I heard the same thing about the Seminoles in Florida and the Chippewas in Central Michigan - though I don't know if they mean the schools and/or the tribes were getting involved.
That's cool that the Utah is getting support from the Utes. It seems to me just from this thread that people are very proud of their schools and the peoples that those schools represent.
"Florida State University is stunned at the complete lack of appreciation for cultural diversity shown by the National Collegiate Athletic Association's executive committee. ... That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole Tribe of Florida as culturally 'hostile and abusive' is both outrageous and insulting," Wetherell said Friday in a statement.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida passed a resolution in June supporting the school's use of the nickname and tribal images.
Link here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2125735
The chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokees went on the TV (I think it was Turner in those days) and in the most cheerful way told the liberals to stuff it. IIRC, he said something like, "Look, we have the franchise for the souvenirs at Atlanta Stadium, and last year we sold x thousand feather headdresses, x thousand beaded headbands, and x thousand tommy-hawks. So I say, if they want to chop, let 'em chop!"