Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Illiniwek appeal denied

Illiniwek appeal denied
From: The Daily Illini
11/14/06
By Courtney Linehan

Chief Illiniwek is hostile and abusive despite the University's "good
intentions and best efforts," the NCAA announced Friday as it denied
Illinois' appeal of its inclusion in a policy banning American Indian
imagery from postseason contests.
Four weeks after receiving Illinois' appeal, the NCAA staff review
committee changed its tune of the past few months, stating the names
"Illini" and "Fighting Illini" are not American Indian-based and
therefore do not create a "hostile and abusive" environment on campus.
Chief Illiniwek, the association said, is another case.
"By continuing to use Native American nicknames, mascots and imagery,
institutions assume responsibility over an environment which they
cannot fully control," Bernard Franklin, NCAA senior vice-president
for governance and membership, said in a prepared statement released
Friday. "Fans, opponents and others can and will exhibit behaviors
that indeed are hostile and abusive to Native Americans."
The NCAA refused to comment beyond Franklin's one-page statement. A
request Friday to speak to media relations representatives was denied
and e-mails earlier in the week were not returned.
University spokesman Tom Hardy said the University sees the NCAA
response as a victory on the Illini and Fighting Illini names, but a
setback in regard to Chief Illiniwek and the Board of Trustees' work
toward its own decision.
"The case was basically that the Board has its self-autonomous
institutional process and should be able to carry that out without
interference from the NCAA," Hardy said.
Franklin's statement did not mention anything about the University's
argument that the NCAA policy interfered with the Board of Trustees'
own guiding principles regarding Illiniwek. In 2004 the Board adopted
a "consensus resolution" policy, saying it hoped to bring Illiniwek
supporters and opponents together to find the best solution for the
campus and community. The Board approved a set of guidelines for
coming to this resolution at its July meeting, a few weeks prior to
the NCAA policy's release.
"Obviously, the University and the Board of Trustees felt
institutional autonomy and self-determination are a major reason for
the institution to be exempt from the list," Hardy said. "It is
apparent by its response that the NCAA wasn't persuaded by that
argument yet, as they had minimal response to that in their decision
announced Friday."
Board Chairman Lawrence Eppley said in a press release that he is
grateful the NCAA agreed with the University that "Illini" is a term
derived from the name of the state and is not a reference to the
people who once lived here.
"I am pleased the NCAA recognized what we've maintained all along,"
Eppley said. "'Illini' is taken from the name of our patron state and
'Fighting Illini' refers to our University's winning spirit and drive
to excel."
Hardy said the official response sent to the University addressed the
1995 U.S. Office of Civil Rights finding that Chief Illiniwek did not
create a hostile environment on campus. He said the NCAA cited
anecdotal evidence suggesting there have been instances of hostility
since then, but he added that the University recently began a
faculty-led inquest into whether Chief Illiniwek affects students'
educations.
"It's a bit of a head scratcher when you consider that the Office of
Civil Rights is an entire agency to ensure the enforcement of the
Civil Rights Act," Hardy said. "They came in, spent time on campus,
talked to a lot of people and watched Chief Illiniwek perform."
Franklin's statement said the NCAA's decision was based on the staff
