Chief Illiniwek brings symbol's story to historica

[blackcrowheart]

Chief Illiniwek brings symbol's story to historical society

BY DAVID HOLSTED
www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/01/15/news/local/314242064965587\
.txt
<http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/01/15/news/local/31424206496558\
7.txt> Philip Marruffo/Gazette Dan Maloney speaks about his
alter ego, Chief Illiniwek, at the Ryberg Auditorium at CGH Medical
Center.

STERLING - By day, he's Dan Maloney, mild-mannered student at the
University of Illinois - well-spoken, polite, average height, average
build, conservatively dressed, just finished earning a degree in
rhetoric and cinema studies.

On game day, however, he's transformed into Chief Illiniwek, revered
symbol of a great university, its heritage and its history. His Native
American-based dance of high kicks and foot stomps thrill and inspire
thousands of Fighting Illini fans.

Maloney, the 36th chief in a line that dates back to 1926, was in
Sterling on Sunday. He spoke before a crowd of about 75 people attending
the Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society meeting at CGH's Ryberg
Auditorium.

In addition to telling the history of the chief, Maloney, who hails from
Galesburg, brought along the Indian regalia that he wears when
performing at each Illinois football and basketball game.

According to Maloney, there are actually two chiefs. Since the early
1980s, with the growth of women's sports at Illinois, an assistant chief
has danced at women's basketball and volleyball games. Maloney served
two years as assistant Illiniwek before winning the role as the primary
chief in 2006. He time as Chief Illiniwek will end in the spring of
2008.

Try-outs for Chief Illiniwek, which are open to any full-time Illinois
student who maintains a 2.8 grade point average, are an eight-week-long,
rigorous process.

The first five weeks, said Maloney, are spent learning and perfecting
the hallowed Illiniwek dance. Candidates then perform before a panel of
judges that includes former chiefs and the directors of the Marching
Illini band. An intimidating interview then follows.

Maloney said that of the 30 candidates that started the process, only 13
were left at the final dance and interview.

Maloney has performed in front of as many as 60,000 people at Memorial
Stadium football games and 16,000 at Assembly Hall basketball games. The
routine is performed barefoot, and Maloney said that the artificial turf
at Memorial Stadium reacts to the air temperature. On one hot afternoon,
he said, the previous chief, Kyle Cline, came off the field with
blisters on his feet. On cold days, it's not unusual for the Chief's
feet to be almost frostbitten.

Illiniwek's regalia, Maloney explained, is made of tanned buckskin and
was given to the university by Frank Fool's Crow, a member of the
Ogalala Sioux tribe.

The original full-length headdress worn by the Chief featured eagle's
feathers, which were a sacred device to Native American tribes. The
headdress worn by current Illiniweks is made with dyed turkey feathers.

Completing the ensemble were a choker and a breastplate, each made from
elk bone.

In addition to Historic Society members, Maloney's presentation
attracted a number of Chief Illiniwek fans.

Bill Welch of Sterling was wearing a blue cap with the orange University
of Illinois "I." Though he is not an alumnus of the university, his son
and granddaughter are. He found Maloney's presentation to be very
enlightening.

"I didn't know the history of the Chief," Welch said.

John Flowers wore an orange sweatshirt with the word "Chief" on the
front and the Illiniwek logo on the back. He also said he had a picture
of the chief tattooed on his shoulder.

Along with his wife, Rosemary, and his daughter, Marcella, Flowers came
from Dixon to hear Maloney.

"We're big fans of the chief," Flowers said. "I just think it's a great,
rich tradition."

Flowers said his son, Riley, was a member of the Marching Illini during
his freshman year at Illinois, and the family has attended almost every
home football game since then.

According to Flowers, it was a thrilling experience to witness in person
Chief Illiniwek's dance.

Illiniwek has engendered much controversy in recent years among American
Indian and other groups, but Flowers said he has seen tremendous support
for the Chief among Illinois students and fans.

Maloney had emphasized that Chief Illiniwek is a symbol of the
university, not a mascot, and Flowers liked that.

"You could tell he has a deep respect for the Chief," Flowers said.

[Okwes]

Tribe demands return of Illiniwek regalia

By Michelle S. Keller
Tribune staff reporter

January 18, 2007, 1:15 PM CST

The Oglala Sioux Tribe today demanded the University of Illinois
return the Lakota regalia worn by Chief Illiniwek, the school's
controversial mascot.

In a resolution presented to the U. of I. board of trustees, the
university president and the chancellor, the tribe called for the
university to "cease use of this mascot."

The "Oglala regalia is being misused to represent 'Chief
Illiniwek,'" and is a "disrespectful representation" of the people
of the Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea nations, according to
the resolution. "The antics of persons playing 'Chief Illiniwek'
perpetuates a degrading racial stereotype that reflects negatively
on all American Indian people."

The regalia itself is not even like that worn by the tribe Chief
Illiniwek is supposed to have come from, said Malvin Young Bear,
cultural liaison to Vice President William Brewer of the Oglala
Sioux Tribe.

The use of the costume by Chief Illiniwek is insulting to the tribe,
particularly because the ceremonial dress "was a significant honor
to wear," Young Bear added.

"That's something you earn, as a provider and a protector," he
said. "There's a lot of spiritualism and a lot of traditional value
by the people who actually wore it at that time."

The use of the mascot in general is a "slap in the face" to American
Indians, Young Bear added.

In September 1982, Sioux Chief Frank Fools Crow presented the
university with the regalia � which had been hand-crafted by the
chief's wife � during a halftime ceremony, according to the Chief
Illiniwek Educational Foundation, an organization founded by four
students in 1998. According to the resolution, Mel Lone Hill, a
descendant of Fools Crow, wants the regalia returned to his family.

The American Indian Studies faculty and the staff at the Native
American House at the university welcomed the resolution.

"There can be no misreading of the Oglala Sioux Resolution � those
to whom the Lakota regalia belongs and whom the board of trustees
claims to be honoring have clearly requested that the performance
and charade of 'Chief Illiniwek' end," the Native American House
said in a statement released today.

Faculty member Stephen Kaufman, who has spoken out against the use
of the mascot, said he hoped this latest development would prompt
officials to replace Chief Illiniwek.

"I hope they realize the continued harm they are inflicting on the
university, its students, alumni and sports program by their failure
to remove Illiniwek and by their failure to promote a campus that
encourages racial equity," Kaufman said via email.

In 2000, the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma passed a similar
resolution, calling for the University of Illinois to cease using
Chief Illiniwek as a "mascot."

[e-mail]
Copyright � 2007, Chicago Tribune

[Okwes]

Feathers in chief dispute
BY David Mercer Associated Press

CHAMPAIGN -- The chairman of the University of Illinois board of
trustees says the school will decide this year whether to continue its
use of the Chief Illiniwek mascot. But the ongoing controversy yielded a
new mystery this week: What became of two sets of eagle feathers
associated with the costume?
The Oglala Sioux tribe this week demanded that the university return the
mascot's costume, which was sold to the school by past Sioux Chief Fools
Crow and included eagle feathers considered sacred to American Indians.
Fools Crow's wife had made the costume and the university bought it,
minus the headdress, in 1982. A feathered headdress was loaned to the
school, University Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler said Friday.
The eagle feathers since have been replaced by turkey feathers.
Kaler said the headdress that included the eagle feathers was shipped in
1991 to a member of the tribe, Anthony Whirlwind Horse, who had agreed
to get them to a descendant of Fools Crow.
Eileen Janis, the administrative assistant to tribal President John
Steele, said Friday that the Oglala Sioux tribe doesn't believe it
received the feathers. Whirlwind Horse was a tribe member, she said, and
worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs before his death. She wasn't
sure when he died.
The South Dakota-based tribe's three-member executive council made its
demands this week in a resolution to the university board of trustees.

