BISMARCK, N.D. — A North Dakota House committee last week supported ordering the University of North Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname, which the school wants to discard this summer to avoid a confrontation with the NCAA.
The House Education Committee voted to support legislation that says UND must keep its nickname and a logo that shows the profile of an American Indian warrior.
The NCAA considers the nickname hostile and abusive to American Indians. If UND keeps the name, the association has said, the Grand Forks school will not be allowed to host postseason tournaments or wear uniforms at postseason events that show the name or logo.
“We are the sovereign state of North Dakota,”‘ said state Rep. Mike Schatz, R-New England. “We take priority over an association. So what we decide on this issue, as a state, is what it’s going to be.”
The House panel debated three bills aimed at keeping the nickname and logo. Its favored measure is sponsored by the House Republican majority leader, Fargo Rep. Al Carlson. Committee members voted 10-5 to recommend that the full House approve Carlson’s bill.
The panel voted unanimously to recommend that the other two nickname proposals be defeated. Both would require UND to keep its nickname and logo unless a referendum of members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe revoked permission to use them.
Carlson’s bill does not mention a tribal referendum, and says Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem must consider filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA if it penalizes UND for keeping its nickname.
