Chief Illiniwek - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chief Illiniwek was the mascot and the official symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

associated with the University's intercollegiate athletic programs from 1926 to February 21, 2007. The mascot was portrayed by a student dressed in Sioux

Sioux

The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

regalia to honor the Illiniwek

Illiniwek

The Illinois Confederation, sometimes referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were a group of twelve to thirteen Native American tribes in the upper Mississippi River valley of North America...

, the state's namesake. The student portraying Chief Illiniwek performed during halftime of Illinois football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

games, as well as during women's volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

matches.

For more than two decades, Chief Illiniwek has been the center of a controversy. At the root of the controversy is the view of several American Indian groups, as well as other people, both of color, and white, that the symbol/mascot was a misappropriation of indigenous cultural figures and rituals and that it perpetuated stereotypes

Native American mascot controversy

The propriety of using Native American mascots and images in sports has been a topic of debate in the United States and Canada since the 1960s.Americans have had a history of drawing inspiration from native peoples and "playing Indian" that dates back at least to the 18th century...

about American Indian peoples. As a result of this controversy, the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

termed Chief Illiniwek a "hostile or abusive" mascot and image in August 2005 and banned the university from hosting postseason activities as long as it continued to use the mascot and symbol.

Background

Chief Illiniwek and the Chief Illiniwek logo—a stylized front view of an American Indian face and headdress—are trademarks of the University of Illinois. Licensed use of the logo by the university has been increasingly restrictive as a result of the ongoing controversy. Chief Illiniwek is not based on an actual American Indian chief, nor did a historical figure with this name ever exist.

Since he performed many of the functions of other schools’ mascots, Chief Illiniwek is generally referred to as the university’s mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

. The use of Chief Illiniwek predates the use of mascots in most sports teams and he was never on the sidelines with the cheerleaders during games, as is typical for university sports mascots. In recent years he did not perform at road games, although this practice was initiated because other Big Ten universities would not permit the character to perform at their home games, citing him as offensive.

During sporting events, the Chief was portrayed by a student selected via audition and wearing traditional Lakota (Sioux) regalia sold to the University marching band

Marching Illini

The Marching Illini is the marching band of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Marching Illini is a close-knit organization which annually includes approximately 350 students enrolled in the University of Illinois...

by Chief Frank Fools Crow

Frank Fools Crow

Frank Fools Crow was a Lakota Sioux spiritual leader, Yuwipi medicine man, and the nephew of Black Elk. He was instrumental in negotiating the end of the insurrection at Wounded Knee in 1973 and the subject of a biography by Thomas Mails.-Life:...

. The portrayal also included a dance of unknown origins, possibly adapted from early 20th century fancy dancing

Fancy dance

Fancy dance, Pan-Indian dancing, Fancy Feather or Fancy War Dance is a style of dance some believe was originally created by members of the Ponca tribe in the 1920s and 1930s, in an attempt to preserve their culture and religion. It is loosely based on the War dance...

via the Boy Scouts

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

(see History, below). His dance corresponded to the music and lyrics of the "Three in One" performed by the university band, which is an arrangement of three original songs entitled "The March of the Illini", "Hail to the Orange", and "Pride of the Illini". The Chief performed only at major sporting events hosted by the university. The stated intent of the Chief was to celebrate the Native American heritage of the state of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Chief Illiniwek's final official appearance was at an Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at Assembly Hall, located on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign....

game on February 21, 2007. The Chief received a long standing ovation, and his departure was described by many in attendance as a very sad day for some Illini fans. In protest and mourning, hundreds of students donned black shirts for the second half of the game. The student portraying the Chief, Dan Maloney, strayed from tradition to return to center court and acknowledge the fans.

History

The origin of Chief Illiniwek dates to 1926, when Ray Dvorak, assistant director of bands at the University of Illinois, conceived the idea of having a Native American war dance

War dance

A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare....

performed during halftime of Illinois football games. The first performance occurred on October 30, 1926 at Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium (Champaign)

thumb|right|300px|Original plan for Memorial Stadium circa 1921. Caption from [[Popular Mechanics]] Magazine, 1921Memorial Stadium is a football stadium located in Champaign, Illinois, in the United States, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The stadium is dedicated as...

during the halftime of a game against the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. At the conclusion of his performance, Illinwek was met at midfield by a drum major dressed as the University of Pennsylvania's Quaker

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

mascot, offered a peace pipe, and walked off the field arm in arm. Student Lester Leutwiler, an Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

, created the original costume and performed the dance based upon his studies as a Boy Scout

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

. The expression Illiniwek (meaning "the complete human being - the strong, agile human body, and the indomitable human spirit") was first used in conjunction with the University of Illinois football team by football coach Bob Zuppke, referring to the Illinois Confederation of Native Americans who historically had inhabited much of present-day Illinois

Illinois

.