[Okwes]

Illiniwek fight gets a twist
Tribal official says he has headdress Sioux want back

By Jodi S. Cohen
Published January 21, 2007

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Last week's demand by the Oglala Sioux tribe that the University of
Illinois return the regalia used by Chief Illiniwek, especially an
eagle-feathered war bonnet, caught many by surprise.

The request particularly puzzled some university officials, who believed
the headdress had been returned to the tribe in the early 1990s.
On Friday they found written evidence that they were right, and a tribal
official acknowledged that he has the headgear, including the eagle
feathers.

But, like everything connected to the university's mascot--even the word
"mascot" offends some supporters of Chief Illiniwek--this controversy is
far from over.

For years some students and Native Americans have pushed to end the
tradition of Chief Illiniwek, a student who performs barefoot in the
buckskin costume and headdress at football, basketball and volleyball
games. They say the depiction is humiliating and creates a hostile
environment on campus.

Supporters say the Chief respects Native American culture and is a
revered tradition that dates to 1926.

The Oglala Sioux tribe's executive committee put the argument back in
the spotlight with its resolution on the chief's regalia. Though the
ceremonial chief now acknowledges he has the headdress, he still wants
the rest of the regalia returned and the tradition ended.

On Friday, the tribe got a boost from the former university band
director who arranged for the school's purchase of the ceremonial dress
in 1982.

"They should have it back because it is part of their cultural history
and belonged to a legendary Native American," said Gary Smith, director
of the Marching Illini from 1976 to 1998. "I feel that they are entitled
to have it back, but they should not have offered it to us in the
beginning."

Smith said he traveled to the tribe's South Dakota reservation to seek
help in finding a Native American artist to make a new outfit for Chief
Illiniwek, whose earlier outfits were based on the Oglala Sioux style.

Chief Anthony Whirlwind Horse suggested that Smith buy an outfit
belonging to 93-year-old Frank Fools Crow, an elder who had once
traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show.

Whirlwind Horse "requested that rather than have an outfit made, we
purchase one from Frank Fools Crow, who was destitute at the time and
needed the money," Smith said.

Smith paid $3,500 for moccasins, a tunic, breastplate, leggings, peace
pipe pouch and war bonnet with eagle feathers, according to a May 25,
1982, voucher and other documents.

Private flight to U. of I.

In fall 1982, local businessmen flew Fools Crow, Whirlwind Horse and a
representative from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the U. of I. on
their private plane. The regalia was presented during a halftime
ceremony that included the smoking of a peace pipe, Smith said.

But the headdress was put in storage because it was in poor condition
and too short, Smith and university officials said.

The university then got a permit for 25 eagle feathers to add a tail to
the headdress. The feathers were given to Fools Crow, but later lost,
according to a May 23, 1991, letter from Judith Rowan, a former
associate chancellor for the school, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Fools Crow died in 1989.

Federal law prohibits owning an eagle feather unless the holder has an
educational permit, is a licensed rehabilitator or is a member of a
Native American tribe and has requested a feather for spiritual reasons.

Turkey feathers have been used on Chief Illiniwek's headdress for more
than 15 years, according to the school's sports media guide.

On Friday university administrators located documents, including a
shipping invoice, that show a 3-pound box containing the bonnet was
shipped to the tribe's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1991. On May 14, 1991,
Rowan wrote a letter to Whirlwind Horse, thanking him for the use of the
bonnet.

"I would appreciate it if you would convey our thanks to Chief Fools
Crow's family for allowing the university to borrow the bonnet. It was a
great honor for us, and we return it with gratitude to his family,"
Rowan wrote.

Fools Crow's grandson, Mel Lone Hill, confirmed in a telephone interview
Friday that he has the feathered headdress. He said the executive
committee shouldn't have demanded that the feathers be returned. Still,
he said, he wants the rest of the regalia back.
"I have another one, but it would be nice to have that old one back. It
is rightfully mine," said Lone Hill, 58. "If they want to sell it back,
I'll buy it back."

John McKinn, assistant director of the Native American House at the U.
of I., hopes the Oglala Sioux's resolution sways the board to retire the
Chief.

"This resolution gives the university and administrators an opportunity
to do what is right. What is right is to return the regalia to the
culture and to the people to whom it belongs," McKinn said.

Museum option suggested

Roger Huddleston, co-founder of the Honor the Chief Society, a pro-Chief
group, said he does not think the university should return the clothing.

"I don't think Fools Crow and his word should be dishonored by [it]
being demanded back," Huddleston said. If trustees decide to retire the
Chief, Huddleston thinks the regalia should be given to a museum.

University board Chairman Lawrence Eppley signaled Thursday that a
decision about the Chief's future will be made this year in response to
a National Collegiate Athletic Association ruling that prohibits the
university from hosting postseason competition as long as it continues
using Illiniwek, which the NCAA has called "hostile and abusive."

In a phone interview, Smith recalled that Fools Crow and other tribal
members who saw the Chief's performance did not think it was degrading.

"I showed them videotapes before they came ... and asked them their
opinion," Smith said. "They said their concerns were ... things that
portrayed Native Americans in a negative sense. They felt what we were
doing was done in dignity."

[Okwes]

Indian mascots offend activists Native American group wants schools to
drop names

By BRAD SCHRADE

"The Reservation" is the name that Riverdale High
School has given to the student bleacher section in its gym. A group of
Indian activists wants area schools to drop such references. (SANFORD
MYERS / THE TENNESSEAN) [ ] [Enlarge] An Indian head marks the
basketball court at Montgomery Central High, whose teams are known as
the Indians. (ALAN POIZNER / FOR THE TENNESSEAN) [ ] [Enlarge] An
Indian sculpture guards the entrance of Riverdale High School. "We take
a lot of pride in being the Warriors," Principal Tom Nolan says. But
Native American activists are offended. (SANFORD MYERS / THE TENNESSEAN)