review committee's own research, discussions with relevant American
Indian groups and information provided by the University.
While the NCAA release did not provide further detail, John Froman,
chief of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, said the NCAA did
contact him. The Peoria are the descendents of members of the
"Illiniwek" confederation.
Froman said he told the NCAA that the term "Illini" was not a part of
the Peoria language, and that his tribe was never called the Illini.
He said the NCAA asked if he'd had recent contact with the University
regarding the Chief, and what the tribe's official position regarding
Chief Illiniwek was.
"I told them the Chief was not representative of our tribe and
culture, mainly because the costume is Sioux," Froman said.
Hardy said the Board has not decided how to handle the NCAA's denial
of the Chief Illiniwek portion of the appeal. The next appeal option
is for the University to go directly to the NCAA executive committee.
The NCAA continuously reiterates that its goal is not to force any
school to alter its mascot, logo, or nickname. The requirement, the
association says, is that member institutions comply with the NCAA's
non-discrimination policy and "promote an atmosphere of respect for
and sensitivity to the dignity of every person."
"At an ever-increasing rate of occurrence and volume, Native
Americans have expressed their objections to the use of names, terms,
imagery and mascots associated with athletic teams," Franklin's
statement said.
No immediate change is planned at Illinois; Chief Illiniwek appeared
as scheduled at volleyball and women's basketball games this weekend.
He will perform when men's basketball opens its regular season against
South Dakota State on Friday and when football closes its season
against Northwestern on Saturday.
While the Board is not scheduled to meet again until January, it
could possibly add a meeting to discuss the NCAA decision.
"The Board hasn't determined when it's going to make a decision about
what the next approach is going to be," Hardy said.
The NCAA policy, which goes into effect Feb. 1, 2006, prohibits the
display of American Indian mascots, logos and nicknames in
NCAA-sponsored postseason competitions. It also prohibits NCAA members
using American Indian imagery from hosting postseason events. These
include NCAA-sanctioned Division-I bowl games, men's and women's
basketball NIT tournaments and post-season tournaments for all NCAA
sports.
So far, at least half of the 18 schools originally deemed "hostile
and abusive" have appealed:
-The Florida State Seminoles, Utah Utes and Central Michigan
Chippewas got the OK because namesake tribes supported the uses.
-The Bradley Braves, Newberry College Indians and Illinois Fighting
Illini appealed but lost and remain on the list.
-The North Dakota Fighting Sioux appealed, lost and are currently
awaiting a decision on their second appeal.
-The Indiana University-Pennsylvania Indians and McMurray University
Indians appealed, but have not received word from the NCAA.
-The Catawba College Indians and University of Louisiana-Monroe
Indians are both preparing appeals.
-The Arkansas State Indians are considering an appeal. The
Southeastern Oklahoma State Savages are re-evaluating the use of their
nickname.
-Midwestern State dropped its "Indians" name to avoid application of
the NCAA policy. Carthage College changed its nickname from "Redmen"
to "Red Men," which the NCAA approved.
-Alcorn State, the only school on the list with a representative on
the NCAA Executive Committee, says it has no plans to appeal and is
considering a name change.
-Calls to Chowan College (Braves) and Mississippi College (Choctaws)
were not returned by press time.