Another student, A. Webber Borchers, was the only Chief to ride on horseback around the field and solidified the Chief tradition, continuing the performances and soliciting contributions for a permanent costume in 1930. Since then, the costume has been replaced several times, most recently in 1982. The current costume was sold to the University marching band by Frank Fools Crow

Frank Fools Crow

, chief of the Oglala Sioux (a nation unrelated to the Illiniwek), after being sewn by his wife. He visited the campus in 1982 to present the regalia during halftime of a football game at the request of then-Assistant Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands Gary Smith. The costume contained real eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

feathers, but because eagle feathers are sacred to Native Americans, and because they came from a species protected

Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...

at that time, the feathers in the headdresses worn by the Chief were replaced with dyed turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

feathers after requests from the family of Chief Fool's Crow.

Chief Illiniwek's dance was derived from "Indian Lore

Native American mythology

Native American mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Native American religion from a mythographical perspective. Native American belief systems include many sacred narratives. Such spiritual stories are deeply based in Nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons,...

" studies done by university students who had been Boy Scouts. The three- or four-minute dance is based on fancy dance

Fancy dance

, a style that originated from the Plains Indians

Plains Indians

The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...

as a means of providing a more secular display than purely sacred dancing, and which is practiced today by many Native Americans at pow-wow

Pow-wow

A pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American...

s. The dance has evolved over time; each student who performs the role of the Chief augments the basic performance with his own movements and steps. Although it is claimed the dance is similar to traditional fancy dance, the Chief's routine includes mid-air splits, which are rarely found in Native fancy dance. Only the music has remained unchanged, with the Chief always performing to the Three in One. In the 1990s, literature distributed by the University ceased describing the dance as "authentic."

Since 1926 a total of 36 different students have performed the role of the Chief. All but one have been men: one woman, Idelle (Stith) Brooks, served in 1943 due to the shortage of male students during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

; she was called "Princess Illiniwek." No student portraying Chief Illiniwek was of American Indian heritage during the 82 year span, although Brooks, a journalism major who had grown up on the Osage Reservation

Osage Nation

The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...

in Fairfax, Oklahoma

Fairfax, Oklahoma

Fairfax is a town in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,380 at the 2010 census, down 11.3 percent from 1,555 at the 2000 census.-History:...

, was described as an "honorary princess of the Osage Indian tribe".^photo Brooks weighed 90 pounds and her Chief regalia weighed 50. However, more recently the most current "unofficial" Chief Illiniwek has been cited as to being half-Cherokee.

The actual descendants of the Illiniwek opposed the Chief (see Controversy, below). In May 1995, a WICD reporter interviewed members of the Peoria tribe in Oklahoma, Chief Don Giles said, "We do not have a problem with the mascot.". On January 17, 2007, however, the Executive Committee of the Oglala Tribal Council issued a resolution, asking that the University of Illinois to return the regalia to the family of Frank Fools Crow and cease the use of the Chief Illiniwek mascot. The resolution was delivered to the university's Board of Trustees, UI President B. Joseph White, and Chancellor Richard Herman. The campus' Native American House was authorized by the Oglala Sioux to distribute the resolution to the public.

The Chief appeared at the University's homecoming

Homecoming

Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

parade and pep rally

Pep rally

Pep rallies are events that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. A pep rally is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the...

until 1991.

Controversy

From the mid-1970s, the Chief was the subject of debate at the University of Illinois. Protests began in October 1989 when Charlene Teters

Charlene Teters

Charlene Teters is a Native American artist, educator, and lecturer. Her paintings and art installations have been featured in over 21 major exhibitions, commissions, and collections. She is a member of the Spokane Tribe, and her Spokane name is Slum Tah...

, a graduate student from the Spokane tribe

Spokane (tribe)

The Spokane are a Native American people in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Washington. The Spokane Indian Reservation, at , is located in eastern Washington, almost entirely in Stevens County, but includes two very small parcels of land and part of the Spokane River in...

, began protesting the Chief at athletic events after her young son and daughter's reaction to the Chief's dance at a basketball game. Soon, individuals and organizations, some from outside of the University, began to support the Chief's elimination. Some academic departments adopted official stances in favor of retirement of the symbol. External organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...

