NCAA Ice Hockey: North Dakota Sioux Fighting for Their Mascot

The NCAA is wrong for forcing the University of North Dakota to change their Fighting Sioux name and logo.

With the winter championships approaching for college athletics, the Fighting Sioux are gearing up for the NCAA ice hockey playoffs. While the team is getting ready to compete for the championship, the university received a warning from the NCAA.

The NCAA informed the Sioux if they use their name and logo, they will have to forfeit any postseason competition.

While the NCAA believes that they are doing the right thing by forcing the Sioux to change their logo and name, they really are showing how out of touch they are with college sports.

College sports have fan bases that are much more passionate and dedicated than professional teams do. College sports fans are fans for life; their attachment and dedication creates a sense of community and pride in a team.

While the NCAA thinks North Dakota's name and logo are offensive, the university and its fans take pride in it. The Sioux fans do not take the name as a joke or a mockery of the Sioux Indians. Rather, they see the Sioux Indians as a representation of their school, something the students can take pride in and rally around.

The Fighting Sioux mascot embodies the passion and warrior mentality that the university’s student athletes bring to competition. Fighting Sioux fans do not mock the Indians; they use the name and logo to honor the tribe's culture.

To say the logo and name are insulting to Indians is insulting to the people of North Forks, North Dakota.

The NCAA thinks that it is doing the right thing by having the University of North Dakota change its name and logo, but the NCAA really has no idea if they are protecting anyone. If the NCAA wants to protect anything, they should first go talk to Sioux Native Americans to see how they feel about it.

If the Sioux Indians find the use of their culture as a symbol of a university of higher education to be offensive, then the NCAA has every right to ban the Fighting Sioux mascot. Before the NCAA forces a change, it really should make sure it has the best interests of the Sioux Native Americans in mind—and not just its own.