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Now in its seventh year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association's battle with the University of North Dakota may be reaching a final conclusion. In 2005, the NCAA announced a complete ban on hosting post-season competition by 18 colleges that were using Native American mascots, logos, or nicknames. The ban was to become effective in February 2006 (TAS, November 23, 2009). The college sports governing body backed off its strident demand regarding some schools after learning that Native American groups endorsed use of their tribal names by their adoptive schools. The NCAA relented and gave the go-ahead for Florida State University,...

A bitter dispute over whether the University of North Dakota should save or scrap its Fighting Sioux nickname headed to voters on Tuesday, even as supporters of the moniker pledged another battle this fall regardless of the outcome. The issue has been simmering on the campus for several decades but boiled over seven years ago when UND was placed on a list of schools with American Indian nicknames the NCAA deemed hostile and abusive. Those colleges were told to dump the monikers or risk sanctions against their athletic teams. Voters in Tuesday's North Dakota primary will be asked whether to...

The NCAA spelled out its punishments to North Dakota for resuming use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo in a letter addressed to the school’s provost, Dr. Paul LeBel, on Wednesday. The most pressing hockey-related concern is that UND won’t be able to host a women’s hockey NCAA quarterfinal game. The full text of the letter [.pdf] contains three sanctions that go into effect immediately. The full text of the letter is below: Dear Dr. LeBel: President Robert Kelly (sic) recently informed me that the University of North Dakota was resuming its use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and...

BISMARCK, N.D. -- University of North Dakota teams risk forfeiting any post-season games if their athletes, cheerleaders or band wear or display the school's Fighting Sioux nickname and American Indian head logo, an NCAA official said Wednesday. Bernard Franklin, an NCAA executive vice president, said in a letter to university provost Paul LeBel that the university "must forfeit competition" if "it has not adhered to this requirement" in any post-season games that UND teams have been invited to play in. "We ask that the university take measures to minimize or eliminate the presence of the imagery or nickname brought to...

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Like many of her classmates and University of North Dakota students who came before her, senior Annie Hessinger says it doesn't matter that the school is shedding its 81-year-old nickname after a drawn-out dispute with the NCAA. She's Fighting Sioux and always will be, no matter what new nickname the school eventually picks. She'll still wear clothing bearing the Fighting Sioux logo, a colorful profile of an American Indian warrior's head.

BISMARCK -- Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed legislation this afternoon repealing the North Dakota law that mandates use of the UND Fighting Sioux nickname. Earlier, by a lopsided margin almost exactly opposite of the vote they cast to defend UND's Fighting Sioux nickname and logo in February, members of the North Dakota House approved a bill today to repeal their earlier action and clear the way for the nickname's retirement. The vote was 63-31, sending the bill to Dalrymple, who at the start of this week's special session had asked the Legislature to repeal the nickname mandate. The Senate had approved...

The North Dakota Senate voted today to approve legislation ordering UND to retain its controversial Fighting Sioux nickname and Indian-head logo. The vote was 28-15 with four senators absent and not voting, and came after a massive e-mail lobbying campaign that senators said heavily favored approval. The bill, passed earlier by the House on a 65-28 vote, goes now to Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who said he will sign it.

BISMARCK, N.D. — Setting up a potential clash with the NCAA, the North Dakota House on Monday approved a bill that requires the University of North Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname. The university has been preparing to drop the nickname and an American Indian head logo this summer as part of a negotiated lawsuit settlement with the NCAA, which considers both to be hostile and abusive to American Indians. House members voted 65-28 to approve legislation Monday that requires UND to keep the nickname and logo, and directs Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to consider an antitrust lawsuit against...

<p>Published: Monday, November 15, 2010 at 2:37 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, November 15, 2010 at 2:37 p.m.</p> <p>GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Duke without the Blue Devil? Notre Dame without the Fighting Irish? Most students and alumni at those proud universities wouldn't dream of dropping those enduring symbols of school pride.</p>

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.

BISMARCK, N.D. - Members of the Spirit Lake Nation likely will vote on whether to support the University of North Dakota's "Fighting Sioux" nickname, the tribe's leader says. Chairwoman Myra Pearson said Saturday that the tribe has grown tired of the issue. "It's been something that's not as important as our health care or housing or everything we're faced with out here, but it's been popping up all the time, and I think we need to put it to rest here pretty quick," she said. Under a settlement with the NCAA reached last October, UND has three years to win...

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A Dartmouth College official who disagrees with the University of North Dakota's "Fighting Sioux" nickname has publicly apologized for a hockey tournament that is to include the UND team. "I must offer a sincere apology to the Native American community, and the Dartmouth community as a whole, for an event that will understandably offend and hurt people within our community," Dartmouth athletics director Josie Harper wrote in a recent letter to the editor that was published in the college newspaper, The Dartmouth. The UND men's hockey team is scheduled to play Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., on...

Imagine being a fan of a football team known as the Flickertails -- named for a small, wide-eyed ground squirrel. That's what the University of North Dakota sports teams were called back in the 1920s. "It must have been hard to rally people around the Flickertails," says Peter Johnson, UND's associate director of university relations. UND's archrival was the North Dakota State University Bison. A bison, of course, is a hulking creature that can squash a ground squirrel in one step. In 1930, UND adopted a more formidable name -- the Sioux -- and its teams later became the Fighting...

A district judge has granted a preliminary injunction to stop the NCAA from banning the University of North Dakota from hosting a postseason game because of its "Fighting Sioux" nickname, state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said. Stenehjem said judge Lawrence Jahnke alerted him to the decision Saturday night. Stenehjem did not know the details. UND is among a handful of schools with American Indian nicknames and logos that the NCAA considers hostile and abusive. Those schools are barred from holding postseason tournaments, or from using their nicknames during road playoff games. Stenehjem, in asking for the injunction, said the ban...

FARGO, N.D. -- State officials filed a lawsuit Friday against the NCAA to challenge its restrictions on the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the lawsuit, filed in Northeast Central District Court in Grand Forks, alleges a breach of contract by the NCAA, a breach of good faith and illegal restraint of trade. Stenehjem said the lawsuit seeks to allow the University of North Dakota to use the nickname throughout the school year without being sanctioned in possible postseason play, along with unspecified money damages. The NCAA has banned the use of some American...

The NCAA reiterated on Wednesday that appearances of the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux logo and nickname in postseason play soon will be a thing of the past. < snip > North Dakota will be allowed to host the men's hockey regional next March at Ralph Engelstad Arena because of its prior contract but will be barred from hosting future NCAA events. In all other instances, UND will have to remove the Sioux logo from its uniforms during tournament play. UND President Charles Kupchella notified the NCAA on Wednesday that the university will appeal the decision again. At the...

by David Yeagley Ask Erik Enno what “Fighting Sioux” means. “Don’t be a victim,” Enno says, “fight victimhood.” It means following the great Sioux warriors of the past, not denying their courage. Enno believes the Sioux people today must honor their fathers by being like them, not trying to remove their name. Enno is Oglala Sioux. He is also an assistant basket basketball coach for the University of North Dakota, and works at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on campus. Enno is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. “Indians must approach our future in a positive, pro-active way,” he...