If you don't know it, they do the "Next Dance" every year, great thing to support! It is not affiliated with the school so they rent the assembly hall and the Chief Dances, normally around homecoming time frame!
I was fortunate to go the Finals in St Louis. I dressed up with a head dress and received many cheers of support from the fans!
I agree - bring him back!
The entire ban stinks terribly. When I don't have the words to tell my 8 year old daughter (at the time of his last dance) that he is offensive and I have to try to explain political correctness to her, there is a problem.
So you are all saying that you would be willing to dress up in black face and dance around? There is no difference between dressing in black face and the offensiveness caused by the racism of "playing Indian". Maybe dress up in traditional Jewish attire and do a dance. Really people, whats wrong with cultural sensitivity?
So you are all saying that you would be willing to dress up in black face and dance around? There is no difference between dressing in black face and the offensiveness caused by the racism of "playing Indian". Maybe dress up in traditional Jewish attire and do a dance. Really people, whats wrong with cultural sensitivity?
No. No one in this thread proposed what you say in your first sentence. You have committed the fallacy of proposing an unestablished premise, and from that drawing an unwarranted conclusion. Really, people, let's stick to a valid form of discussion here.
Actually, if you like most other people opposed would educate yourselves you would understand that in order to portray Chief Illiniwek you would know that a student must have and prove native american heritage. You would also know that the chief's dance was taught to the university by planes indians and only slightly modified for theatrics and has been passed down to each new chief. The chief honors the Illiniwek, it does not negatively portray them. Finally, I'm pretty confident that we live in a democracy, therefore the majority rules. Somehow in the last 25 years we have made it a habit to cater to whiney pansy's rather than listen to the quiet multitudes. Get over it, if it offends YOU look away but leave the cherished tradition the rest of love.
Well I have educated myself. I have a Bachelors degree in Anthropology and specialize in Native American studies, on top of that I am a Native American. The origin of the dance is from someones research when they were a boy scout. The dance was never taught to them by the plains Indians. It is loosely based off a style of dance called the fancy dance. Very few of the mascots have been of Native descent, and the ones that have didn't have to prove it. A quick google search will show that even the descendants of the Illiniwek are opposed to this. So please try to educate yourself before you assume I am not educated.