Teams at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro are nicknamed the
Warriors. The school's sports mascot is Chief Win-Em-All. And the
basketball gym's student bleacher section is called "The Reservation,"
its name painted in big letters.
<http://gcirm.tennessean.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.tennessean.\
com/education/inside/index.html/798815047/300x250_1/OasDefault/MattressK\
ing-031606-local/I-MattressKing-011107.jpg/63326230363932363435623437326\
630> Riverdale is one of at least two dozen high schools along with
about 80 middle and elementary schools in Tennessee that have some
reference to Indians in their team name, according to a group of Native
American activists who want the names changed. In Middle Tennessee
several high schools have such names, including the Montgomery Central
High Indians in Cunningham and the Harpeth High Indians in Kingston
Springs. Metro Nashville has the Hunters Lane High Warriors. The
activist group plans to approach the state's Human Rights Commission on
Friday about joining its cause to ask the schools to change their sports
team names. "There's racism going on when you have a school mascot
called the Redskins," said Tom Kunesh, an Indian activist in Chattanooga
who plans to go to the rights commission. "That's Native American
imagery used and controlled by non-native Americans and often used in
satirical and non-flattering ways." Riverdale takes pride The
resolution he and others will be carrying to the commission was adopted
in late 2005 by the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs, an unfunded
state body that represents Native American interests. The resolution,
which Kunesh helped draft, calls for the end to "Indian mascots and
symbols in the state public schools." Kunesh said the team name practice
is opposed by almost every Indian group in the country and by a host of
national civil rights and education groups. At Riverdale, Principal Tom
Nolan said the school takes pride in its sports name and the 35-year
tradition of the Warriors. To take that away would hurt the school,
which so identifies with its Indian name, he said. That tradition is
on display throughout the school. The student newspaper is called Smoke
Signal, and the signs above the classroom doors are shaped like
arrowheads. Nolan said none of it is done in a comic book or
caricaturing manner. "We take a lot of pride in being the Warriors,"
Nolan said. "This whole community would go crazy if somebody tried to
change our name from the Warriors." He said the school promotes Native
American culture. One year it had Indian dancers come to teach students
about this past. Down a hallway near the school entrance, a large mural
was painted in 2004 by an art teacher who is part Cherokee. The mural
depicts an Indian trader who lived and worked near the Stones River,
where the school sits today, according to Carrie Perkins, the teacher
who painted it. "It's history," Perkins said of the school's identity
with Indians. "There's something behind it. If you take that away you've
erased it." TSSAA takes no position The battle over Indian sports
mascots dates to at least the 1970s, according to the National Congress
of American Indians. The University of Oklahoma changed its mascot
Little Red in 1972, according to the NCAI, which has come out with
resolutions opposing using Indian names for sports mascots. In the
1990s, a Native American activist group sued the Washington Redskins
football team for trademark infringement. And in 2005 the NCAA banned
the use of Indian mascots in postseason tournaments. "People are
finally paying attention and taking time to understand this is offensive
and why it's offensive," said Adam McMullin, a spokesman with NCAI. In
Tennessee, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga stopped using
Chief Moccanooga as its mascot in the mid-1990s when Kunesh and others
asked the school to change. But there's been little noise on the issue
at the high school level, according to Matthew Gillespie of the
Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. He said the TSSAA,
which includes about 380 member schools, doesn't have anything in its
bylaws on the matter and doesn't have any plans to take a position.
"That's something we would leave up to the school and the concerned
group," he said. The Human Rights Commission also hasn't heard much on
the issue, said Executive Director Amber Gooding. The commission is
willing to hear the concerns, although the issue may be out of its area,
which primarily deals with discrimination in housing, employment and
public accommodations, Gooding said. Melba Checote-Eads, a Native
American who lives in Mt. Juliet, hopes something is done on the issue.
She helped draft the 2005 resolution as a member of the advisory board
for the Commission of Indian Affairs. She hopes this will be a first
step toward helping end the negative stereotypes of Indians she believes
the sports mascots perpetuate. She said for schools such as Riverdale to
use something like "The Reservation" in its sports program is hurtful
and demeaning. "This is a human rights issue," Checote-Eads said. "It
stereotypes our people. It's harmful to our youth and to other youth."

[blackcrowheart]

Ugly Turn in Mascot Dispute at Illinois University

“If They Get Rid of the Chief I’m Becoming a Racist"
student blog exclaims

Paul D. Thacker

Chief Illiniwek, the mascot at the University of Illinois, has been
controversial for many years and it seems like his days spent rallying
sports fans may be numbered. Despite attempts by campus officials to
keep the Chief Illiniwek around, the National Collegiate Athletic
Association has waded into the matter on Native American mascots,
forcing colleges to make changes by 2008 or face penalties.

But as the mascot’s demise may be imminent, the controversy has
gotten uglier, and Native Americans on the Urbana-Champaign campus are
demanding protection after discovering threats and racist jibes against
them on a Facebook group.

“With all the volatile discussion about the mascot, while we do
want people to express their views, we have to take this
seriously,” said Wanda S. Pillow, director of the Native American
House, whose members first noticed the page last Friday. From dates on
the page, it appears to have been posted since November. Pillow said
that several Native American faculty members contacted Facebook and the
administration over the weekend about the threats. On Tuesday, after
Pillow and others circulated an e-mail to faculty members demanding an
investigation, the university announced that it would conduct one.

Inside Higher Ed obtained a printed copy of the page which has been
removed from Facebook. The page carries three postings, apparently by
two students at the university whose names are blacked out. Neither
student responded to an e-mail request for an interview.

With over 110 members, the group is titled “If They Get Rid of
the Chief I’m Becoming a Racist.” One posting reads,
“[W]hat they don’t realize is that there was never a
racist problem before..but now I hate redskins and hope all those drunk
casino owning bums die.”

Another post states that one of the leaders of the movement to remove
Chief Illiniwek is of Sioux descent. “I say we throw a tomohawk
into her face.”

Pillow confirmed that a female student who has been outspoken against
Chief Illiniwek is of Sioux descent. “From the description,
it’s pretty obvious who this person is, and she does not want to
be identified,” Pillow said. She added that faculty members have
contacted William Riley, dean of students and associate vice chancellor
for student affairs.

Riley did not respond to numerous phone calls for comment. Tuesday
night, Chancellor Richard Herman released a statement: “I do not
know the motives of the students who posted the threats, but I do know
that their words are dangerous and racist. The threats have been
forwarded to the Office of Student Conflict Resolution for investigation
and action.”

Stephen Kaufman, emeritus professor of cell and developmental biology,
said that he found the Facebook page offensive, especially because it
targeted a specific student who happens to be a descendant of Sitting
Bull. “We have an atmosphere of intimidation on this
campus,” he said.

Kaufman became the target of campus protest last fall when a student
started an online petition rallying students to get him to resign for
sending letters to high school athletes that the university was seeking
to recruit. The petition against Kaufman received over 3,300 signatures.

In the letters, Kaufman and other professors apprised the recruits of
the ongoing controversy with Chief Illiniwek. “[W]e ask you to
take this into consideration as you make up your mind where you will
pursue your college goals,” stated the letter.

Robin Kaler, associate for public affairs, said that the Board of
Trustees makes decisions about the mascot.

[Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting] <http://photobucket.com/>

Native American and Hispanic Students at the University of Illinois need
our support and help more now than ever. On February 1, 2007 at the
University of Illinois we need your help to make our voices heard and
find out what we can do to help protect these students from harm!

If you have paid attention to the news, racism at the U of I has
escalated. The school’s mascot issue has now evolved into a death
threat against Native Americans and stereotypical attacks on the
Hispanic students too. The American Indian Center is very concerned
about the health and welfare of these young adults and we would like to
find out just what the University is doing about their racist problem
and how are they going to protect these students. We must also make sure
the students and their parents know that we are behind them and that we
will do what it takes to insure student’s safety.

On February 1, 2007 at the University of Illinois , there will be a
public forum from 4PM to 6PM , to address the racism and the violence it
brings. The American Indian Center will provide transportation (if
enough people confirm by Friday) to and from the University in Champaign
, IL . Donations for the bus will be accepted. If you are interested in
coming, please email the AIC at [e-mail] before Friday,
January 19th to confirm your attendance and your need of a ride. We
cannot rent a bus until we know how many people will attend. The bus
will depart at 12 noon from the American Indian Center and return about
10PM. that same day. We are also setting aside time to meet with the
students to discuss the issues, how it is affecting them, and what
further steps should be taken.

