Last fall, 33 schools were asked by the NCAA to submit self-evaluations to determine the extent, if any, the school uses or makes reference to Native American imagery.

The NCAA lists 18 colleges and universities that continue to use Indian imagery or references, including the U. All of those schools are now subject to the new policy.

Fourteen schools have already removed all references — or never had any — to Native American culture, according to the NCAA.

The "Utes" and "Redskins" were both nicknames once used by U. athletic teams, according to the school's 2005 football media guide. Utes became the official nickname in 1972, "when college campuses became sensitive to the concerns of tribal members."

The guide goes on to say that the U. uses the Ute name with permission from the Ute Tribal Council. The council has also given the U. permission, according to the media guide, to use the mascot named "Swoop," depicting a red-tailed hawk, a bird indigenous to Utah.

According to Cuch, approximately 3,300 Utes live on two reservations in Utah and at least 500 more live off-reservation in the state.

The meaning of the word Ute, the U. guide states, ranges from "high place" and "top of the mountain" to "people of the mountains" and "land of the sun."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com