday.

The University of North Dakota Nickname and Logo blog »

posted August 13, 2011 8:40 am edt