Fighting Sioux nickname lives again in ND

BISMARCH, N.D. — As a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Indian tribe, Eunice Davidson has little patience with arguments that the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname is demeaning to her.

In recent weeks, Davidson has spent hours outside the university's Ralph Engelstad Arena — built and named for one of the nickname's staunchest backers — to gather petition signatures aimed at restoring a nickname the university wants to discard.

On Tuesday night, she was one of a group of nickname supporters who delivered petitions bearing what they said were 17,213 signatures to Secretary of State Al Jaeger's office.

The total was almost 4,000 names more than the minimum of 13,452 needed to force a June 12 statewide vote on whether the university should keep the nickname and an American Indian head logo, which itself was designed by a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

"We worked in the cold weather. We froze. But even though we went through all that, it was really an experience, learning how to do this," Davidson said.

Jaeger planned to count the signatures Wednesday, before starting a 35-day vetting process to determine whether he petition is sufficient to qualify for the ballot.

The pro-nickname law itself will be back in force until the vote, unless Jaeger determines the petitions are inadequate.

The NCAA considers the nickname and logo hostile to American Indians. If their use is continued, the association has said, UND will not host postseason tournaments, nor will the school's teams be allowed to wear uniforms in postseason play that have the Fighting Sioux nickname or the Indian head logo.

Last November, after the North Dakota Legislature repealed a law that required UND to use the nickname and logo, they were scrubbed from university websites and removed from some school team uniforms.

The petitions submitted Tuesday demand a vote on whether the Legislature's decision to repeal the law should itself be reversed. The law was approved in March in hopes it would make the NCAA reconsider its opposition to the nickname and logo, but the association remained adamant.

Davidson's tribe has supported keeping the nickname and logo. Almost three years ago, 67 percent of the tribal members who voted in Spirit Lake reservation referendum endorsed their continued use.

The Standing Rock reservation has not had a referendum. Its tribal council has long opposed the name, and the tribe's chairman, Charles Murphy, said the matter was not a priority.