Where Illinois' past meets Oklahoma's future

Where Illinois' past meets Oklahoma's future
The Daily Illini
11/3/05
Courtney Linehan

MIAMI, Okla. - It's 86 degrees of dry heat on an October Sunday. A
thin film of harvest dust hangs in the air, carried through town on a
warm breeze. Rows of cars fill the Wal-Mart parking lot, but the old
downtown is nearly lifeless; fast food joints like Taco Bell and KFC
serve a slow stream of customers while diners down the road stand
empty, closed for a day of rest.
Miami, Okla., is 490 miles from Champaign, but it might as well be a
quick trip down Interstate-57 for the parallels you'll find. Miami has
the same strip of new development you'll see driving down Prospect,
only scaled to fit a town one-thirteenth the size. Ottawa County, of
which Miami is the seat, has virtually identical poverty and
employment rates as Champaign County.
Just one clear difference divides Miami from Champaign. It doesn't
become apparent when ambling through town or driving down Main Street.
It isn't announced on billboards as you drive into town; there are no
indicators of what makes Miami unique. Its only overt image is a
cluster of office buildings on a street running parallel to
Interstate-44.
Miami is headquarters for nine American Indian tribes, each forcibly
relocated to Oklahoma more than a century ago. There are no Indian
reservations here. No boundaries declare where Ottawa land ends and
Modoc begins. In Ottawa County, 22.8 percent of residents claim
American Indian heritage. Governments of Miami's nine sovereign
nations intermingle and work in conjunction with local, state and
national leadership. Their aim is to provide services to their tribe
members and, in doing so, to improve the overall quality of life for
Miami's 13,700 residents.
In Champaign, the University of Illinois is deep in a 15-year debate
about its Chief Illiniwek symbol and Fighting Illini nickname. Whether
the University will retain or retire the Chief is a common topic of
conversation on campus - but in Miami, members of the Peoria Indian
Tribe of Oklahoma, the descendents of the "Illiniwek" tribes that once
inhabited Illinois, focus more on local economics and tribal
government than on the controversy at a college two states away.
Peoria Chief John Froman has other things on his mind besides
Illinois' ongoing debate.
Froman emerges from his white minivan wearing a striped polo shirt
and worn, ripped jeans. Stepping onto the sidewalk in front of his
office, he rubs the grease from his fingers onto his pants before
holding his hand out in greeting.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologizes for the 10-minute delay. "My
daughter's car broke down when she was on her way back from school.
I've been messing with the engine all day."
Froman says he prefers to worry about problems directly affecting his
family. That's why he ran for Chief of the Peoria tribe - his Peoria
heritage has always been an important part of his identity. He spent
his childhood mowing grass at the tribal cemetery for his grandfather,
who was Chief at the time. Froman devotes his time to serving his
2,800 tribal members, who live in Miami, Okla., throughout the country
and around the world.
"Our Chief's a good man," said Peoria tribe member Don Pogue. "He
listens to the people, listens to what they say. He's a good honest
man."
For the Peoria, life in northeast Oklahoma is about economic
development. Froman grins as he tours the competing Ottawa Tribe's
casino and his bigger, newer, more upscale version down the road. He
enjoys playing a round of golf at the Peoria Ridge course with Rascal
Flatts when the country music superstars are in town to perform at the
Peoria-owned Buffalo Run Casino. He takes the company SUV off-roading
across mounds of red Oklahoma dirt as he surveys tribal property
leased as grazing land and construction on the new road to the
traditional tribal cemetery.
"We've been in the Internet business, we do agri-business, but our
primary focus has been trying to operate as a government," Froman
said. "What we're trying to do, economically, is diversify."
More than 300 years ago, the ancestors of today's Miami lived west of
the Ohio River in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and
Wisconsin. They spoke variations of the Algonquin language. They are
best known for building the mounds at Cahokia some 2,000 years ago and
for a defiant, yet unsuccessful, stand during a battle at Starved Rock
in the 1760s. They were closely tied to the Miami tribes - two of the
four tribes now part of the Peoria were Miami sub-groups until 1818.
Now the Miami tribal buildings are a few steps from the Peoria's, and
the two tribes work hand-in-hand on services offered to members of
both tribes.
"We are very fortunate that we work so well together," said Miami
tribe Chief Floyd Leonard. "We have our differences, but they're
mostly political. We are always wiling to help someone in need."
Today's Peoria tribe is a confederation of the Kaskaskia, Peoria,
Piankesaw and Wea tribes. Prior to the Civil War, the U.S. government
moved them to Missouri, then to Kansas. The four groups formally
united in 1854, forming the Confederated Peoria. In1867 they were
moved again, this time to present-day Oklahoma.
"Everybody talks about the Cherokee and their Trail of Tears," Froman
said. "Well, we all had our own version of the Trail of Tears."