All people are invited who care about our future and safety!

I ask you to join us and bring as many friends with you as possible. If
everyone asks 5 people we will have an impact!

If you can get there on your own please join us. The bus in not
required. Please let us know you can attend.

Mii gwetch,

Joseph Podlasek
Executive Director
American Indian Center
Commissioner Human Relations
www.aic-chicago.org
773-275-5871

[Okwes]

Sioux request prompts look at history of Chief Illiniwek garb Saturday,
January 27, 2007 9:57 AM CST
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URBANA – The University of Illinois has already returned the
eagle-feather headdress made by an Oglala Sioux elder for Chief
Illiniwek in the early 1980s, UI officials say.

Documents provided by the UI indicate that the headdress made by Frank
Fools Crow was mailed back to Sioux Chief Anthony Whirlwind Horse in
1991.
A resolution from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Nation's executive committee
in South Dakota asked the UI last week to return the buckskin regalia
and eagle feathers used in the headdress. The resolution also demanded
that the UI end the Chief Illiniwek dance.
Trustees have yet to respond, UI spokesman Tom Hardy and an Oglala Sioux
spokeswoman said Thursday.

UI President B. Joseph White did ask his staff last week to research the
background of all Chief regalia acquired over the years.

According to UI documents, the bonnet-style headdress made by Frank
Fools Crow was returned to his daughter in June 1991.

[http://www.news-gazette.com/news/photos/012707_72716_chiefillin_th.jpg]
<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/photo.cfm?photoID=5918>
Chief Illiniwek Dan Maloney performs during halftime at the Illinois vs.
Purdue football game on Nov. 11, 2006, at Memorial Stadium. Maloney
wears the tunic and leggings made by Sioux elder Frank Fools Crow. By
Holly Hart
Related content
* Sioux request prompts look at history of Chief Illiniwek garb
<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/u_of_i/2007/01/27/trustees_chairman_sa\
ys_chief_issue_will_be_resolved_this_year> (1/27/07) * Sioux
request prompts look at history of Chief Illiniwek garb
<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/u_of_i/2007/01/27/tribe_wants_chief_il\
liniwek_costume_back> (1/27/07)

"It was a great honor for us, and we return it with gratitude to his
family," former Associate Chancellor Judith Rowan wrote to Sioux Chief
Anthony Whirlwind Horse in May 1991.

An undated shipping invoice shows the bonnet was shipped via UPS to
Whirlwind Horse.

Also in May 1991, Rowan wrote to the U.S. Department of Fish and
Wildlife, stating that the headdress had been returned to the Sioux
tribe. The headdress was officially on loan to the UI because federal
laws protecting eagles prohibit anyone except American Indians from
owning eagle feathers.

In any event, Chief Illiniwek never used it: The headdress was too short
and was missing some feathers, officials said.

At some point, the UI sent Fools Crow 25 eagle feathers from an older
headdress to fashion a longer "tail" for his bonnet, but it was never
completed. UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler said officials believe the
feathers were lost in a fire at Fools Crow's home a few years before he
died in 1989.

Former Marching Illini Director Gary Smith, who arranged the 1982
purchase, said Fools Crow told him the feathers were stolen out of his
truck.

Fools Crow's grandson, Melvin Lone Hill, was traveling this week and
could not be reached for comment. He acknowledged in a Chicago Tribune
story last week that he had received the headdress but would still like
to get the rest of the regalia back, offering to pay if needed.

But tribal spokeswoman Eileen Janis, administrative assistant to tribal
President John Yellowbird Steele, said she was not aware it had been
returned. Janis, who drafted the resolution, said she considered
suggesting the UI put the regalia in a museum but deferred to Lone
Hill's desire to have it returned.

The regalia made by Fools Crow was the fourth set used by Chief
Illiniwek and the third bought by the UI. If it were returned to the
tribe, Chief Illiniwek would still have one complete set of regalia to
use, documents show.

Current Chief Dan Maloney still wears the tunic and leggings from the
Fools Crow regalia. Assistant Chief Logan Ponce wears a tunic and
leggings made by an "expert in Indian lore" in 1967, along with the
gloves made by Fools Crow.

Both wear turkey-feather headdresses made by a Tolono man in 1992. Other
Chief Illiniwek items – chokers, breast plates, another set of
gloves – were made by others throughout the years.

The UI also has the Chief ensemble that the second Chief Illiniwek,
Webber Borchers, bought in 1930 from the Oglala Sioux, before the laws
governing eagle feathers took effect. That eagle-feather headdress
remains in storage at the UI athletic department.

The tunic and leggings were on display at the Sousa Museum at the
Harding Band Building until about a year ago, when curators decided they
were deteriorating and should be placed in protective storage.

Smith, a staunch Chief Illiniwek supporter, said he understands why Lone
Hill would like the 1982 regalia back in his family.

"I was surprised we got it to begin with," Smith said. "It is authentic,
and it has historical value. I'm sensitive to their feelings about this.
It should be given back to them as far as I'm concerned. It's more
important for them to have it than us. We can always have another one
made."

According to News-Gazette and Alumni Association files, Borchers and
Smith contacted the Sioux in late 1981 to see if they could make a new
set of regalia for the Chief.

Smith said tribal leaders suggested he talk to Fools Crow, a Sioux
medicine man, who wanted to sell one of his two handmade chief outfits.
Smith said he was told Fools Crow was "destitute" and the UI could help
by buying the outfit for $3,500.

"It was just a work of art," Smith said. "I notified the university that
I thought this would be a tremendous purchase."

UI alumnus Robert Eisner funded the purchase in May 1982, according to
News-Gazette files.

"By collectors, it would draw many thousands more," Smith wrote in a
1982 letter to supporters.

Smith then invited Fools Crow, elected Oglala Chief Joe American Horse
and Whirlwind Horse, who was superintendent of the Bureau for Indian
Affairs in South Dakota, to officially present the regalia during
halftime of a home football game the next fall.

Ralph Senn and Joe Ream, owners of Garcia's Pizza, flew the men here in
their private plane, Smith said.

Fools Crow spoke only in his native language, Smith said. When Smith
asked Fools Crow what he thought of the dance, American Horse said the
response was difficult to translate, but he felt it had "an awful lot of
body English," Smith recalled. "It's not authentic, but he understands
it's a theatrical demonstration, with a great deal added to make it
visible. But he said he was OK with it."

Smith firmly believes Chief Illiniwek had tribal leaders' approval.

"Not only would they not have sold me the outfit, but they wouldn't have
come here to present it to us with their blessings," said Smith, who
grew to be friends with Fools Crow.

But Janis, the Sioux spokeswoman, said the tribe has never officially
condoned Chief Illiniwek. She expects the resolution to win full tribal
approval next week.

"The feeling is unanimous," she said. "We would like to see it stopped."

She said the Chief's regalia is traditional in style but his dance is
more of a "fancy dance. That is a lot more steps, a lot more movement,"
she said. "A traditional dance is very reserved.

"I've seen it on TV. That isn't our dance. It's certainly not our
traditional way."

