Free Republic

The Illinois-Northwestern game is over and it ended in another Illini defeat. Chief Illiniwek's last gridiron dance may have taken place yesterday. The "braintrust" at the NCAA has ruled that the Fighting Illini nickname is okay for the University of Illinois to use--but the Indianhead logo and the Chief Illiniwek mascot have to go. As with every Big 10 football game yesterday--Ohio State-Michigan being the exception--the game was played for a trophy. The winner of the annual Illinois-Northwestern game gets to take home the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk trophy, which is pictured below, next to the Chief. (But keep that quiet,...

The long-running dispute over the University of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek as a symbol will move into a courtroom. Chief Illiniwek has long been a target of Native American groups who say he is demeaning to them. But the mascot still performs at U of I sporting events. At a news conference Tuesday, the Illinois Native American Bar Association announced it filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court. The group says continued use of Illiniwek is racial discrimination and violates civil rights laws. "The University of Illinois ought to be teaching respect for other ethnic minorities, not exploiting them. Continuation...

MILWAUKEE (AP) The caricature mascot Willie Wampum won't be dancing back to the Marquette University campus ... but school officials wouldn't rule out returning to the Warriors nickname of the past. After a discussion today, the university's Board of Trustees decided to continue the conversation and gather more information before deciding whether to keep the nickname of Golden Eagles or return to Warriors. The board also passed a resolution saying Marquette will prohibit any nickname using American Indian references, imagery or symbolism. Some alumni have urged for years that the university restore the Warriors nickname. It was replaced a decade...

<p>Legislation to ban California public schools or their mascots from being named after American Indian tribes was killed Thursday by the state Assembly.</p> <p>AB 858 sparked lengthy debate over whether the bill was a much-needed attempt to end an offensive practice or an exaggerated example of political correctness.</p>

"IF COLORADO had a high school team named the Niwot N-ggers, with a big-lipped spear-chucker as a mascot, we all know that African-American groups would demand that the school change the name," writes Denver Post columnist Reggie Rivers. It is therefore astonishing, concludes Rivers, that some people still defend team names such as "Braves," "Warriors" " and "Renegades" – names that are just as insulting to American Indians as Niwot N-ggers would be to blacks. With these words, Rivers accidentally stumbled upon the unspoken question looming behind the great team mascot debate: Why don’t we have any sports teams named...

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - A group has collected signatures from about half the law students at the University of Oregon, asking the school's athletics department to boycott games against teams with American Indian mascots. The Sport and Entertainment Law Forum says it wants to use the success of the UO's sports program to press the issue with other universities. The group is also asking UO student athletes to pledge never to accept an offer from professional teams that use American Indian nicknames, such as the Washington Redskins. Frank Silva, a UO law student and member of the forum, said he...