The University of North Dakota, or more commonly known as the Fighting Sioux, faced some controversy over their mascot’s name over the last couple of years.  In 2015, the mascot changed from the Fighting Sioux to the Fighting Hawks because the word “fighting” in Fighting Sioux was considered unjust. The Sioux tribe doesn’t want to be labeled as a fighting tribe because they don’t believe in being violent. The name didn’t honor or justify the tribe, which seems reasonable, but there was some dispute over the whole subject.

In 2005, the case of altering the mascot’s name arose. NCAA made all universities with tribal logos and nicknames for mascots change because the names put bad, unwanted labels on the Indian tribes. The university had a hard time coming up with a new name some included Fighting Hawks, Nodaks, North Stars, Roughriders, and Sundogs. The final name was the Fighting Hawks, but just because the university changed the name doesn’t mean the students, or even fans, will accept the change. Alumni fought for their original name to resurface. Fans and students, mainly hockey, would wear old Fighting Sioux to the athletic games in a way of “protest” against the new name. It wasn’t easy to eliminate all Fighting Sioux merchandise all around the state and in the university bookstore. All campus facilities had to be clear of all original Fighting Sioux imagery.

Many people have different options about the situation on whether it was reasonable for the Sioux tribe to make the University of North Dakota change their name. We asked students that attend Air Academy High School what their thoughts and views of the whole situation were.

Do you think the Sioux tribe was reasonable with having the university change their name to Fighting Hawks?

– “Yes, because I can understand where they are coming from. They come from a tribe, which ‘fighting’ was a natural thing to do in order to survive instead of fighting for violence especially when their name is being used for a football team and other athletics at the university.”

– “ No, I do not think the tribe should get offended by the university using their name because there are hundreds of other sports teams out there that should have their mascot name changed too then. Such as the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and even Cheyenne Mountain Indians. The university should have just changed the fighting part and keep the traditional Sioux name but took the “offensive” part out.”

People can argue whether it’s fair that the Sioux tribe can strip the university of their traditional name, but many people also argue it is immoral to label an Indian tribe with a violent adjective. Violence was never a tradition or practice of the Sioux tribe, so it’s understandable that the remaining want to leave a good name for their own tribe and for their past ancestors who helped built the tribe.