Judge throws out lawsuit over Fighting Sioux name
August 7, 2012 at 3:33 am in Grand Forks Herald
A federal judge says it appears the political fight over the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname is over and has thrown out a lawsuit by six American Indian students at UND. Continue Reading
Thank you Judge Erickson for your wisdom!
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Thank you Judge Erickson for putting these misguided people in their place and not letting them waste our tax dollars on their ridiculous claims. Hopefully these kids will someday learn that THEY decide who they are and who they will be. No one was born perfect or will live a perfect life. Adversity is everywhere. Doesn’t matter if you’re caucasion, black, hispanic, native american, cute, ugly, handicapped, or what not. To use your race or handicap’s as a crutch will get you NO WHERE in life. Grow up, put your big panties on, and EARN your money and respect. It’s what the rest of us do.
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Rick: It’s interesting that you choose to chastise the plaintiffs in this case, while the judge chose to respectfully and objectively dismiss their case. You won’t remember this, but Soderstrom & committee for whatnot got a several-page spanking by the judge. It’s interesting that you didn’t feel the need to tell Soderstrom to grow up. There’s a word for you, but it’s been overused.
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Well said Alvin
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I think the next thing were going to see is the Appeal thrown out as well…
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I liked that one, too, but probably for a different reason. Here we go.
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You didn’t read the two rulings, did you. The one against Soderstrom which he’s appealing belongs in a pre-law bloopers class. Both rulings are objective and bulletproof.
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Both decisions make sense, unlike a lot of other things involved in this whole mess.
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So does this mean we can go back to “honoring” the Sioux for their day to day contributions to society?
You know, the daily headline about child abuse, murder, alcoholism and casino pushes.
Corrupt elders, and Poverty on the rez etc….
Personally, i m glad its over, time to quit using the University to mask the truth of what the Sioux have become.
The University always tried to portray them as united,strong, proud leaders when the opposite is the true reality.
Im glad its over and i hope we dont bother with a nickname period.
THE University of North Dakota sounds just fine to me.
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While it is true this is happening, your comment was uncalled for.. There is as much MORE corruption in white America than on the reservations. Prime example.. Wall Street and the bail out of American Corporations. Methinks that quite a few of them took Gordon Gecko a little to seriously.
The deaths of those children was a complete and devastating tragedy. I just hope that their deaths will bring action and correct some of the human service issues. The cycle of poverty on the reservations and the belittling of a proud people is so pervasive in our culture it isn’t even funny. Comments like yours above just prove that point. The equal rights movement happened in the 60′s but it never happened for them as a people in this area. For someone who served his country (and I am sure with distinction) I really hope that you can open your eyes and offer a helping hand.
Finally, if the Sioux have become anything, it is because we as a nation allowed it to happen and stood by and watched it happen.
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I dont disagree.
I just feel these things wouldnt be so prevelent if they dropped the Sovereign nation act and joined society as equal partners in developing this nation.
Locking yourselves away on a plot of land isnt the answer.
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“While it is true this is happening, your comment was uncalled for”
In case you havent read anything i have ever wrote, i dont sugar coat things.
I am not a slave to political correctness.
You may not like what i say but you will not be able to prove me wrong.
And in the rare case you find something that does…. I am the first to apologize.
I am not perfect, but i am honest.
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I am a ‘What you see is what you get’ guy as well. I try not to sugar coat things to much. It isn’t that I disagree with what you say (well not all of the time). I just think that we as a people need to stop and think for a minute.
I can tell you for a certainty that I wouldn’t want to live in some of the conditions that are accepted as mainstay in those areas. However I do think that we as a people could support their efforts more and lend a helping hand. Not a charity hand, a helping hand. There is a difference.
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Mav: I have been a steadfast & vocal opponent of the Rez all along. We have discussed this before many times. What good is it to honor what someone once was, while ignoring what they actually are. That is not honor.
Saying you cannot point out all the maladies on the Rez because the Anglo community has them in spades makes no sense to me. You lost me.
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First you are taking the posts out of sequence. This discussion should be about the merits of the students lawsuit, and thus my original comment. Capt was the one pointing out the stories about the corruption etc. I merely pointed him out that we shouldn’t be pointing fingers at them when we have a huge rock in our own eye.
My second comment is nothing more than a continuation of my first.
Finally it is all well and good to ‘point’ out what is wrong with another culture as long as you are painfully aware that many of the conditions that exist there today are because of what our culture has/had done. Honestly I am sick an tired of people pointing fingers and blaming someone else…. It is time that we own up to our own responsibilities as humans and become more community minded and less of the IDGAF persons we have become.. (myself included)
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Well, alwayscorrect, we’ve differed on a lot of things, but you noticed the same thing I did. Whitey never misses an opportunity to trash the rez. You’ve been so disrespectful to EVERY community leader who disagrees with you that I never saw this side of you. Flyingnurse will be next. Good comment.
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I never said it didnt exist in mainstream society.
I was just pointing out the headlines from the herald for the past 3 weeks.
This article is about the nickname, the nickname was about dishonoring the Sioux.
I am staying on topic per the article.
That is all.
You are the ones who took my comments an entire different direction.
Had the article been about the piece of trash white supremacists i would have had choice words there too.
So, before you go portraying me as a racist, maybe you should read the article and see that i was just staying on topic.
If i was ranting about the “Rez” on a weather blog then you might have a point.
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Theodore Roosevelt once took Rudyard kipling to the Smitsonian to see American Indian artifacts.
Afterward Kipling wrote:
I never got over the wonder of a people who, having extripated the aboriginals of their continent more cOmpletely than any modern race had done, honestly believed that they were a godly little New England community, setting the example to brutal mankind.
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Once upon a time, in a land far far away…..
Now back to reality.
Do you think Teddy would feel the same way about that visit today?
But thanks for making my original point.
UND has always portrayed the Sioux as the tribe Roosevelt saw.
Not the Tribe that truly exists today.
Those values are gone.
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Capt Amerika, how dare you imply you are an American, your values are that of the Ku Klux Klan, you have no knowledge of what you speak. Your a bigot. That is your reality. I am ashamed to see your earlier comment with 9 approving and 7 disapproving. It says a lot about this site and the hate it brings out. I can only say “I’m Ashamed to be white”.
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Captain: You’ll never get this, but this piece is about a judges ruling, concluding that six students have no position on a specific issue. You’ve turned this into an indictment on a society. On this particular subject, you represent the worst of the worst of America….in my humble opinion. You have me wanting to meet alwayscorrect and mato. Holy crap!
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It is what it is.
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Well, Teddy did some great things, but he believed in manifest destiny. Not so good for the Native Americans. Or anyone else that got in the way.
But you are correct. My old alma mater did their best to bring honor and praise to the Sioux name. The wine sipping geeks of poltical correctness have taken those good things from us. And my Alma Mater along with it.
I have no respect for the sell out administration or their pathetic money grubbing integrity devoid coaches.
My hope is that recruits and their parents will recognize the complete lack of integrity and honor at the U of Screw the Sioux…. and they go elsewhere.
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It must be about time to start a fundraiser for a legal fund to try and get a court order that allows Ralph’s wishes to be carried out. I don’t think his family is going to have the backbone to carry out his wishes and start the bulldozers. I hope UND enjoys playing outdoor hockey.
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Funny! Oh, wait…you’re serious, Keith. Funny.
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Come now Alvin, you wouldn’t want UND to play in an arena that is full of “racist” imagery would you? Even if REA covers up the images, they are still there, carved in stone. Might as well start all over.
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Keith: if I had a penny for every time someone said Ralph was going to come back from the dead & reclaim his monument to himself. . I would not Have to go to work to make rent.
Knowing what we know now (hindsight 20/20) don’t you think GF & UND would be better off if the school had done the right thing back in ’97 & told him to stop construction & retire the name?
I love the Ralph. It is a great venue, but was the cost worth it?
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FlyingNurse, if I had a penny everytime someone said ‘If I had a penny’ I would be rubbing elbows with Bill Gates.
