What's Happening

After a short hiatus, we're back. Today we look forward (below) to the near and not-so-near future, and back (right column) to the March protest.

Two noteworthy events are on the immediate horizon regarding Chief Illiniwek:

1. Shadowing the Quad
   Minority houses on campus plan an educational campaign, beginning with an event on the University of Illinois Quad on Monday, April 12 from noon - 1 p.m. regarding the struggle for, and history behind, cultural houses on the U.I. campus. More info? contact us.

2. Rally to Eliminate Chief Illiniwek
   A rally will be held on Thursday, April 15 from noon - 3 p.m. at the U.I. Alma Mater on the west side of the Illini Union. The rally regards the cancelled 4/15 Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting -- at which the Chief issue was to be raised -- -- and the planned change in BOT rules to forbid a single trustee from placing an issue such as the Chief on the Board agenda. The rally is sponsored by the PRC.

IMC Interviews Carol Spindel

On March 8, 2004, Ondine Gross of IMC Radio News interviewed Carol Spindel -- Champaign/Urbana resident and author of Dancing at Halftime. They discussed the controversy over American Indian mascots. To hear the interview (19 minutes), select from the following formats: AAC (2 MB, mono), MP3 (4 MB, mono), MP3 (9 MB, stereo), µlaw (9 MB, mono), QT (9 MB, stereo). Audio copyrighted and reproduced with permission.

Will the Chief Prevent U.I. - Oregon Basketball?

The Chief controversy has never been limited to our community or the state, and it has recently brought further negative publicity to the University. A resolution by an Oregon student law group called for their university to not schedule games with schools with Native American names. Oregon has not scheduled games against schools with Native names since 2002, other than the Utah Utes, a team with a licensing agreement with the Ute tribe [News-Gazette, 3/31/04].

U.I. coach Bruce Weber was quoted by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette as saying

"Right now, we don't know where they [Oregon] stand with the Chief issue and where that's going to go from here."

The U.I./Oregon controversy has also attracted the attention of a prominent national civil rights organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center. In an April 6 article titled "Illiniwek Debate Crosses State Lines", they noted

"Renewed attention has been drawn to the inability of the Urbana-Champaign campus to give up a 78-year-old mythical character widely viewed as demeaning to Native Americans."

Student Vote on the Chief

The Illinois Student Government informal "referendum" on the Chief resulted in approximately two-thirds of students voting in favor of retaining Chief Illiniwek, while 31% voted to retire the Chief as a University symbol. One student opposed to the Chief, Lindsay Morgan, was quoted by the Daily Illini as saying "People are misinformed ... they do not understand why people are anti-Chief ... they do not understand that it is a tradition based on negative stereotypes."

RetireTheChief notes that only one third of the student population participated in this referendum. And, let's not forget that (1) many faculty oppose the Chief, as indicated in the Urbana-Champaign Senate resolution calling for his retirement, and (2) the last community poll by the News-Gazette found 63% of over 23,000 voters called for the Board to retire Chief Illiniwek.

The controvery continues

Some quotes from recent letters to the Champaign - Urbana Daily Illini [DI] and News-Gazette:

• "Administrators, staff members, and students come here knowing the Chief is the university's symbol. If they can't accept the Chief, they should not come." [News-Gazette]
  Students and prospective faculty have already chosen not to come here because of the Chief. Should we also accept losing potential Nobel laureates (11 to date) and Pulitzer Prize winners (18 so far) because of the Chief? -- Ed.

• "When someone says you are hurting them, is it your normal response to refuse to believe them ... ?" [DI]

• "Wouldn't a strongly funded Native Studies department attract native students and faculty ... ?" [DI]
  Yes - but would be offset by the presence of the Chief, who continues to drive away potential Native students -- Ed.

• [quoting a Native elder at the protest] "This Chief does not honor me. If this is honor, I don't want to be honored." [DI]

• "The debate over the Chief has divided our campus for long enough." [Daily Illini - editorial board]

• "Some white kid in band running around with feathers on his head is an honored symbol? Who are we kidding here?" [DI]

• "It's time for the anti-Chief group to stop ... period." [DI]
  Many people are tired of this issue ... but Chief opponents won't stop, because Native people are greatly offended by the Chief. -- Ed.

• "I do not believe the opponents of the Chief are acting with good will or out of good intentions." [DI]
  Readers are invited to hear Native Americans in their own words -- Ed.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Thursday, June 17 in Chicago.

March 10 Protest

A large anti-Chief protest was held on the U.I. Quad on March 10-11, 2004. Native Americans from Minnesota, Michigan and especially Illinois spoke to crowds at the Union during the afternoon, and a large rally was held that evening.

The protest coincided with "Our Day of Honor," an educational effort presenting information about Native American culture.

Click here for movies from the rally; some pictures appear below. (updated April 14)

Isn't it time to retire the Chief? •