From Fighting Sioux to Fighting Sue

As Americans celebrated Thanksgiving and perhaps even consider how far our nation has come since the days when the Pilgrims relied on help from a Native American named Squanto to survive, a new lawsuit over whether a university should use an Indian nickname may have some people wondering just how far America has really advanced after all this time. This is not, however, a story about a Native American tribe suing to stop a sports team from using its name. Surprisingly, it’s a story about a tribe that wants a local college to keep its Indian nickname, the Fighting Sioux.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the college, Archie Fool Bear, doesn’t have the full support of his tribe. Some members of the tribe can’t bear the lawsuit and think it’s foolish to sue the university. They would rather spend the money now being spent on lawyers on more productive things that would improve the quality of life for the tribe. Now, that’s an idea worth fighting for.
After finding out about this unfortunate situation, my first thought was, where is Squanto when we really need him? There are better ways to resolve this conflict than by litigating it.

Here is a little background on the situation. In 2007, the University of North Dakota bowed to pressure from the NCAA and agreed to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname. The NCAA had decided a couple of years earlier that schools with American Indian mascots it considered “hostile and abusive” would be banned from postseason play unless the schools received permission from local tribes to use the names.
Some schools like the Florida State Seminoles and the Central Michigan Chippewas obtained that permission, but the University of North Dakota decided to drop its nickname because the two Sioux tribes in the state couldn’t reach an agreement on the issue.

From Fighting Sioux to Fighting Sue