Posted on 10/25/2001 9:33:30 AM PDT by wbill
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:38:29 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Officials at St. Cloud (Minn.) State want the University of North Dakota to leave its Fighting Sioux logo at home when its men's hockey team visits Nov. 2. "We don't tolerate hate speech," said Sudie Hofmann, associate professor and chairwoman of St. Cloud State's human relations and multicultural education department. Hofmann thinks the nickname and logo insult American Indians. But North Dakota has received no official request about the logo, athletic director Roger Thomas said Monday. The dispute isn't new. In March, St. Cloud President Roy Saigo submitted a resolution to the NCAA seeking elimination of all American Indian nicknames. Last year Ralph Engelstad, a Sioux hockey goalie about 50 years ago, threatened to pull a $100 million pledge to build a hockey arena. The state's higher education board voted unanimously to keep the nickname, saying it upholds the state's tradition and honors American Indians.
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
BTW, St Cloud's athletic director is Morris Kurtz and he can be EMailed at mkurtz@stcloudstate.edu The St Cloud Hockey web page is located at: http://www.stcloudstate.edu/~sports/hockey/hk.html
St. Cloud is pretty good this year...they stomped my favorite team (Maine) a couple of weeks ago. ND is one of the highest ranked teams in the country. Would be a shame to miss out on a great game because of a little PC BS.
Heh. Money talks, and something else walks.
I dont think the Seminole Tribe of Florida is going to like this. They frequently meet and vote overwhelmingly to allow Florida State University to use their image as the mascot. It is a source of pride. I think the columnist/native american David Yeagley would agree.
Did they get permission from the dogs to use their name? Don't they know how Huskies are abused? (sarcasm) Sounds like "hate speech" to me.
This is exactly why this issue is never really given any credence, outside of a few isolated cases. Sports teams are generally named after something fierce, tough and hard to defeat, although sometimes simply after something native to that area. This is exactly why so many schools historically used Indians as mascots. It definitely is honoring them. You dont choose a mascot name to make yourself look weak or to make fun of yourself or something else. Here in Tallahasseee, the "Seminole" name is actually BACKED by the Florida Seminole Tribe. There are about three or four Seminoles not affiliated with the tribe that protest here and there, but are generally ignored. The people that bitch about this do so because there is nothing else to bitch about at that time.
The Oregon DUCKS have never seemed particularly awe inspiring (Then again, their uniforms are a little weird.). Or the uni in my area - The Syracuse Orangemen??? Actually I think their logo used to have an American Indian in it; now it's a fuzzy orange with legs and a stupid little beenie.
We're becoming a country of wimps, by attrition.
prambo
A wabbit comes to mind.
As you so accurately stated, mascot names are chosen to exemplify courage, prowess and pride.
What was the deal with the San Diego Chicken? How did they get a CHICKEN as a mascot. The only connection I can see is quite a stretch: Padre = Friar = Frier = Chicken.
Dear Miss Hofmann,
As an American Indian I must point out to you that unless you are one yourself you can only surmise the insult and I must suggest that your surmise is incorrect. I, on the other hand, am not so immature nor thin-skinned as self-appointed patricians such as yourself seem to believe.Sincerely,
From my perspective the real insult is the campaign by leftists to remove the image and name of the tribes from everything and every place in America. Unlike you, I am proud to be a citizen of this, the only nation founded on the ideals of the enlightenment [you have heard of the enlightenment at St. Cloud State haven't you?].
What is a much bigger insult to American Indians such as myself is that academe, in its unfettered racism, offers a plethora of scholarships to American Indians, but only to study soft subjects like "Native American [sic] Studies", Anthropology and Sociology. Apparently academicians believe that beyond selling cigarettes and running casinos we are only qualified to contemplate our own navels and should not bother to pursue Engineering or the Sciences.
Please do everyone a favor and keep your race-pity to yourself.
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