Chief Illiniwek
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Introduction
This page is intended to develop the issues involved in the use of Chief Illiniwek to represent the University of Illinois, especially its athletic teams. However, in true wiki style, it may evolve in many and various directions.
History
See History of Chief Illiniwek in a report issued to the UIUC Board of Trustees, by Louis B. Garippo, Spring 2001.
==Honor the Chief== 
===Huddleston Statement=== Presentation by Mr. Roger Huddleston to UIUC Board of Trustees, 4/14/2000.
15 MR. ROGER HUDDLESTON: Good morning. My
16 name is Roger Huddleston and I am with the Chief
17 Illiniwek Support Fund. The Illini Support Fund
18 is managed and maintained by the University of
19 Illinois Foundation and has been set aside
20 specifically to go ahead and provide some of the
21 funds to educate students Chief in Native American
22 understanding.
23 I thank you for the opportunity to
24 address the Board this morning.
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1 In the fall of 1959, my dad took me to
2 my very first Illinois football game. And that
3 began a wonderful love affair with the University
4 of Illinois. The game was against Army and I
5 marveled at all the wonderful pageantry and
6 tradition. The most memorable event of that day
7 was at half-time when the crowd that I was a part
8 of rose to their feet and welcomed Chief
9 Illiniwek. Everyone greeted this honored symbol
10 with respect.
11 The dignity displayed by John Forsyth,
12 the Chief Illiniwek that year, caused a stirring
13 in my soul that I would understand more and more
14 in the years to come. To me, the Chief was never
15 a specific person, but a personification of
16 dignity, loyalty, tradition and inspiration that I
17 have come to respect and cherish as I have grown
18 older.
19 As a 12-year-old boy, my relationship
20 with the University of Illinois and Chief
21 Illiniwek did not have much substance. Other than
22 something special that I sensed was good. I was
23 just a boy. But the Chief was someone to be
24 revered, because when he appeared, everything
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1 seemed to stop. No one appeared to speak and the
2 crowd stood in respect.
3 He was different than school mascots,
4 because he wasn't one. He wasn't a Chief Wahoo
5 from the Cleveland Indians, he wasn't wild and
6 uncivilized, he wasn't a cartoon that encouraged
7 us to pretend we had tomahawks like Ted Turner's
8 Atlanta Braves. He was a personification of a
9 common, noble heritage. He was the symbol of an
10 unifying spirit that could cause a football crowd
11 of 80,000 individuals to become one spirit for a
12 few moments.
13 He did not speak. He had no opinions,
14 he was not a cheerleader, he was someone you never
15 thought to ask for an autograph. He never
16 appeared at grocery store openings, he didn't hold
17 small children while parents shook his hand. He
18 was and is the Chief. He is respected for not who
19 he is as the student who portrays him, or as a
20 historical individual. Chief Illiniwek is each
21 person's opportunity to affirm what is good about
22 the human race. The Chief is a measure of
23 excellence of what each of us should be if we
24 strive for dignity.
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1 The Chief speaks volumes when it comes
2 to pride of self, although he never says a word.
3 The Chief is an unifying factor for a melting pot
4 of people who find common bonds in what is good.
5 The Chief encourages no matter what the score is,
6 reminding all that our worth as humans is not
7 determined by the winning or losing of an athletic
8 contest and the Chief has the charismatic dignity
9 to be afforded full attention when he appears.
10 But, if the Chief is good, why do other
11 good people object to him? Why do Native
12 Americans, who have sincere reasons to question
13 every motive behind every portrayal of their
14 ancestors, genuinely object? Why is the student
15 called Chief Illiniwek wearing Sioux clothing and
16 dancing a dance that is not historically correct?
17 If my position and my advocacy are
18 valid, must I not only listen with my heart but
19 with my head and soul to justify my passion for
20 the Chief. To lay one's understanding down and
21 seek truth is to become vulnerable, but a sincere
22 effort to attain intellectual honesty and
23 integrity demands this surrender.
24 The Chief's own character traits that I
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1 revered for many years required the submission of
2 myself to ask questions that would lay my
3 perceptions open to change. I listened to others:
4 Opinion and conviction, emotion and passion,
5 legend and fact, bias and resolve, political
6 correctness and moral honesty. My personal
7 mission was to intellectually discover what was
8 and what wasn't.
9 I was to take two steps back and look
10 with my imperfect heart for the perfect answer. I
11 studied what I could. I read editorials, essays
12 and papers. History provided more than I expected
13 as I learned about a vast confederation of
14 Algonquin people made up of many tribes. I
15 learned that these Illini that the French called
16 Illinois were a society and a culture of
17 subsocieties and subcultures, joined together by a
18 geographical area and common interest while
19 maintaining specific tribal difference.