Smith said American Horse was more concerned with stereotypical
Hollywood movies and caricatures like the Cleveland Indians' logo. He
said American Horse told him the UI performance had no religious
connotations and was a "social-type dance." In fact, many non-natives
were participating in dances at the powwows he attended with American
Horse.

"He thought it was helpful for people to learn about their culture,
their traditions, their heritage," Smith said.

CHIEF ILLINIWEK TIMELINE

1926-1928

First Chief Illiniwek, Lester Leutwiler, makes first costume and three
headdresses. At least two use eagle feathers.

1930

Second Chief, Webber Borchers, buys new set of regalia for UI from Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation with financial support from Isaac Kuhn.
Includes headdress with 91 eagle feathers, tunic, breast plate, leggings
and moccasins. Set is used for 37 years.

1967

UI buys second set of regalia, consisting of shirt and pants, from
"expert in Indian lore." Webber Borchers headdress reworked and reused.

1970

U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife approves "loan" of eagle feathers
to university for "educational and exhibit purposes," to bring UI into
compliance with eagle-protection laws that allow only American Indians
to own eagle feathers (for religious purposes).

May 1982

Marching Illini Director Gary Smith and Assistant Athletic Director Tom
Porter meet with Oglala Sioux elder Frank Fools Crow and other tribal
leaders to discuss acquiring new set of regalia. Smith requests $3,500
from UI supporters to pay for set hand-made by Fools Crow and his wife,
calling it "priceless." UI alumnus Robert Eisner funds purchase and
donates it to UI Foundation. Letter written later clarifies headdress is
on loan to UI.

September 1982

Marching Illini announce that Chief Illiniwek will begin using new
regalia: tunic, leggings, moccasins, breast plate and headdress with 28
golden eagle tail feathers. But bonnet-style headdress is too short, so
it is never used by the Chief.

Fall 1982

Frank Fools Crow, Chief Anthony Whirlwind Horse and Chief Joe American
Horse visit UI for official presentation ceremony.

July 1983

Leutwiler says he is donating original set of regalia to UI.

August 1987

UI President Stanley Ikenberry writes to Oglala Sioux Council asking
that someone complete project to add tail to Fools Crow bonnet-style
headdress, using 25 eagle feathers sent earlier by UI. Project is never
completed; feathers either stolen or lost in a fire at Fools Crow's
home.

1989

Frank Fools Crow dies.

October 1990

UI acquires two new headdresses made of turkey feathers, created by Roy
Hanks of Tolono.

January 1991

Letter sent to Chief Anthony Whirlwind Horse, explaining that UI wants
to return bonnet-style headdress to Fools Crow's family.

May 1991

Letter from Associate Chancellor Judith Rowan indicates that Whirlwind
Horse has arranged for headdress to be returned to Fools Crow's daughter
that June. Voucher shows "bonnet" is subsequently shipped there.

1991

Rowan sends letter to Department of Fish and Wildlife, stating that 25
eagle feathers once at UI were returned to Fools Crow and that headdress
was returned to Whirlwind Horse. UI still has Webber Borchers'
headdress, which is grandfathered in under federal eagle-protection act.

1992

Leutwiler now in possession of all three of his original headdresses,
although they are on display at the Illini Union a year later. He dies
Feb. 10, 1993.

1996

Only remaining headdress with eagle feathers, from Borchers' regalia,
stored at Swanlund Administration Building. It is moved to UI athletic
department in 2003.

2006

Borchers regalia (aside from headdress) stored at Sousa Archives in
Harding Band Building; later regalia, from 1982 and 1967, still in use
by current Chief Illiniwek and assistant Chief. Leutwiler regalia
assumed to be in Leutwiler family's possession.

January 2007

Executive committee of Oglala Sioux Tribal Nation asks UI to return 1982
regalia to Fools Crow's grandson, Mel Lone Hill, and stop using Chief
Illiniwek.

[Okwes]

No Charges in Online Threats over Chief Illiniwek
www.topix.net/r/0KFyLsDRBNAS3UPwUns761wBxZ=2F2FqWhOwavtjQKnmz57uP\
Dn7fFXHXWQ9GaVfnaRFbzBdNzObM1Ow1gtMFlKJQkTrOsG5rdGb5rUBp0vjVM=3D
<http://www.topix.net/r/0KFyLsDRBNAS3UPwUns761wBxZ=2F2FqWhOwavtjQKnmz57u\
PDn7fFXHXWQ9GaVfnaRFbzBdNzObM1Ow1gtMFlKJQkTrOsG5rdGb5rUBp0vjVM=3D> The
University of Illinois students who posted online threats over Chief
Illiniwek will not face charges. Champaign County State`s Attorney Julia
Rietz says it was not a crime because the threats were not made directly
to the student. The threats on the Facebook site did target a Native
American student. One read "I say we throw a tomahawk in her face." At
least three students were questioned in connection with the online
postings. Chief opponents say it is an insult they won`t face charges.
The University of Illinois can still punish the students.

[blackcrowheart]

School Hears Calls to End Mascot's Act Chief's Friends, Foes Rally At
University of Illinois
By Kari Lydersen
<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/kari+lydersen/>
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 2, 2007; Page A02
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR200702\
0101873.html
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR20070\
20101873.html>

URBANA, Ill., Feb. 1 -- The students and other supporters came by the
hundreds Thursday, filling up the school's Foellinger Auditorium,
rattling the walls with cheers and applause, and booing lustily at their
outnumbered opponents.

But the rally had nothing to do with basketball or volleyball or any
other sport. It centered on the beaded, buckskin regalia of Chief
Illiniwek, the University of Illinois mascot, or more pointedly on
whether the chief is a tradition to be upheld or a dated and offensive
stereotype.

[http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarg\
e_tab.gif]
[University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek performs for the crowd
last fall during a football game. The mascot has been a controversial
figure for years, but several recent developments could hasten his
departure.] University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek performs for
the crowd last fall during a football game. The mascot has been a
controversial figure for years, but several recent developments could
hasten his departure. (By Seth Perlman -- Associated Press)

"It's time for the chief to take a hike," said Loon He Flies Fast, a
Chippewa from Wisconsin, addressing university officials and others who
attended the rally organized by opponents of the mascot. "If the chief
showed up at a sacred dance circle at any powwow in America, he'd be
thrown out of that circle and asked to leave. It ain't Indian dancing,
folks. It's a minstrel show."

The debate over the use of Native American mascots by U.S. colleges and
professional sports teams has raged for decades. And the fate of Chief
Illiniwek has been argued on the Urbana-Champaign campus for 18 years.

But two events are bringing the battle to a head here. The National
Collegiate Athletic Association ruled in 2005 that the mascot is
"abusive" and "hostile," and the university cannot host postseason
competitions as long as it holds onto Chief Illiniwek. Equally
important, the South Dakota-based Oglala Sioux tribal council and the
grandson of the craftsman who sold the costume to the university have
recently demanded that it be returned.

In 1982, during a trip to the Pine Ridge reservation, the school's
former band director purchased the outfit from tribal elder Frank Fools
Crow for $3,500. Fools Crow later presented the costume and smoked a
peace pipe with school officials during a homecoming game.

But for some Native Americans, that history does not settle things. In
December, a Cherokee activist and longtime mascot foe named Roger
Fontana contacted friends on the Oglala Sioux tribal council. The
council passed a resolution Jan. 18 demanding the return of the outfit.

"This was a 93-year-old man, who was destitute, and these people offer
him the equivalent of probably a year's average income on the Pine Ridge
reservation at the time," said Fontana, 51. "This was a priceless
artifact; they ripped him off."

Fools Crow's headdress was in fact returned to the tribe in 1991, after
university officials determined that the school could not legally
possess the eagle feathers it contained.

Critics of the chief mascot also note that local Native American tribes
would not have worn the feathers and buckskin more typical of Plains
tribes like the Sioux.

"The people who were here had full body tattoos and scalp locks," a
mostly shaved head with a tail, said Debbie Reese, a professor of
American Indian studies at the university. "If they were going to do an
authentic representation, no one would have wanted to be the mascot."

Jay Rosenstein, a journalism professor and producer of a documentary
about the chief called "In Whose Honor," said the tribe's request
undermines the mascot's validity.

"It explodes one of the last remaining myths that people who support the
chief have been clinging to," he said. "The fact that Fools Crow had
presented the regalia was mythologized as an endorsement by the entire
Native American community. Now that has been destroyed."

The University of Illinois is one of only a few universities still using
Native American mascots. Since complaints about the chief first arose in
1989, hundreds of faculty members and organizations including the NAACP
and the Southern Poverty Law Center have called for retiring the mascot.

But alumni and students, including a group of past mascots called the
Council of Chiefs, have defended the icon, saying it is a revered
symbol. The chief does not stand on the sidelines and cheer; he performs
a four-minute dance routine during halftime.

"Everything we're doing is to honor and promote the culture," said Steve
Raquel, the 1992-1993 chief.

Tension over the mascot has worsened recently. The university is
investigating a student who posted a threat to "throw a tomahawk" in the
face of a Native American activist. And professor emeritus Stephen
Kaufman, a longtime critic of the mascot, complained to school officials
about a Web posting warning Kaufman to "expect some burning crosses on
your lawn."

On a recent afternoon, students crossing the campus said they did not
want to promote racism, but felt that the chief was an honored symbol,
not a demeaning one.

"If it offends people, we should take it away, but I don't think it's
really that offensive," said Kayla Baker, 20. "It promotes our school
spirit."

[Okwes]

Illiniwek debate heats up, tribe wants regalia back Eric Heisig Issue
date: 2/4/07 Section: News
<http://www.dailyvidette.com/news/2007/02/04/News/>
www.topix.net/r/0KFyLsDRBNAS3UPwUns761xTdTbRJkzVjvVP=2FL1Jk7fxgSd\
uerwdg1EHe=2BXJPC7=2BHRYX9L0CmXx2JNmeVzgPN0p4xTjqBlMq8bKXN59UGxv225K2U9l\
rJt8VnxJKRDVVhpI=2BBG8XVjJ3CzRo2G1XtGiBrGJwS=2BZlR5ZUhdSjL4v4W7K1sRWVku2\
L775pGDCgIPunX05OdB1kOFx3GgVLypymzsW3I3QZu21J9waWMR5N=2FvXCoec7VS=2BdFG2\
kK0DyihaP=2FNZIhuNIgQ7olBMLWssm2HrfIhLqCSqHCoqpVKrU3lZqo=2B4yMhnd67BI76O\
8EkbXUIUmpL1GUTJBKZy0VbA=3D=3D
<http://www.topix.net/r/0KFyLsDRBNAS3UPwUns761xTdTbRJkzVjvVP=2FL1Jk7fxgS\
duerwdg1EHe=2BXJPC7=2BHRYX9L0CmXx2JNmeVzgPN0p4xTjqBlMq8bKXN59UGxv225K2U9\
lrJt8VnxJKRDVVhpI=2BBG8XVjJ3CzRo2G1XtGiBrGJwS=2BZlR5ZUhdSjL4v4W7K1sRWVku\
2L775pGDCgIPunX05OdB1kOFx3GgVLypymzsW3I3QZu21J9waWMR5N=2FvXCoec7VS=2BdFG\
2kK0DyihaP=2FNZIhuNIgQ7olBMLWssm2HrfIhLqCSqHCoqpVKrU3lZqo=2B4yMhnd67BI76\
O8EkbXUIUmpL1GUTJBKZy0VbA=3D=3D> The debate over whether or not the
University of Illinois may continue their tradition of Chief Illiniwek
and his halftime dance is heating up.

On Jan. 17, the Oglala Sioux tribe demanded that U. of I. return the
headdress sold to them in 1982. Soon after, it was proven that the
headdress was returned to them in the early 1990s.

Still, the accusations towards U. of I. are still coming and there are
other reasons why.

"[The headdress] was being misused," Mel Lone Hill, administrative
assistant to the vice president of the Oglala Sioux tribe, said. "A
student called and said it was being misused and desecrated."

Lone Hill is the grandson of Frank Fools Crow, whose outfit was sold to
U. of I. for $3,500.

"It wasn't out of the goodness of his heart," Bruce Hawkins, a professor
in the department of English, said.

"To my understanding, he was given incentives [for selling the headdress
and outfit]."

The decision to ask for the headdress back was made by a resolution of
the executive committee Oglala Sioux tribe, with a 3-0 vote in favor of
the decision, according to the Native American House at U. of I.'s Web
site.

Lone Hill said he does not know what will happen if U. of I.'s mascot
does not stop his dance.

"At the moment, I do not know what course of action is going to be
taken," he said. "It is kind of stuck."

Thomas Hardy, the executive director of University Relations at U. of
I., said nothing has been decided on how to react to the Oglala Sioux's
demands. In order to change the mascot, the Board of Trustees must vote
and decide.

"No decisions have been made as to how to respond to this yet," Hardy
said.

Still, there have been people who voice their opinion on the subject.

"There have been no demonstrations or protests, but people have called
and e-mailed the office for the issue," he said, "but of course, like
any issue, there are people on both sides and lots in between."

In the meantime, the Illini will continue to be known as the Illini.

"Chief Illiniwek will continue until the university decides to change
it," Hardy said.

He added that Chief Illiniwek will still perform his halftime dance for
basketball, volleyball and football games until further notice.

Debate has heated up on the U. of I. campus as well. On Thursday, there
was a forum held on racism. Attendees were heard saying the Chief must
go.

Over the years, many mascots have been changed in order to not come off
as racist towards Native Americans. Bradley University's mascot is the
Braves and they have received similar complaints.

[Okwes]

Students who play Chief Illiniwek sue NCAA, school trustees


By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press Writer
February 15, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Two students who portray the University of
Illinois' Chief Illiniwek sued the NCAA and the school's board of
trustees Thursday, seeking to preserve the 81-year-old American
Indian mascot.

Dan Maloney, of Galesburg, and Logan Ponce, of St. Charles, sought
an immediate restraining order to prevent the university "from
capitulating to the NCAA," according to a news release from Maloney,
Ponce and Mattoon attorney Brent D. Holmes.

The NCAA in 2005 deemed Illiniwek -- portrayed by buckskin-clad
students who dance at home football and basketball games and other
athletic events -- an offensive use of American Indian imagery and
barred the university from hosting postseason events.

Maloney and Ponce said they believe the university's board of
trustees plans to eliminate Illiniwek, which they claim would
infringe on their right to free speech. The board has said it
expects to decide the fate of the chief this year.

Neither Holmes nor Ponce returned telephone messages seeking
comment. A phone number listed for Maloney did not work.

A university spokesman said he couldn't recall an active chief
becoming involved in legal action over the long-standing debate.

"I'm frankly puzzled by the suit and the timing of it," said Tom
Hardy, executive director of the university's Office of University
Relations.

He declined comment on specifics of the lawsuit.

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said that organization believes its
sanctions are legal, and the group does not mandate that schools do
away with American Indian mascots.

"However, we do feel we not only have the right, but also an
obligation, to ensure our NCAA championships are conducted in an
atmosphere free of racial stereotyping and one in which all of our
student athletes, athletics staff and fans feel comfortable," he
said in an e-mailed statement.

American Indian groups and others have complained for years that the
mascot, used since 1926, is demeaning. Supporters of the mascot say
it honors the contributions of American Indians to Illinois.

In the lawsuit, filed in Champaign County Circuit Court, the
students also argue that by imposing sanctions, the NCAA failed to
provide due process to the students and the university.

The lawsuit cites a 1991 state law that requires that hearings be
held by athletic governing bodies before penalties can be imposed.
The law followed an NCAA investigation of Illini basketball
recruiting in which the university argued that it had never been
able to confront its accuser.

Maloney and Ponce also argue that NCAA sanctions are arbitrarily
imposed against Illinois while some other schools -- such as San
Diego State University and its Aztec mascot -- face no sanctions.

The lawsuit follows a letter sent by a group of former chiefs last
week to university president Joseph B. White, saying they feared the
board would do away with the chief before they could have a say.
They asked that they be given ownership of the chief trademark.

A member of that group, Tom Livingston of LaGrange, said Thursday
that the former chiefs back the lawsuit but aren't involved in it
and are not helping pay for it. Livingston portrayed Chief Illiniwek
in the late 1980s

[Okwes]

The Racist Mascot from Urbana-Champaign
Why You Should Boo Illinois
By FRANCIS BOYLE

www.uillinois.edu/chief

The self-styled "Fighting Illini" of the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign are on their way to the NCAA Final Four in St. Louis
with their racist and genocidal sports teams mascot, Chief Illiniwak,
still in tow. In his "Year 501: The Conquest Continues" (1993) Noam
Chomsky suggests an apt metaphor for such American Indian sports mascots
that I will elaborate upon here in order to conform to our local and
most peculiar rites on this campus:

Suppose the Nazis had won the Second World War. Sixty years later, a
prestigious German state university has a mascot for all of its sports
teams and sports fans by the name of "The Rabbi." Basically what happens
is that a student from the White Aryan Youth League dresses up in an
authentic costume for an Hasidic Rabbi, complete with the curl-locks and
beard. The sports teams collectively call themselves "The Fighting
Jews", and the school's band is called "The Marching Jews." All the
sports fans in town wear jackets and t-shirts with pictures of The Rabbi
prominently displayed on them. And most cars have Rabbi stickers planted
all over them. A year ago the University's Board of Trustees ran out of
town on a rail a courageous and principled Chancellor who had the
temerity to publicly suggest that the time had now come to "retire" the
Rabbi. So of course there is a heated campaign on among the students and
alumni to "Save the Rabbi!"

This German state university plays its soccer matches over at the
Nuremberg Stadium in front of an audience of about 75,000 White Aryans ,
almost all of whom are wearing pro- Rabbi images and clothes. At
half-time the Marching Jews take to the stadium floor and begin playing
what they purport to be Jewish sounding music along the lines of
Fiddler-on-the-Roof. Then all 75,000 White Aryans rise as one and shout
in unison: "Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi" gesticulating wildly and working
themselves up into a feeding frenzy. One lone faculty member sits there
in protest shouting "Racist Rabbi!" and everyone in the vicinity
proceeds to throw garbage at him. Finally, the moment these ardent White
Aryans have all waited for has arrived. The Rabbi runs out onto the
arena floor from among the Marching Jews,proceeds to the center of the
Nuremberg Stadium, and dances the Hava Nagila while the Marching Jews
play on and march into an intricately choreographed maneuver that they
all brag about and take special pride in that culminates with the band
being organized into a swastika. So the Rabbi continues to dance the
Hava Nagila while the Marching Jews form themselves into a swastika..By
now all 75,000 White Aryans are hysterical, shouting, screaming and
yelling: "Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi." This semi-religious spectacle that the
Nazis are well known for staging, especially at the Nuremberg stadium,
goes on for a good ten minutes. It all concludes with everyone joining
hands to sign Deutschland Uber Alles, with the Rabbi leading all 75,000
White Aryans in the song. Then the Rabbi proceeds to dance the Hava
Nagila out of the stadium followed by the Marching Jews. Everyone goes
wild, clapping and cheering. This Rabbi ceremony brings tears to the
eyes of many drunken alumni and students who had started several hours
beforehand getting inebriated on schnapps and good German beer at
pre-game tailgate parties..

When it is all over, a visiting law professor from another country asks
his host at the soccer match what this spectacle was all about.Without
missing a beat the former Dean of the Law School turns to his guest and
says:"We are honoring the Jews." Whom the Nazis had just exterminated 60
years ago, so of course the memory of the Jews needs to be honored by
this spectacle at every home soccer match and basketball game. The
Illiniwek Indians were ethnically cleansed out of Illinois about a
century before that. These are the real "Little Eichmans." Be sure to
"boo!" and root against them in St. Louis.

Francis A. Boyle, Professor of Law, University of Illinois, is author of
Foundations of World Order, Duke University Press, The Criminality of
Nuclear Deterrence, and Palestine, Palestinians and International Law,
by Clarity Press. He can be reached at: [e-mail]

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (Voice)
217-244-1478 (Fax)
(personal comments only)

-----Original Message-----
From: Chancellor Richard Herman [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 9:39 AM
To: All Faculty & All Academic Professionals & All Civil Service Staff &
All Undergrad Students & All Grad Students
Subject: MASSMAIL - Chief Illiniwak

To members of the campus community,

A decision has been made regarding the Chief Illiniwek tradition. For
more
information, go to: www.uillinois.edu/chief.

If you receive any questions or concerns regarding the decision, please
feel free to use the following reply.

"Thank you for your comments about the recently announced decision on
Chief
Illiniwek. For more information, please refer to this web page:
www.uillinois.edu/chief

[Okwes]

Chief Illiniwek Will No Longer Perform

NCAA to lift sanctions on Illini athletics

URBANA—The University of Illinois today announced that Chief Illiniwek will
no longer perform at athletic events on the Urbana-Champaign campus after this season’s
last men’s home basketball game in Assembly Hall on February 21.

As a consequence, the University will immediately become eligible to host post-
season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship events.
In a February 15, 2007, letter to the University, the NCAA stated that “[o]nce this
action is taken, the university will be immediately removed from the list of institutions
subject to the NCAA Executive Committee’s policy regarding Native American mascots,
nicknames and imagery at NCAA championship events. Continued removal from the list
is conditioned upon the university’s future non-use of ‘Chief Illiniwek’ and the related
Native American imagery in connection with university athletics.

“Assuming the announced changes are affected and assuming such use does not
reoccur, the university will be in full compliance with the policy,” the letter stated.
“Accordingly, the policy will not preclude the university from hosting or participating in
NCAA championship events, should the university be otherwise eligible.”
The NCAA letter was signed by Bernard Franklin, senior vice president for
governance, membership, education and research services.

