The University of North Dakota has been at the center of a heated controversy lately over an issue with its mascot, the Fighting Sioux. Having had the name since 1930, there has been strong criticism of its representation and possible offensiveness to the American Indian community in the last several decades.

Finally in 2005, the quarrel between those in favor and those against the mascot was brought to the national stage when the NCAA decided to impose sanctions on schools with tribal mascots that were deemed “hostile and abusive.” The university decided to counter the sanctions by consulting with the state’s attorney general, who eventually gave the go-ahead to sue the NCAA.

By October 2007, UND and the NCAA came to a settlement in which the university was given three years to gain the approval of the two main Sioux tribes in North Dakota of Standing Rock and Spirit Lake.

“The Spirit Lake community eventually gave permission to the school to use the name and logo, but Standing Rock did not,” said University of North Dakota professor of Indian Studies Sebastian Braun. Braun, who has covered the event very closely, went on to mention how many of the American Indian students who attend the University of North Dakota have become increasingly frustrated with the mascot and want to see it removed.

“The passing of the law infringes on their right to a fair education and reinforces an unwanted stereotype, and the name [Fighting Sioux] gives people a chance to offend others,” Braun said.

Most recently, a group of six American Indian students filed a lawsuit against the university on these grounds.

As of today, the University of North Dakota still has the Fighting Sioux as its logo and nickname, and efforts to change the mascot have been further curtailed by a bill passed last March by the North Dakota state Legislature and signed into law by the governor effectively ordering the university to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

Piling onto the frustration, the NCAA officially began placing sanctions against the school on Aug. 15 that puts further financial strain on the University of North Dakota.

“The economic issue is up in the air,” said Christina Gish Hill, assistant professor of anthropology. “It is going to cost UND quite a bit of money to get rid of the mascot; all the while, with the NCAA sanctions, UND cannot host postseason play, display the logo, and its bid to join the Big Sky Conference is in jeopardy. Economically speaking, it is going to be negative on both sides.”

To demonstrate its seriousness in ridding UND of its current mascot, the NCAA also has pulled UND merchandise with the Fighting Sioux name and logo from its website.

Another issue surrounding the mascot change is the hockey arena that the university’s seven-time national champion men’s hockey team has played in since 2001. The late multi-millionaire, casino kingpin and UND alumnus Ralph Engelstad donated $110 million to build the arena and stated that as a condition for UND to use it, the university must keep the Fighting Sioux name and logo.

In an effort to secure that condition, Engelstad had the arena brandished with more than 2,000 images of his beloved school’s logo, including a 30-foot granite logo on the floor of the main concourse, the wood floors in the 20,000-square-foot weight room, every cubby and locker in the locker rooms and a gold-plated logo at the end of every row of seats. Essentially, Engelstad made it nearly financially impossible for the school to remove the logo, despite NCAA regulations that the logo not be visible at all.

It should be mentioned that this mascot issue is not anything new to the NCAA. Beginning as early as the 1980s, many schools began to change their nicknames and logos before any NCAA sanctions were put in place. For example, the College of William and Mary, whose nickname is The Tribe, recently changed its logo from two tribal feathers to a griffin in an effort to avoid any NCAA sanctions and not offend any Indian communities.

However, the most notorious examples have to be the University of Illinois and Florida State University, both of which went in opposite directions of each other. Looking first at the University of Illinois, known as The Fighting Illini, the logo and mascot for many years was Chief Illiniwek, who was represented as an elder American Indian chief with a large feather headdress. The logo and mascot drew deep criticism from many of the faculty as well as the American Indian community in Illinois, and Chief Illiniwek was finally retired in March 2007.

On the other side, Florida State University, the Seminoles, took a different approach to the controversy over its mascot.

“Florida State made an agreement with the Seminole community to keep the mascot. They agreed on how it was presented … it was a collaborative effort,” Hill said.

Now it is North Dakota’s turn. Aside from one of the Sioux communities in North Dakota voting down the mascot, some in the Sioux community have pointed out that despite some problems with the mascot, overall it is beneficial to the Sioux community and keeps its cause visible.

“I’ve seen editorials by Sioux people who do not want to change the mascot because it makes their community recognizable. Without it, many people wouldn’t know that there is a Sioux community in North Dakota,” Hill said.

Within the coming months, North Dakota is going to have to make a decision. The reconvening of the Legislature in the fall gives hope to mascot critics that the state will reverse its initial decision to keep the mascot, but it seems bleak during a legislative session that is going to be dominated by debate over the fiscal crisis.