No, I don’t think UND and GF would have been better off if they had refused Ralph’s conditional gift. UND was in need of a new arena, the old Englestad arena was too small and they couldn’t host tournaments in it. Retiring the nickname in 97 would have caused the same rifts and hard feelings that the University now faces. The only advantage would have been that we wouldn’t have had the NCAA sticking their noses in our business. But I think having the new arena was certainly a good trade off. However, it was a conditional gift and once UND finally retires the nickname for good with no other lawsuits forthcoming, it will be time for the REA to, at the very least, lock its doors to UND. The right for UND to play hockey there was only until such time as they retire the nickname. Hopefully the UND Alumni didn’t spend all of their money on advertising so they can donate to the fund to build a new arena.
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If Ralph requested the building be dozed if UND ever dropped the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo than it should be done. His family can pay for it to. Otherwise his word doesn’t mean much. Why make such a statement unless you are willing to back it up? Was he all mouth and little substance?
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Just remember the law that won’t let UND choose a new name until 2015. There is probably a reason for that – this leaves a “back door” or “loophole” to give UND another opportunity to find a way to keep their nickname. . I am not yet convinced that UND wants to move on, regardless of what they are publicly saying. The old saying that “actions speak louder than words” accurately describes this . Plenty of so called “decisions” and “deadlines” associated with this charade have been ignored, followed by more attempts to keep the name. Stay tuned.
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This goes back to the SBHE abrogating it’s duty. The law is unconstitutional & should be challenged. No one wants to do it because they are afraid of its effects on funding.
SBHE needs to be held accountable.
As for UND wanting the name: not for a decade. Many people outside the university want it (stakeholders) but not the university.
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Since the UND athletics name is still the name of the tribe, i.e. Dakota, then we need to update the logo to an acceptable image. Why not change the logo head to a Sioux man/woman with a Wall Street business “siouxt” image? Wouldn’t that “siouxt” the NCAA just fine along with the radical chic neo libs & cons on campus? In fact the new UND name should be the “Fighting SUITS”. Thanks Wall Street for your inspiration.
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The university doesnt want it?
And why is that?
Cause it hurts the sports program……correct?
Just like Penn State.
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This is news? Yes…yesterday’s!
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Yesterdays news…..guess so.
That UND is the moral equvalent to Penn State. Not news…..but certainly interesting.
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Would you please shut up about Penn State. How can you drag that into this discussion? In the future stick with the topic or get lost.
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The actual heading listed that the judge declared that the “Fight over the Sioux name was over”………Ya right……Apparently he hasn’t been paying attention ….At the turn of the next century the Herald will have some article about the new petition to change the name, but only managed to get five signitures…..Maybe it might finally die sometime after that….
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Tj:
So…you disagree with the idea that the Admin at U of screw the Sioux behaved exactly like the Admin at Penn State?
Looks lik a duck, quacks like a duck. Its a duck.
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Put a sock in it or I’m telling your mom on you. Don’t think I won’t young man. Now shape up or get off the internet. Damn kids…this happens every summer when you brats are on summer vacation.
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So…you agree.
I guess you would also agree that neither school would be a good place to send your children for their education.
Both being morally bankrupt and all.
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My son is going to the tech school in EGF. He wants to be an electrician. He’s a smart kid…straight A’s all through high school. A nice kid to…I kid you not.
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Good field to get into TJ. The IBEW has a good apprenticeship program if he is interested. That is if the ACS fiasco hasn’t soured his opinion of unions.
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I will mention that to him. Thank you Doug.
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Seriously? You are comparing the cover up failure of a State sponsored University’s Administration to act on child sexual abuse for 14 years, with another state sponsored University’s failure to support a Nickname?
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Seriously?
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Rittman:
The comparison is that both Universities place the sports program ahead of doing the right thing.
Penn State so concerned about their sports they looked the other way as Sundusky had his way with children.
UND so concerned about their Sports, they looked the other way as Berkely Bob had his way with the Sioux, the alumni, and the Engelstad family.
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Always: if there is one thing I have noticed over the past year, it is that if more people shared your views of what constituted the “right thing” this world would be a much poorer place.
Your definition of right and wrong needs some work.
You insist on taking what is wrong with North Dakota and elevating it to sainthood while ignoring everything that is right.
You need to reevaluate your priorities.
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So, let me get this straight.
Banishing the Sioux, not for any altruistic goal, but so they could join some nondescript conference.
THAT was the RIGHT thing to do?
Yeh. My priorities need examination.
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