September 30, 2009 -MEDIA ADVISORY- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IRESIST COALITION RALLY TO DEMAND AN END TO THE USE OF “CHIEF ILLINIWEK”

The IResist Coalition, a social justice organization, will hold a march starting at the Alma Mater and a rally outside of the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in response to the Students for Chief Illiniwek’s “Next Dance.” The “chief” is not an honored symbol, but merely a caricature which mocks the very cultures and traditions it claims to champion. The “chief” does not represent the entire student body at UIUC. It does not unite the campus population, but continues to be a divisive symbol that creates a toxic environment for many students, faculty, staff, and community members. Recent research by Dr. Stephanie Fryberg (Tulalip) demonstrates the harm of mascot imagery... Read complete media advisory here, org download the pdf file here

September 30, 2009

American Indian Studies statement on the October 2 event at Assembly Hall

I am writing on behalf of my colleagues in the American Indian Studies Program to join those students, faculty, staff, and others who stand in opposition to the event planned for Assembly Hall Friday, October 2, and I ask others to join us, as well.

People in our program have stood against these invidious forms of racial stereotyping and masquerade for many years, and our program remains committed to moving forward in creating an inclusive campus environment for everyone. Those who continue to engage in these actions that demean American Indian people exacerbate a climate of intolerance, abuse, and hostility that increases with each move further into the past of a sports mascot tradition that the University retired over two years ago.

The real failure here, of course, is one of leadership, and Chancellor Richard Herman, President Joseph White, and the Board of Trustees have abdicated their responsibility to lead us away from this painful chapter in the University's history. Hopefully, new campus leaders will swiftly and decisively steer us in wiser directions.

Because of the failure of our appointed leaders, others must stand in the breach. To those we join in standing against what is happening, I want to express on behalf of our program my appreciation, admiration, and solidarity.

Robert Warrior
Director, American Indian Studies (UIUC)
Professor of American Indian Studies, English, and History
pdf file available here

September 29, 2009

IResist Coalition - Open Letter to Chancellor Herman:

As you are aware, on October 2nd the 'Students for Chief Illiniwek' plan to hold the second of their annual tributes to the former mascot titled: 'The Next Dance.' As you are probably also aware, various student groups are planning to protest this event.

Last year’s protest was a highly charged situation fraught with tension and threats of violence. One of our camera persons was shoved, intimidating gestures and racial epithets were common in amongst a whole barrage of taunts and verbal abuse. At one point, a small group of protestors were forced off the sidewalk and into traffic by a very aggressive crowd; they ultimately had to retreat back to the larger group for their own safety.

Police at the scene however, were few and far between. Those who were there did little but stand around and joke with the fans coming out of the building. Why, you might ask, would anyone knowingly put themselves in a situation where such a possibility of violence exists? The answer is simple: We’re there, because you aren't.

Click here for the whole letter, or download it as a pdf file:

Not Our Mascot Rally

Date: Friday, October 2, 2009

Location / Times:

5:00 pm Meet at the Alma Mater - (Green Street and Wright Street)
5:30 Start Marching down Sixth Street to Assembly Hall
6:00 pm Rally Before the ‘Next Dance’ outside the Assembly Hall (1800 S. 1st Street, Champaign, IL))
7:00 Press Release & Coalition Speakers
7:30 Open Mic
Conclude with Rally After the ‘Next Dance’ (Assembly Hall)

Co-Sponsors: I-Resist Coalition, MEChA de UIUC, Changing Women, Red Roots, Latina/o Studies Graduate Student Organization, Critical Research Collaborative, Campus Antiwar Network, S.T.O.P. Coalition, Feminist Majority, ChiL@ - The Chicana/Latino Association for Autonomous Anthropology, Collaborative-History Graduate Students of Color Organization, Graduate Employees Organization (G.E.O.), La Colectiva, ISO, Students for Justice In Palestine, NAACP, Amnesty International

minstrel: a member of a band of entertainers with blackened faces who perform songs and music ostensibly of black American origin. ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French menestral ‘entertainer, servant,’ via Provençal from late Latin ministerialis ‘servant’ (see ministerial )

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign retired “Chief Illiniwek” as its official symbol in February of 2007. However, this has not stopped student organizations such at the Students for Chief Illiniwek (SFCI) from using the name and imagery of the “Chief”:

Last year, the SFCI hosted a similar performance on November 15, 2008. Here is a link to some of the media coverage from last year’s “Next Dance” as well as the protest to the “Next Dance”: http://www.iresist.org/next_dance.html

This year, a group of students has been meeting to plan a protest of this year’s “Next Dance.” We will host a rally at 6:00 p.m., one hour before the “Next Dance.” We will issue a press release with speakers from our coalition at 7:00 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., we will host an open mic. At 8:15 p.m., we will conclude with a rally as spectators are exiting Assembly Hall.

