The following transcript is from the 4/14/00 Chief Illiniwek dialogue "intake session". It is an unedited excerpt from the original U.I. document.

MODERATOR GARIPPO: Identify yourself.

MR. WILLIAM J. ROBERTS: William J. Roberts. I am here speaking on behalf of James Yellow Banks. My name is William Roberts. I am from the Potawatomi nation. I lived in Chicago all my life, born and raised. And I don't have really nothing prepared to say, but I am just going to wing it, speak from the heart. When I was young, when I was growing up, people in my neighborhood, the Indian people, we are harassed for being Indian. There was a lot of people when they were young, they never wanted to tell anybody they were Indian.

And I think one of the reasons for that is because things like this, like this mascot prancing around a football field ridiculing our race. And there is a great deal of suicide, suicide rates is high, alcoholism is high, and that comes from depression. Depression comes from low self-esteem and that low self-esteem comes from seeing our identify prancing around a football field. It's just really hard looking at that sometimes. And you know, me being from Illinois, my people used to be all up and down these parts. I never remember, I don't remember seeing no headdress on anybody here. And he's supposed to be this member from this other tribe, but he doesn't resemble nothing from that, from them people. He's all on his own. And that's basically just what I have to say for now. I didn't really have nothing really more to say than that.

MODERATOR GARIPPO: You had plenty to say.

See the U.I. Dialogue on Chief Illiniwek page for more transcripts and information.