Goodbye, So Long, North Dakota's Fighting Sioux

[Warph]

Court, Board decide to retire nickname "Fighting Sioux"


MAYVILLE, N.D. -- A state Supreme Court ruling and a Board of Higher Education decision have retired for good the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname after a four-year legal battle.

The court ruled Thursday that the board had the authority to dump the nickname at any time. The court rejected an appeal that sought to delay action.

A motion later Thursday at the board's regularly scheduled meeting in Mayville to reconsider its vote in May to retire the nickname died after nobody seconded it. Claus Lembke, the board member who made the failed motion, said the board was "giving in to a minority of people on the issue."

Board president Richie Smith had said before the vote that he thought no further action was required to retire the nickname.

Rest of story at: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5068989


Alright.... here's my two cents on this: Quick! Someone call PETA!

People pushing this agenda need to go back to school and learn a little cultural anthropology because Indians have been guilty of the same crime(?)  FOR MILLENNIA!  Anthropologists have a term, totemism, for naming yourself after some observable entity.  A totem is "an animal, plant, or natural object serving among certain tribal or traditional peoples as the EMBLEM of a clan or family and sometimes revered as its founder, ancestor, or guardian." (dictionary.com)  Thus, an Indian might call himself "Standing Bear" to tell the world he has all the desirable attributes (courage, strength, etc.) of a "standing bear."  Even the United States, a modern "clan", has a totem: the Eagle.  Individual states have totems (flowers, animals, etc.)  The purpose of a totem is to conjure up POSITIVE feelings in an observer.

Today, we have lost sight of the importance of a name.  A name had a function in antiquity: it MADE PRESENT the reality of what that individual stood for, what he WAS.  So a name was very important – an individual will BECOME what his name means.  I don't think any Indian, unlike whites, ever took a name that meant nothing.

For an athletic team, the taking of a mascot name is the same: simply the use of a METAPHOR, a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one entity or idea.... (e.g., Indians, animals).... is applied to another.... (i.e., teams).... thereby suggesting A LIKENESS or ANALOGY between them.  By taking the name, they become the KEEPERS of the mascot's reputation.  Note that this is actually the REVERSE....  (so what else is new?)....  of what the PC police CLAIM is happening... insults, discrimination, offense, etc,.  Once more, liberals show they are "ThOpp-ers" – Think Opposite of what they say in order to get closer to truth.

Since the custom of taking a mascot name is an attempt to suggest a likeness between the team and its mascot, you will never encounter a team that calls itself the "Hamsters" or the "Butterflies."

Unless there are third parties with big bucks driving the NCAA agenda... always a possibility.... the inescapable conclusion is that those who would deny a team its name would deny the team its IDENTITY.  Why would they want to do that?  Simple.  Because they can; and since all aspects of life, to the Leftists, is a class struggle, they must exert their power over whomever they can, in this case, innocuous athletic teams.  And since the Left's agenda cannot win elections, there is no one or nothing remaining but the dog to go home and wage jihad against.  Pretty small, wouldn't you think?  George Will calls it "Chief among the silliness."

And so, may the next Trail of Tears be for Leftist liberals....Warph