, the National Education Association

National Education Association

The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...

, Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

, the Modern Language Association

Modern Language Association

The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...

, and Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas

Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas

The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas is an international organization founded in 1981 devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of North, Central, and South America....

also took positions in favor of retiring the Chief. In November 1989, the Illinois state legislature

Illinois General Assembly

The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois and comprises the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Illinois has 59 legislative districts, with two...

passed a resolution in support of the Chief.

Student and alumni organizations, such as the Honor the Chief Society and Chief Illiniwek Educational Foundation, are dedicated to explaining and preserving the tradition of Chief Illiniwek. The Students for the Chief group formed in 1990. Among the national Native American organizations which called for the retirement of the symbol were the National Congress of American Indians

National Congress of American Indians

The National Congress of American Indians is a American Indian and Alaska Native indigenous rights organization. It was founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the U.S. government forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and...

and the National Indian Education Association

National Indian Education Association

The National Indian Education Association is the only national nonprofit exclusive to education issues for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian) people of the United States.-History:...

. At the Urbana-Champaign campus, the Native American House, the American Indian Studies program, and the Native American student organizations all called for its retirement.

Those in favor of retiring the Chief contended that the Chief misappropriates Native American culture

Native American mascot controversy

and perpetuates harmful racial or ethnic stereotypes. They argued that this obstructed the creation of a diverse and tolerant learning community, harmed the reputation of the University, and promoted an inaccurate image of Native Americans. Those in support of the Chief claimed that he was a revered symbol representing not only a proud people but the great spirit of a great university.

A 1995 ruling by the United States Department of Education

United States Department of Education

The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

found that the Chief did not violate Native American students' civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

. Also in 1995, the state legislature approved a bill making the Chief the "official symbol" of the University, but Governor Jim Edgar

Jim Edgar

James Edgar is an American politician who was the 38th Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and Illinois Secretary of State from 1981 to 1991. As a moderate Republican in a largely blue-leaning state, Edgar was a popular and successful governor, leaving office with high approval ratings...

's amendatory veto allowed the decision to remain with the University.

As a result of student activism calling for support for Native American students and an American Indian Studies program, the Urbana-Champaign campus established the Native American House and American Indian Studies program in 2003. As reported in the University of Illinois student databook in 2003, students of Native American descent made up 0.2% of the overall student population, and only 0.1% of the faculty are of Native American origin. This is in contrast with the national average of 0.4%. However, it should be noted that the state of Illinois has a lower than average proportion of Native Americans. Some Illiniwek were forcibly removed from the state of Illinois during the time of Indian removal

Indian Removal

Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...

. The forced relocation of Indian nations between 1818 and 1833 made way for non-Indians to claim the territory as the state of Illinois. Due to government-sponsored assimilation programs, many Native people moved in the 1950s to large urban areas such as Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Founded in 1953, Chicago's American Indian Center is the oldest urban Indian

Urban Indian

Urban Indians are Native Americans in the United States who live in urban areas. Urban Indians represent a growing proportion of the Native population in the United States...

center in the country, and there is a substantial American Indian population in Chicago.

In 2006, the University Board of Trustees opted to study the issue and passed a resolution calling for "a consensus conclusion to the matter of Chief Illiniwek." Many on both sides of the issue find this resolution problematic, given that former trustee Roger Plummer determined that a compromise on the issue was not possible. Thus far, the Board of Trustees has not consulted on the matter with the faculty of the American Indian Studies Program.

In the past few years, opinion polls on the subject have not been much help in defining Native American opinion on the subject. In 2002, a Peter Harris Research Group poll of those who declared Native American ethnicity on a U.S. census showed that 81% of Native Americans support the use of Indian nicknames in high school and college sports, and 83% of Native Americans support the use of Indian mascots and symbols in professional sports. However, the methods and results of this poll have been disputed. A separate poll conducted by the Native-run newspaper Indian Country Today
Indian Country Today
Indian Country Today Media Network is a weekly U.S. newsmagazine that is the primary national news source for Natives, American Indians, and Tribes in the U.S. and Alaska. The ICT Media Network revealed their new online multi-media news platform in January 2011; it is a daily, hourly, or "as news...

in 2001 reported that 81% of those polled "indicated use of American Indian names, symbols and mascots are predominantly offensive and deeply disparaging to Native Americans."

