Protesting for change

Members of the UND Indian Association as well as several students, faculty, staff and concerned citizens came out in force before Sunday's exhibition hockey game to protest the use of the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname.

The twenty or so protestors were told to stand nearly 600 feet away from the arena in the hours before the game but that didn't keep them from receiving both positive and negative responses from the crowds of people that made their way to the Engelstad. Facing racial slurs and foul language the protestors stood in the rain and showed their presence by yelling "Respect native culture" and holding signs.

They were protesting in response to a ceremony that occurred before the game displaying the flags of the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake tribes as well as the nickname itself.

"It has been over 30 years of native people asking for the removal of the nickname from the school and now it is the arena that is taking the UND campus hostage …" said UND student Amber Annis.

While she felt it was appropriate to have the flags flown in the arena for the simple fact that the tribes are a part of North Dakota, she said the "dirty tactics" that were taken on by the Engelstad Arena were patronizing and disrespectful to native people.

Currently, the two tribes in question have not given their support of the nickname.

The protest drew a large number of people who rallied in favor of the logo and nickname. While the event was mostly peaceful, there were a few instances of verbal disputes from both sides of the issue.

Amid holding a sign and voicing her rally for respect for native people, Chelsey Luger, a junior at Dartmouth College said, "The logo and nickname, it perpetuates stereotypes about Sioux culture. The tribes have openly stated that we do not support the logo, but the REA still decided to use several native people in the flag ceremony. They're trying to silence the voices of the native people who oppose the logo."

She went on to say that she felt it was disrespectful for the arena to "use us as their mascot and as their logo … it's truly hurtful and upsetting and it causes a lot of damage in our community - I don't understand how they don't get that." While the rain smeared their signs and the wind blew cold during the rally, the protestors continued to show their feelings of dismay until the game began at 6:07 p.m. Protestors said that this was just one of the many showings of opposition they plan for the year and many said they will continue to do so until the nickname is changed.

It was just two weeks ago that the North Dakota University System Chancellor William Goetz called for a decision on the nickname debate sooner than the 2010 deadline outlined in the lawsuit. For many of the protestors, the 2010 deadline comes far too late.

"It has been too long that we've had to deal with this," said Leigh Jeanotte, director of the American Indian Student Services. "For the Englestad to interfere with the tribal governments just doesn't make sense. The logo has to change and it's a last ditch effort by the REA to try and keep the name."

For Luger, who used to live in Grand Forks, she says her entire life has been mired by feeling the "disrespect and hurtfulness" of the nickname and said, "I don't see the university trying to stick their noses in the situation and garner and rally support, it's clear to a lot of people that the logo needs to be changed. The REA is so concerned about their bank accounts and about maintaining this racist tradition that they feel the need to go and send people to the reservation to use people in their ceremony."

At the end of the rally, protestors yelled a collective, "Respect native culture," as the last people trickled into the arena; wet from the rain and cold from the wind, Luger concluded by saying, "Respect native culture, that's all what we want and we won't be silent. These people, they come here wearing the fake Indian logo and they say it's about respect and it's about honor, but we've all been here, you see what they yell and how they really feel about native people."