20 I learned that the confederation came
21 together and in spite of their diversity were led
22 by a single leader, a Chief. We today are a
23 people defined by a geographic area we call
24 Illinois. We are a society wonderfully blessed by
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1 a diversity of subsocieties and subcultures. We
2 are a community that celebrates things right and
3 condemns things wrong. What better symbol to
4 represent all that we cherish and hope for in this
5 world than a human being that we all treasure and
6 hold as a measure of character and excellence.
7 What better symbol has historical
8 significance and also shares identify with our
9 whole state of Illinois. What better symbol of
10 dignity, loyalty, tradition and inspiration can
11 represent all of mankind in a sinful world that is
12 still populated by people who without exception
13 fall short of perfection.
14 It is to these ideals that I reaffirm my
15 commitment to the Chief. It is to these character
16 qualities that I dedicate this poem, "The Chief"
17 that I humbly share with you.
18 Centuries back a noble spirit was born,
19 honored champion greeting each prairie morn.
20 Inspiring his people a legend bound, excellence
21 was the standard to be found. Faithful to time
22 his purpose would not wane, integrity and honor
23 are his name. Love of his tribe, devotion to his
24 own, loyal to all who call Illinois home. In
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1 victory or the darkest of defeat, never wavering,
2 leadership complete. Inherited tradition, year to
3 year, warrior of great esteem who is held dear.
4 Elect for all time, true and worthy one, kindred
5 spirit for all in years to come." Thank you.
Keep the Chief
I am going to have to agree that I feel there is no disrespect to the Indian Culture with the Chief Illiniwek. I feel that this is more of a memory and honoring of the tribe. I will have to say I would have no clue of any sort of tribe if it weren’t for being reminded of this by watching the University of Illinois games. I feel the Dance at half time show respect and honor to their culture. Keep the Chief. Dale Donner
During my time as an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, I attended the presentation of a speaker (at this present time I cannot think of her name) who was very much against the Chief. Among other points, she argued that there was currently no Native American Studies program, very few scholarships given out to Native Americans, and no Native American cultural (Greek) house. It was a very interesting but the entire time I was listening her discuss how disrespectful Chief Illiniwek was, I questioned why more time was not being spend towards building a Native American Studies program or getting more scholarships available to Native Americans. Why not be more proactive? M.Hafenrichter
==Retire the Chief== 
===Kaufman Statement=== Presentation by Stephen Kaufman to UIUC Board of Trustees, 4/14/2000.
8 MR. STEPHEN KAUFMAN: Good morning, Your
9 Honor. My name is Stephen Kaufman. I am a
10 professor in the department of cell biology and I
11 have been on this faculty for 26 years and I
12 represent faculty against the Chief.
13 More than ten years ago Charlene Teters
14 stood alone before crowds of sports fans with a
15 simple sign that read Indians are people, not
16 mascots. Then and now, that truth is self-evident
17 and it is nonnegotiable, sir. At least I hope it
18 is evident to you, because unfortunately, it has
19 not been as clear to our Board of Trustees.
20 Since that time, our elected student
21 government, as well as a special campus wide
22 committee convened by the Chancellor to recommend
23 how to make this campus a better place for people
24 of all cultures to study and work, as well as our
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1 elected faculty and Student Senate, all passed
2 resolutions advocating the retirement of Chief
3 Illiniwek. Mountains of testimony have been
4 given.
5 Sadly, all of these democratic exercises
6 enfranchised by the rules that govern this campus
7 have been disregarded by our administration and
8 Board of Trustees. Moreover, the Board and campus
9 administration refuse to engage in an independent
10 mediated arbitration of this issue. They
11 summarily dismissed without due process grievances
12 charging racial discrimination.
13 They have refused to include this issue
14 in two self studies, one conducted by the National
15 Collegiate Athletic Association and the other
16 conducted by the North Central Association of
17 Colleges and Schools pertaining to academic
18 accreditation. And they have fostered an
19 atmosphere of intimidation in many quarters of
20 this campus.
21 However, recently, 13 independent senior
22 academics from other institutions that comprised
23 the North Central Accreditation team did review
24 this issue and did meet with both pro and
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1 anti-Chief advocates. Their report is an
2 unprecedented condemnation of the institutional
3 integrity of this campus. It severely criticized
4 the University administration for their failure to
5 deal with the Chief issue in a manner consistent
6 with our Statutes, which prohibit invidious
7 discrimination.
8 In other words, they pointed out the
9 contradiction between having a Native American
10 mascot and the educational mission and rules of
11 this University.
12 In response to this condemnation, the
13 Board publicly reiterated its firm commitment to
14 maintaining the mascot and then, quote, reaffirmed
15 its commitment to a dialogue. They reaffirmed
16 their commitment to something they previously
17 refused to discuss. Instead of acting to finally
18 end this form of invidious discrimination, they
19 chose to ask the same old question, hoping that if
20 they controlled the process, they would finally
21 get the answer they sought. And so here we are.
