Let’s consider Metis heritage (LTTE: Fighting Sioux)

[RC]

Let’s consider Metis heritage

By: Carson Gardner, Waubun, Minn.

Since it is now evident that the name Fighting Sioux is terminally unacceptable to the NCAA and since the U.S. government has been fickle, self-serving and inconsistent as usual in its recognition of Indian tribes – as well as its compliance with treaties – I suggest the following: Name the University of North Dakota sports team the “Metis (pronounced Met-ee) Rangers.”

The Metis are a mixed-blood French (European) and First Nations Indian descent ethnic group not recognized as Indians by the U.S. government but recognized in Canada.

They provided border scouts to patrol the U.S.-Canada border wilderness in the years of disagreement over border treaty lines, as well as explorers and tamers of the wilderness to populate the rugged mid-continent of North America. They are tough, resourceful survivors and courageous, creative, adaptable fighters.

They are not recognized by the U.S. government as “Indians,” so the NCAA could hardly object legally in the U.S., and the use of the name would call attention to the U.S. government’s shameful, blundering inconsistency in failing to acknowledge the legitimacy of a proud, courageous Indian people who had and have a central role in the life of mid-North America, or Turtle Island, as the Indian legends call our home.

There is no name more appropriate to re-christen the “ex”-Fighting Sioux, if the athletes have the courage to live up to it. And it will point to Canada’s better alternative of honoring First Nations peoples. Will the Metis object? I hope not, if it gives the U.S. government a kick in the assignation.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/333080/group/Opinion/

---

Until recently I lived in Fargo ND. While I am not into sports at all, this "Fighting Sioux" and Indian head logo has been a local high profile fight for years. For the most part, the Sioux themselves either like the nick name and logo or don't really care one way or the other. I believe the NCAA is on the wrong side here.

To give you an idea how I feel about the American Indians: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1882573&mesg_id=1884845

Yes, I do favor the Sioux logo and Fighting Sioux nickname. We really do need to give the original inhabitants of this country better recognition of their great heritage. Or at least as fellow human beings worthy of respect.

---

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux are the athletic teams of the University of North Dakota (UND), which is located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the United States. The logo is a Native American figure. The logo was designed by Bennett Brien, a local artist and UND graduate of Ojibwa ethnicity.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota_Fighting_Sioux

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Hey--a little off-topic, but do you know Peter Bowen's Gabriel Du Pré novels?

I think they're absolutely brilliant. Du Pré and many of the other wonderful characters are Montana Metís.

[FSogol]

2. Instead of the "Fighting Sioux" how about the North Dakota Siouxsie Sioux?

:shrug: