The Standing Rock Tribal Council voted Tuesday to table petitions that had been submitted by tribal supporters of the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.
The petitions, bearing 1,004 signatures - about half the number of people who voted in the last tribal election - ask the council to allow Standing Rock members to have a voice in determining whether the university may keep the 80-year-old nickname.
A spokeswoman in Tribal Chairman Charles Murphy's office said the council tabled the issue as it organized the agenda for its scheduled two-day meeting, but she did not know whether council members intended to bring the matter up again.
The council was still in session, she said.
Under a settlement with the NCAA, UND and the State Board of Higher Education had until Nov. 30 to win the blessings of the two namesake Sioux tribes. Spirit Lake voters approved UND's continued use of the name last year, but thus far no vote has been scheduled at Standing Rock.
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After several contacts with Standing Rock officials appeared to leave the issue stalled, the board on April 8 directed UND President Robert Kelley to begin the transition away from the Fighting Sioux name and logo. Some board members appeared to leave the door open for reconsideration if Standing Rock were to arrange a vote before Nov. 30.
"We gave UND the right to use that name," said nickname proponent Archie Fool Bear, referring to a 1969 ceremony involving tribal leaders and UND President George Starcher.
"We believe this is a way to keep this tribe's recognition" by linking the Sioux name with the university, he said, and by continuing to develop programs aimed at improving Indian access to and achievement in higher education.
Referendum procedures
Some tribal council members have said they oppose a vote on the nickname because Standing Rock has more pressing matters to deal with and because it would cost the tribe money that would be better spent elsewhere.
Also, they have argued that Standing Rock's tribal constitution doesn't provide procedures for such a referendum.
Fool Bear said that's not true.
"We wouldn't have done what we did, circulating these petitions, if there wasn't a law in place," he said. "It's in our tribal ordinances. It refers to a referendum."
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Chuck Haga is a reporter at the Grand Forks Herald, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.
