End near for Fighting Sioux mascot?

We read:

"The end of the Fighting Sioux could be near as the University of North Dakota appears ready to abandon its mascot over calls of racism despite a petition drive by local tribe members to preserve the school's nickname and logo.

Supporters from the Standing Rock Sioux want to collect at least 600 signatures before the next tribal council meeting in March. "We just want the people to have their say," said Archie D. Fool Bear, one of the petition organizers. "It's not up to 17 people on the [tribal] council, it's up to the entire reservation to decide. A whole lot of people have told us, 'Get that petition going, we'll sign it.'"

Time, however, is running out. The North Dakota University System board could rid itself of the controversy by retiring the nickname and logo as early as Thursday's February meeting. Last month, both UND's Chancellor Bill Goetz and UND President Robert Kelley abandoned their neutral stances on the issue by coming out against keeping the Fighting Sioux nickname.

Under NCAA rules, universities may keep their Indian mascots, nicknames and logos as long as they receive the permission of the namesake tribe, which in UND's case consists of two tribes — the Spirit Lake Sioux and Standing Rock Sioux. The Spirit Lake Sioux tribal council gave its blessing in September but Standing Rock Sioux leaders have long opposed the nickname. That changed in October, when the tribe elected a new chairman and several new council members who favor the nickname, but a formal granting of permission has been slow to come.

The limbo leaves the University of North Dakota as the last campus with an unresolved Indian nickname. In 2005, the NCAA issued its decision against Indian nicknames and since then the rest of the 19 schools on its list either switched mascots or received tribal permission, said NCAA officials.

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