The present day Peoria work to maintain their tribal heritage, with
projects to restore the tribal schoolhouse built circa 1870 and
extensive interaction with the Illinois State Museum to identify and
rebury American Indian remains unearthed in Illinois.
While some members of the original tribe remained in Missouri or
Kansas, becoming U.S. citizens, today's Peoria are descendents of
those people who settled in Ottawa County.
"We don't deny them their Indian heritage," Froman said of the
descendents of those who stayed behind. "But we all have to live with
the choices our ancestors made."
Finding a hotel room in Miami on a Saturday night can be a challenge.
The small town has a Microtel and a Best Western, among other options,
but those fill up fast when the Buffalo Run Casino puts on a concert.
In less than one year of operation, Buffalo Run has hosted more than
50 entertainers, ranging from musicians such as ZZ Topp and Blake
Shelton to boxing matches broadcast on Showtime. An expansion opened
in early October, and plans are in the works for more casinos,
restaurants and possibly a hotel.
"We're in negotiations with some developers for a hotel. I actually
want to build a strip of casinos, a boardwalk. Our biggest competition
here is casino hopping, people saying 'Aw, we didn't do well here,
let's go to the Quapaw casino down the road.' We're going to own the
casino down the road."
While the casino's first-year returns were certainly successful,
Froman said the Peoria are lucky to break even on their combined
business ventures. Total tribal revenues on all enterprises -
including the golf course, agri-business, lease holdings and gaming
operations - should be about $4 million, Froman said. But the more
than 300 jobs those projects bring to Miami make the businesses very
profitable.
"We're barely breaking even; we're just here to provide jobs for the
community," Froman said.
When the Peoria received a Bureau of Indian Affairs grant to pave the
road to their golf course, the money paid to pave a two-mile stretch
of Ottawa County highway. When they received another grant to pave the
road to their cemetery, the Peoria looked at which route would most
benefit the community.
Miami's nine tribes make the most of their combined potential. The
town has a clinic where members of any tribe can receive subsidized
healthcare, and the Miami tribe offers free lunch to American Indian
elders in the community. Many tribes have housing authorities, but
they work together to offer services to the maximum number of people.
"We lost a lot of our land, and how we lost it I don't really know it
was just over the course of years, but we're starting to get a lot of
it back in tribal trusts," Pogue said. "There's a lot more that
they're doing for the tribal members now, college funds, grants. Just
a lot of things that aren't a whole lot, but when it's all said and
done, it really is."
As for the University of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek symbol, the Peoria
have little to say. In 2000 the tribal council issued a 3-2 vote in
opposition of Chief Illiniwek, and they plan to stick with their
position. They say they are two states and two centuries removed from
Illinois.
"As for the position of the tribe, it stands," Froman said. "(Chief
Illiniwek) is not Important.

Resolution critical of NCAA edict (News-Gazette)

By KATE CLEMENTS
© 2005 THE NEWS-GAZETTE
Published Online November 3, 2005

Excerpt:

    SPRINGFIELD – Without discussion, the Illinois House on Wednesday approved a resolution challenging the NCAA's authority to restrict postseason competition for schools making use of American Indian imagery.
    State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said he planned to fax a copy to the NCAA president's office immediately.
    "It's none of their business what symbol the University of Illinois or any university has," Rose said. "It's up to the board of trustees, the alumni, the faculty, staff and the students."
    HR 609 states that the NCAA's action fails to recognize the institutional autonomy guaranteed in its own bylaws.
    "Whereas the National Collegiate Athletic Association edict is a giant step backwards in the debate and has caused the loss of common ground to armies of divisiveness; therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the 94th General Assembly of the State of Illinois that the National Collegiate Athletic Association be denied the ability to compromise the sovereignty of the State of Illinois and its institutions," the resolution said.
    The measure passed on a voice vote, and no nays were audible in the chamber. Last week, the House higher education committee unanimously endorsed the resolution.
    "The university and the board of trustees appreciate the Illinois House's support for the principle of university self-determination on this matter," said UI spokesman Tom Hardy.
    The NCAA did not appear likely to change its stance as a result of the resolution.
    "Basically our position is that we have the authority to administer our own NCAA championships to ensure that they are conducted in an atmosphere that's free of racial stereotyping," said NCAA spokesman Bob Williams.
    Area lawmakers emphasized that the resolution deliberately did not contain any mention of Chief Illiniwek.
    "The point here isn't to be for or against the Chief, the point here is that it's none of the NCAA's business," Rose said.
    State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, was among nearly 70 co-sponsors on the resolution.
    "I voted for this because I believe that it is the responsibility of the University of Illinois and the trustees and they have been working on this," she said. "And the resolution just gives the autonomy to the university to continue to do what they've been doing and let them do their job."
    The UI Board of Trustees agreed last year to work toward a "consensus conclusion" on the issue and adopted guidelines in July to help in that endeavor.
    Earlier this month the university filed an appeal with the NCAA, arguing that decisions on the use of Chief Illiniwek and the name "Fighting Illini" fall under the jurisdiction of the board of trustees, not the NCAA.
    The appeal also stated that the NCAA failed to take into account a 1995 Office of Civil Rights finding regarding Chief Illiniwek, and relied heavily on "inaccurate, incomplete and misleading information supplied by one individual," to which the UI was not given an opportunity to respond. Williams said he did not know when a decision would be reached on the UI's appeal.
  

...continued at http://www.news-gazette.com/localnews/story.cfm?Number=19275