Fighting Over a Name

Fighting Sioux Logo

For years a controversy has raged over the name the University of North Dakota (UND) uses for its sports teams, the Fighting Sioux.  Those opposed to the name feel that it is racist and demeaning to Indians; those who support it believe that it is harmless and, if anything, honors Indian history.  The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) stepped into the debate in 2005 demanding that UND, along with other schools using Indian names and mascots, change its name.  Eventually, the NCAA agreed to let UND keep the name if the two major Sioux tribes gave their permission: one did, one didn't.  Now, according to the latest reports (here), a final appeal to the NCAA by school and North Dakota state officials to keep the name has failed.  UND either changes the name or faces sanctions by the NCAA and increasing sports isolation from other universities as some schools refuse to compete with UND because of the Fighting Sioux name.  For a compilation of news articles on the Fighting Sioux controversy see (here), and for the most recent editorial about it on GrandForksHerald.com see (here).

In a better world, the name Fighting Sioux would not be a big deal—indeed, it probably wouldn't be any kind of a deal at all.  But, we don't live in that better world.  In our real world, European colonists and their American descendants all but destroyed Indian life in the violent conquest of our continent, which conquest has included large doses of racism and social oppression against Indians.  In the process, our entertainment industry long presented Indians as stereotypical savages and, until recently, celebrated the "taming" of the West and its uncivilized inhabitants.  So, there is reason to question the use of Indian names and images in sports.  Do these names perpetuate exploitation?  Are they demeaning?  Or, is all of this merely another exercise in political correctness?

We need to be honest here and see that these questions can be answered in different ways and that the whole matter is not black and white.  A decade ago, commentator Steve Sailer recounted (here) how one California high school, which called its teams the Apaches, reached out to the Apaches and built good relations based on the name.  Some who had opposed the use of their tribal name changed their minds as a result.  What is most important about the controversy surrounding the use of Indian names and mascots in sports is the controversy itself.  It encourages us to be more self-conscious in our attitudes towards Indians and the injustices they continue to suffer.  The debate over names is a small step forward in our search for a just, equitable society and thus a good thing.  In this case it is also important that it was the Sioux tribal councils that made the final decision.  The controversy has thus returned a modicum of control over their ethnic and cultural identity to the Indians themselves.

Political correctness in both society generally and the church in particular is a mixed bag at best, but in this case it is important and helpful.