22 Remarkable as it may seem, in response
23 to censure for lack of institutional integrity,
24 the first response of the Board was allegedly to
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1 break the law by violating the Illinois Open
2 Meetings Act. Since then they have continued to
3 defy that law, all meetings, including the ones
4 selecting you, Judge Garippo, were held
5 unannounced and in secret by persons who have
6 publicly declared their strong position and
7 interest in maintaining the Chief.
8 Furthermore, this dialogue process per
9 se clearly violates the Statutes of this
10 University and this is not how we resolve
11 educational issues at this institution. What an
12 astonishing way to confront condemnation of
13 institutional integrity, by breaking the law and
14 violating the statutes of the institution.
15 But here we are, sir. The question at
16 hand is whether this process is anything more than
17 a charade, or a circus to placate the concerns of
18 the North Central Association Accreditation team.
19 Let's have a look at some of the evidence.
20 One, the process to date has been
21 closely managed in secret and has included only
22 those who have publicly declared their pro-Chief
23 position.
24 Secondly, tens of thousands of taxpayer
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1 dollars have been spent by the Board to send out
2 messages directed to specific constituencies who
3 might favor keeping the Chief. This includes
4 advertising and personal letters from Mr.
5 Engelbrecht. The source of the letter, Mr.
6 Engelbrecht, has made his position quite clear.
7 And he invited people who feel as deeply as he
8 does to participate in the dialogue.
9 Moreover, who did not receive this
10 personal invitation from Mr. Engelbrecht is
11 equally important. He did not send it to the
12 Council of Deans, releasing them from the
13 intimidation that they have been under for the
14 past ten years. He did not send it to the
15 University faculty, and he did not send it to
16 Native Americans, either on this campus or
17 anywhere else. Perhaps he isn't interested in
18 knowing how they feel about his honoring them.
19 Thirdly, although tens of thousands of
20 dollars have been used to target audiences the
21 Board wanted to reach, Mr. Engelbrecht, President
22 Stukel and Provost Herman refused to defray the
23 expenses of Native Americans to come and
24 participate in this intake session today. They
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1 denied support to cover the costs of ads and
2 letters to be directed more uniformly. And they
3 denied access to the same mailing lists they used.
4 And fourthly, perhaps the most egregious
5 act by Chancellor Aiken and Mr. Engelbrecht is
6 that they have refused to provide you with the
7 correspondence they have received prior to the
8 initiation of this dialogue. They have set up a
9 dialogue but are withholding essential evidence
10 from you.
11 What is this information? There are
12 mountains of it, including testimony from dozens
13 of individuals and organizations, local as well as
14 from around the world, organizations concerned
15 with human rights, including Amnesty
16 International, the National Organization of Women,
17 the NAACP, the Rainbow Coalition, organizations
18 that represent Native Americans nationally, the
19 Minorities Opportunity Committee of the NCAA and
20 all student organizations on this campus that
21 represent people of color. In essence, from
22 anyone who knows discrimination when they see it.
23 They withhold from you the transcript
24 and audio tape of our Senate proceedings, anti-
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1 discrimination complaints dismissed without due
2 process, statements by various campus departments
3 condemning the use of the Chief, and a host of
4 additional documents.
5 Judge Garippo, I respectfully request,
6 sir, that you advise the Chancellor and Board to
7 forward these documents and an annotated list of
8 them to you without further delay and make that
9 list available to the public. And secondly, that
10 you advise the Board to write the Chancellor, the
11 Provost, the Deans and Directors, inviting their
12 candid input on this issue and guaranteeing them
13 that there will be absolutely no reprisals of any
14 sort should they disagree with the perspective of
15 the Board.
16 Your Honor, there is intimidation at all
17 levels of this campus where this issue is of
18 concern and that is toxic to the mission of this
19 University and it is wrong. And perhaps, sir, you
20 can help end this.
21 Judge Garippo, as a scientist, I must
22 say that with the sole exception of conversations
23 with you, there is no data thus far that this
24 process is anything but a charade. I hope I am
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1 wrong. But it is up to you to convince us
2 otherwise.
3 I hope that in your deliberations you
4 remember what is self-evident, that Native
5 Americans are people, not mascots. And that there
6 cannot be any compromise of that, it is
7 nonnegotiable.
8 In support of the position to retire the
9 Chief, I present you with a resolution signed by
10 793 faculty of this campus. This includes 10 of
11 the 13 prestigious Swanlund chairs, 17 additional
12 named chairs, 11 of 15 Jubilee professors of the
13 College of Arts and Science, 24 department heads
14 and hundreds of plain old faculty like me. Thank
15 you, sir. I will be happy to answer questions.
Additional Testimonies and Personal Experiences to Retire the Chief
References and Related Links
- See Retire the Chief for Pro and Anti chief information.