U. of I. Board of Trustees Chair Lawrence C. Eppley said today’s announcement
marks a critical step toward finishing the work of the consensus process. “This step is in
the best interest of the University and is consistent with the Board’s previously stated
goal of concluding this year its consensus process regarding Chief Illiniwek. Among our
objectives was recognizing the goal of having high integrity athletic programs and
student athletes who have the opportunity to compete at the highest levels,” Eppley said.

“We made and met many friends through the consensus process. And while
people differed on their opinions of the Chief, the overwhelming majority of those voices
put their love for the University ahead of their opinion on the Chief,” Eppley said.
“The Chief Illiniwek tradition inspired and thrilled members of the University of
Illinois community for 80 years,” Eppley said. “It was created, carried on, and enjoyed by
people with great respect for tradition, and we appreciate their dedication and
commitment. It will be important now to ensure the accurate recounting and safekeeping
of the tradition as an integral part of the history of the University. We also have the
responsibility to work together to capture and put to good use the goodwill created by the
tradition and to maintain other great traditions like the Three-In-One for decades to
come.”

The Chief Illiniwek tradition began in 1926 in conjunction with the Marching
Illini, the nation’s premier marching band. Criticism of the tradition intensified in recent
years, although the symbol and iconic halftime performance remained popular among
alumni and the public. The Board of Trustees’ consensus process for resolving issues
regarding Chief Illiniwek was underway when the NCAA Executive Committee
established its policy in August 2005. During two rounds of appeals by the University to
the NCAA over its policy, the NCAA rescinded its objection to the names “Illini” and
“Fighting Illini” but retained Illinois on its non-compliant list because of the Chief
Illiniwek name, logo and the performance. The University exhausted the NCAA appeals
process last April and since then has been banned from hosting NCAA championship
events on the Urbana campus.

For more information, including a link to the NCAA letter, refer to the following
website:

[Okwes]

American Indian denounces University's Chief decision

By Erika Strebel
Posted: 3/12/07 Section:
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Dr. David A. Yeagley is pro-Chief and an American Indian. His
great-great grandfather was a Comanche warrior.

When he heard the news that Dan Maloney performed his final dance as the
Chief, Yeagley said he was disappointed.

"I felt it was a mistake - that the University had caved in," he said.
"It was weak, like somebody had given up."

He also wrote an article about the retirement of the Chief entitled
"Another Indian Gone" on his Web site, www.badeagle.com. Yeagley resides
in Oklahoma City, where he is a composer and freelance journalist.

Yeagley fully supports the use of American Indian mascots to represent
athletic teams.

Richard Poe, colleague of Yeagley as well as New York Times best-selling
author, said Yeagley is one of the strongest, influential voices on the
American Indian mascot debate.

"For the first time, he has raised the question: is it something Indians
want or whether white liberals are just using them as pawns," Poe said.

Yeagley said he had no objection to Maloney's half-time performances. He
encourages the practice.

"It's not the rendition of an authentic war dance, it's not intended to
be that," Yeagley said. "It's a gesture of the pride and the strength of
the Indian warrior image. It celebrates power, rigor, vigor - the power
of bravery and courage. Indians share the honor of representing that."

He said he blames University administration for giving in to the NCAA
demands.

"It's the administration that doesn't want to deal with the issue," he
said. "If they really cared, they would uphold the Indian warrior
image," Yeagley said.

He also said that NCAA has no authority to control school mascots. He
researched the origins of the NCAA and found no information about the
organization that merited official authority.

"Athletics has nothing to do with politics," he said. "The NCAA is
making it into a political showdown."

Yeagley said that mascots preserve the presence of American Indians in
American society and serve as a visual reminder of their place in
American history.

"Indians earned it with blood," Yeagley said. "Only a racist would want
to remove the honor American Indians hold in history."

Yeagley refers to the removal of American Indian mascots as "Indian
Removal II."

He said that removing American Indian mascots is a continuation of
Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, the program that relocated American
Indians on the East Coast to Oklahoma.

"I call it an ethnic cleansing," he said. "It's racist. It's a virtual
holocaust."

As one of Young America's Foundation's speakers, Yeagley has spoken
about his support for American Indian mascots at various universities
like Pennsylvania State University and the University of Mexico City.

He will be speaking at Florida State University, represented by the
Seminoles on April 4.

"I am trying to create a positive view of America from an Indian point
of view," Yeagley said.

"I'm trying to create a re-interpretation of America that allows
American Indians to be proud of America and love America rather than
taking the protester's stance established in the early 70s," he said.

At the University of Mexico City, he happened to meet Charlene Teters,
the Spokane Indian activist who originally established the protest
against the Chief at the University in 1988.

"I am not her favorite person," Yeagley said.

He also said that he recognizes his view may not be shared by other
American Indians.

"I get called a racist often because I want to see that Indian image
preserved," Yeagley said. "... it's all backwards. I'm a person that
loves the race and wants to preserve it in anyway possible."

However, he said he might be too late, as universities have been
retiring their American Indian mascots.

"I want to speak on a campus where they have an Indian mascot," Yeagley
said. "I want to hit the target. I want to campaign where the battle is
- if there's a battle left."

[blackcrowheart]

This mascot is of chief concern Chief Illiniwek has been banned by
Illinois and condemned by the NCAA but you can still seem him
everywhere. January 1, 2008
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The toughest guy at the Rose Bowl stormed into town last week, and
hasn't slowed down since.

His solemn face was spotted at Duke's Malibu, on the Santa Monica Pier,
at Universal City Walk.

His one-syllable name was chanted at the airport, outside bars, up
Melrose, down Colorado.

His shirt was worn by thousands from Oxnard to Newport Beach.

The toughest guy in the Rose Bowl has been banned by the school,
condemned by the NCAA, and ruled offensive by the very people he is
supposed to honor.

Yet, today, at halftime, he will show up at the game.

At some point during the University of Illinois band's show, Illini fans
will rise and cross their arms in imitation of his favorite pose, then
slowly shout his name.

"Chieeeeeef"

They are calling for Chief Illiniwek, the longtime Illinois mascot who
was deemed, "hostile or abusive" by the NCAA and eventually banned by
the school last winter.

Except he's still here.

You can buy his memorabilia in the school-sanctioned bookstores, see his
resemblance on oddly painted fans outside home games, cheer his
supporters as they march in the school's homecoming parade, and feel his
presence at the university's highest reaches.

During a game earlier this season between Michigan and Illinois, a
university official walked onto the field to receive an award.

It was a cold night, but he was wearing a T-shirt.

A "Chief" T-shirt.

"It was astounding," said Jason Dollarhide, the 2nd Chief of the Peoria
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. "I thought, 'Why don't these people give
it up?' "

On that night, in a stadium filled with thousands who called themselves
"Illini," Dollarhide was the only real one there.

His tribe is comprised of the last descendants of the Illini federation
of tribes, which were forcibly moved out of Illinois in the early 1800s.

In 2000, his group passed a resolution opposing Chief Illiniwek as a
"degrading racial stereotype."

It was a resolution that led to the NCAA condemnation, which led to
elimination of the mascot . . . which has become stronger than ever.

"I don't know why a university has to keep alive something that speaks
of racism," Dollarhide said. "It just fascinates me that people have to
hold onto something that is so hurtful to others."

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