A non-binding student referendum on Chief Illiniwek was conducted in March 2004. Of the approximately one-third of the student body who cast ballots, 69% of the voters favored retention of the Chief. Faculty have tended to be critical of the Chief. Another non-binding student referendum on Chief Illiniwek was conducted in February 2008. Of the approximately 23% of the student body who cast ballots, 79% (7,718) voted to show support for Chief Illiniwek, while 21% (2,052) voted to not show support.

Position of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma

The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma

Peoria (tribe)

The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:...

are the closest living descendants of the Illiniwek Confederacy, having been relocated to Oklahoma in the 19th century. The position of the tribal leadership has evolved over the years. In a television interview with WICD-TV in 1995, Don Giles, then Chief of the Peoria Tribe, said, "To say that we are anything but proud to have these portrayals would be completely wrong. We are proud. We're proud that the University of Illinois, the flagship university of the state, a seat of learning, is drawing on that background of our having been there. And what more honor could they pay us?" Supporting Chief Giles was another tribal elder, Ron Froman, who stated that the protesters "don't speak for all Native Americans, and certainly not us."

Ron Froman was later elected Chief, by which time his views on the Chief Illiniwek symbol had changed. His opinions shifted following meetings with American Indian students attending the University. In April 2000, the tribal council, with Chief Froman's support, passed by the margin of 3 to 2 a resolution requesting "the leadership of the University of Illinois to recognize the demeaning nature of the characterization of Chief Illiniwek, and cease use of this mascots [sic]". Froman said, "I don't know what the origination was, or what the reason was for the university to create Chief Illiniwek. I don't think it was to honor us, because, hell, they ran our (butts) out of Illinois." This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

, whose American Indian mascots are not opposed by the leadership of the corresponding tribes. In 2005, a new Chief, John P. Froman, when asked his position by the NCAA, indicated that "the Chief was not representative of our tribe and culture, mainly because the costume is Sioux." In 2006, in response to a widely published column by journalist George Will

George Will

George Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...

in support of the symbol's use, he wrote a letter reiterating the Peoria Tribe's opposition to the symbol and decrying that the "University of Illinois has ignored the tribe’s request for nearly five years."

NCAA involvement

In August 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

, the primary governing board for intercollegiate athletics, instituted a ban on schools that use what they call "hostile and abusive American Indian nicknames" from hosting postseason games, beginning February 2006. The University of Illinois was among the 18 schools subject to the ban which, among other things, prohibited the University from hosting NCAA-sponsored tournaments. The ban was soon expanded to include Bowl Championship Series

Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...

-sponsored bowl games, starting with the 2006 football season. The university appealed the ban in October on the grounds that it violates NCAA bylaws and violated institutional autonomy.

On November 11, 2005, the NCAA, stating that it had "found no new information relative to the mascot, known as ‘Chief Illiniwek’ or the logo mark used by some athletics teams that depicts an American Indian in feathered headdress," upheld the ban on the University of Illinois. However, it did allow the continued use of the nicknames "Illini" and "Fighting Illini

Illinois Fighting Illini

The Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....

" by the University because they are based on the name of the state and not of American Indian descent. The university appealed the decision again on January 30, 2006, mere days before the deadline. While the NCAA Executive Committee granted an extension to April 28, the committee's next meeting, to other schools affected by the ban, the University of Illinois requested a longer stay until May 15, the end of the current semester. The Executive Committee ignored the request for a longer stay and denied the university's second appeal while indicating that no further appeals would be entertained.

The Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

reported on August 31, 2006 that Chief Illiniwek would "no longer be an official university symbol" after the 2006–2007 basketball season. The paper also reported that the ownership of the Chief would be transitioned to an organization called the "Council of Chiefs" and made up of a number of people who have previously portrayed Chief Illiniwek. The next day, however, the University disputed the Sun-Times report. University sources confirmed that several former Chiefs had met with University officials to discuss preserving the symbol's tradition but stated that the so-called "Council of Chiefs" did not exist as a formally organized group. A University spokesman stated that "no decisions have been made" regarding the symbol's fate.

Chief Illiniwek and the Fighting Illini

Some have incorrectly linked Chief Illiniwek with the nickname Fighting Illini. Though many assume that both are based on Illinois' American Indian traditions, the name "Illini" was first associated with the school by the student newspaper, which changed its name to The Illini in the late 19th century. (The paper is now called The Daily Illini
Daily Illini
The Daily Illini, commonly known as the DI, is an independent, student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1871...

