How About "The Big Orange"?

A faculty group at the University of Illinois has pledged to discourage potential athletic recruits from attending Champaign unless the school removes Chief Illiniwek as its official mascot. The Chief, who has been the symbol of Illinois’ Fighting Illini for three-quarters of a century, has come under attack in recent years. A 1997 PBS documentary compared the use of the Indian symbol to blackface vaudeville actors and the Frito Bandito. The film was presented at Dartmouth two years ago when Native American activist Suzan Harjo visited campus to discuss Indian mascots.

Illinois professor Stephen Kaufman, who leads the faculty group, says that the group contacted Oklahoma basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, who is part Native American, last summer to discourage him from considering the open position at U of I. Whether or not they actually influenced Sampson’s decision to remain at OU remains questionable. Still, they vow to continue to “stir their [prospective recruits’] decision-making pot.” Never mind that contacting recruits at the wrong time could violate NCAA rules.

Chief Illiniwek, whose name means “they are men,” dresses in full Indian costume and performs before games and at halftime. He has been banned from performing at Illini road games by some Big Ten schools.

In a meeting Wednesday, the Board of Trustees decided to form a committee to evaluate the mascot. Only three members of the Board appeared to oppose the Chief at the meeting. “It’s important to show respect and honor for those that came here before us,” said Trustee William Engelbrecht. “Chief Illiniwek is a respectful remembrance of those people. For those who say you can’t honor culture, before you get rid of the Chief, I ask you to go up and implode that statue [of Chief Blackhawk] that overlooks the Rock River, too.” (The statue, a 50-foot figure of an American Indian, stands in Illinois’ Lowden State Park. Sculptor Lorado Taft dedicated the statue in 1911 as a tribute to Native Americans, though it has become commonly associated with Blackhawk, who lived in the area.)

Chicago Tribune sports columnist Skip Bayless, who grew up in Oklahoma and revered Apache and Comanche braves, wrote, “They [the professors] can’t stand it that the school’s coaches make five or ten times more than they do and that U of I becomes better known for athletic teams than academic departments. They crave the publicity that comes from driving an unstoppable politically correct bandwagon spilling over with knee-jerk liberals. So now they’re trying to make a name off their basketball team’s climb to national prominence.”

As is the case with most of these Indian mascot controversies, the opinions of actual Indian tribes are ignored. In 1995, the Peoria Tribe, direct descendants of the Illini Tribe, approved the use of the Chief by U of I.