The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux are back! For now, anyway — although UND was just snubbed over the name, so watch this space.

The Grand Forks-based school has been embroiled for decades in a tug of war over its moniker and logo, which features a Native American warrior wearing a feather headdress.

Traditionalists have fought to keep it while those who believe it is offensive to Native Americans have long argued it needs to be retired in favor of something more politically correct.

UND officially dropped the divisive nickname in late 2011 but it was resurrected this month after local residents collected 17,000 signatures seeking to put the issue to a state-wide vote. As part of the process, a law requiring the school to reinstate the nickname went back into effect. Continue reading...

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The University of North Dakota’s basketball team went out onto the court for the first time in eternity without its old nickname, the Fighting Sioux, attached to them. No Native American mascot roamed the sideline, either. This came after a massive, years-long battle against the NCAA, which gave the word back in 2005 that colleges and universities needed to ditch their Native American sports monikers because they had been deemed offensive.

The University of Utah Utes, named for an American Indian tribe, have been sensitive to the issue for some time. Back in 1996, the school got rid of its Hoyo mascot and introduced Skyhawk. The Utes name, though, has stuck with the program and will for some time. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the school isn’t going to change its name and will stick with its “drum and feather” logo, though it isn’t clear for how much longer those symbols will stick around.Continue reading...

North Dakota may have the fourth fewest residents of any U.S. state, but they’ve got more stubbornness than most states put together.

In 2005, the NCAA told its member schools that they needed to get rid of any American Indian nicknames if area tribes didn’t approve of the name or face penalties. Even though only one of two major Sioux tribes approved of the name, the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota have fought that ruling at every step. The pair reached a settlement in 2007 that would have the university change its name by this past Monday, but then the state went so far as to pass legislation in the spring requiring UND to keep the name, USA Today reports.

Indian Country News reports that despite the NCAA’s hard-line efforts on getting rid of offensive American Indian logos and mascots, the association’s site still sold University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux gear this week after the deadline it had imposed.Continue reading...

Yesterday we reported that the Fargo Tourism Bureau had finally done the right thing and embraced its cult status by displaying an official Fargo "wood chipper" with which tourists can take photographs. It's an admirable display of a sense of humor.

Staying in North Dakota, we have another story that could use a little more of a sense of humor about doing the right thing. Except, nobody in the state can agree on what the right thing is. No matter, the NCAA has ruled and the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux logo and name must be scrapped… even though the state passed a law prohibiting the change.Continue reading...

The Redskins won this week. Twice. And both victories were sorely needed by the brand.

Faltering as an athletics program, the team "improved" its season record to three wins and six losses. But the big win was in the Supreme Court.

Or, actually, the victory was that the Supreme Court refused to hear the lawsuit against the team's "Redskins" logo. Filed by a handful of American Indians, the suit claims that the name is racially insensitive.Continue reading...

Yet another brand built around an ethnic stereotype has entered modern times.

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux brand, used for the school's athletics programs, appears to be coming to an end. October 1 is the deadline for the school to reach a settlement with Native American Sioux tribes if it wishes to continue using the nickname and Indian head logo. Though the Board of Education may extend the deadline, prolonged negotiations seem unlikely.Continue reading...