.) The addition of the adjective "fighting" originated about five years before the appearance of Chief Illiniwek as a tribute to Illinois soldiers killed in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Similarly, the on-campus football venue, Memorial Stadium, was named in honor of these fallen soldiers. As stated above, the NCAA has exempted the names "Illini" and "Fighting Illini" from its ban on "hostile and abusive" American Indian imagery, and these names are still used by the University. The state of Illinois is named for the Illinois River

Illinois River

The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...

, which was itself named by French explorers

Habitants

Habitants is the name used to refer to both the French settlers and the inhabitants of French origin who farmed the land along the two shores of the St. Lawrence Gulf and River in what is the present-day Province of Quebec in Canada...

after the indigenous Illiniwek people, a consortium

Consortium

A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

of Algonquian

Algonquian peoples

The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...

tribes that thrived in the area. The word Illiniwek means "those who speak in the ordinary way," although it has often been mistranslated as "tribe of superior men."

Retiring Chief Illiniwek

On February 16, 2007, Lawrence Eppley, chair of the board of trustees issued a unilateral ruling retiring Chief Illiniwek. Chief Illiniwek's last performance, by the final Chief, Dan Maloney of Galesburg, Illinois

Galesburg, Illinois

Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County....

, took place on February 21, 2007 at the last men's home basketball game of the 2006–2007 regular season against Michigan, in Assembly Hall

Assembly Hall (Champaign)

Assembly Hall is a large dome-shaped indoor arena, located in Champaign, Illinois, and is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign....

. As at the time, Chief Illiniwek also performed at women's home basketball games, the first halftime performance without the portrayal of Chief Illiniwek was the following night, February 22, 2007, at the women's basketball game against Michigan State.

On March 13, 2007, the University of Illinois board of trustees voted to retire Illiniwek's name, image and regalia.

After retirement

In April 2008, the "Council of Chiefs", a group of previous Chief Illiniwek performers, named a student to portray the chief, although this portrayal is not sanctioned or endorsed by the University.

An event called "Students for Chief Illiniwek Presents: The Next Dance," happened on November 15, 2008 following the football game against Ohio State University, in the Assembly Hall

Assembly Hall (Champaign)

Assembly Hall is a large dome-shaped indoor arena, located in Champaign, Illinois, and is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign....

.
"We want to do this event on a very exciting day for Illini fans and we want it to be a complement to that day's game," said Roberto Martell Jr., former president of Students for Chief Illiniwek and a junior in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. An open letter was sent forth by the Native American House encouraging the entire University community to speak out against the event.

On October 4, 2009, the University of Illinois gave the Chief Illiniwek regalia to the Oglala Lakota. The media were denied entry to this event, which was called a "private function" by Associate Director of Athletics Dana Brenner. The university did not offer a public statement about the return.

On February 26, 2010 the webpage of Students for Chief Illiniwek posted nearly fifty email correspondences, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, of several members of the University administration attempting to prevent the "Next Dance" portrayals. Parties involved include Renee Romano, Anna Gonzalez, Robert Warrior, and then-Chancellor Richard Herman

Richard Herman

Richard H. Herman served as the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005-2009. He previously served there as Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs since 1998. While at the university he promoted excellence and diversity across the breadth of academic programs...

. The emails include conversations between Romano and Richard Herman (who later resigned for his involvement with the University of Illinois clout scandal

University of Illinois clout scandal

The University of Illinois clout scandal resulted from a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune which reported that some applicants to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign "received special consideration" for acceptance between 2005 and 2009, despite having sub-par qualifications. ...

) appreciating "the fact that we've been trying to get in the way of allowing the students for the chief to perform a dance in the assembly hall. and "trying to think of a reason to deny them access to Assembly Hall on Oct. 2." The revelation of free speech violations by the administrators was criticized by free-speech advocates, including the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is a non-profit group founded in 1999 and focused on civil liberties in academia in the United States...

, which currently gives the University of Illinois a red light rating. In May of 2010 the Students for Chief Organization chose a new student to serve as the 38th chief portrayer: Ivan A. Dozier, who claims Cherokee ancestry. Dozier performed as Chief at the "Next Dance" event over homecoming weekend at the University in 2010. He also appeared in regalia at numerous sporting events throughout the year.

Films

Chief Video Documentary - The Chief & The Tradition
In Whose Honor? (1997). Written and produced by Jay Rosenstein. Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey
Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey
Ho-Ho-Kus is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 4,078. It is the home of several historical landmarks, including the Ho-Ho-Kus Inn and The Hermitage....

: New Day Films.

External links

Video

Video of Chief Illiniwek's last dance

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