We humbly ask for your support in protesting this awful display of racism and ignorance on our campus. We hope that you are able to write letters to University administrators, attend the protest on October 2nd, spread the word about our protest, and/or contact the Students for Chief Illiniwek to discourage them from hosting the event. If you are able to show support in other ways, we would also greatly appreciate that.

Here are contacts for the University of Illinois and Students for Chief Illiniwek:

Chancellor Richard Herman Office of the Chancellor 317 Swanlund Admin M/C 304 601 E. John St. Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 333-6290 rhh@illinois.edu
Vice Chancellor Renee Romano 120 Swanlund M/C 304 601 E. John St. Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 333-1300 romano3@illinois.edu
Board of Trustees Board of Trustees Office 352 Henry Admin M/C 350 506 S. Wright St. Urbana, IL 61801 (217) 333-1920
Students for Chief Illiniwek President: Elyse Eilts eeilts2@illinois.edu studentsforchief@gmail.com

UIUC Mascot Resources

UIUC Native American House/American Indian Studies statement on the mascot: http://www.ais.illinois.edu/mascot/
- UIUC's Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations (OIIR) mascot statement pdf file
- Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma http://www.peoriatribe.com/
- National Coalition on Racism in Sports & Media http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm/
- Retire the Chief Web site http://www.retirethechief.org/
- Retire the Chief Archives: http://www.retirethechief.org/archives.html
- In Whose Honor http://www.inwhosehonor.com/
- Charlene Teters' Web page http://www.charleneteters.com/Welcome.html
- Professor Joe Gone's article "Chief illiniwek: Dignified or Damaging" pdf file
- December 15, 2006 "Congressional Field Hearing" examining Tim Johnson's and House Speaker Dennis Hastert's “Protection of University Governance Act of 2006” (HR 5289) http://www.iresist.org/NCAA_hearing.html
- Racism, Power and Privilege at UIUC forum http://www.iresist.org/stop/
- Wikipedia - Chief Illiniwek entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Illiniwek
- RESOLUTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE DEMANDING RETURN OF LAKOTA REGALIA USED IN PERFORMANCE OF “CHIEF ILLINIWEK,” AND IN SUPPORT OF REQUEST BY PEORIA TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA THAT THE USE OF THE MASCOT CEASE (January 17, 2007) http://www.iresist.org/oglala_press_conference.html
- Alliance Against Racial Mascots http://www.allarm.org/
- Eric Stoller Blog on UIUC Mascot http://ericstoller.com/blog/tag/uiuc/
  
  Articles and Books (selected)
  
  (from http://www.ais.illinois.edu/mascot/resources/)
  
  Baca, Lawrence. (2004). "Native Images in Schools and the Racially Hostile Environment." Journal of Sport & Social Issues 28(1):71-78.
  
  Bataille, Gretchen M. (2001). Native American Representations: First Encounters, Distorted Images, and Literary Appropriations. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
  
  Berkhofer, Robert F. (1978). The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian, from Columbus to the Present. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
  
  Black, Jason Edward. (2002). "The Mascotting of Native America: Construction, Commodity, and Assimilation." American Indian Quarterly 26(4):605-622.
  
  Briggs, Kara, and Dan Lewerenz. (2003). "Reading Red Report 2003: A Call for the News Media to Recognize Racism in Sports Team Nicknames and Mascots." 31 May 2007.
  
  Clark, David Anthony Tyeeme. (2005). "Wa a o, wa ba ski na me ska ta! 'Indian' Mascots and the Pathology of Anti-Indigenous Racism." In In the Game: Race, Identity, and Sports in the Twentieth Century, edited by A. Bass, 137-166. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  
  Deloria, Philip J. (1999). Playing Indian. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
  
  --. (2004) Indians in Unexpected Places. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
  
  Farnell, Brenda. (2004). "The Fancy Dance of Racializing Discourse." Journal of Sport & Social Issues 28(1):30-55.
  
  Gone, Joseph P. (1995). "Chief Illiniwek: Dignified or Damaging?" 31 May 2007. <http://www.inwhosehonor.com/documents/GONE.HTML>
  
  Huhndorf, Shari. (2001). Going Native. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
  
  King, C. Richard. (1998). "Spectacles, Sports, and Stereotypes: Dis/Playing Chief Illiniwek." In Colonial Discourses, Collective Memories, and the Exhibition of Native American Cultures and Histories in the Contemporary United States, 41-58. New York: Garland.
  
  King, C. Richard, and Charles Fruehling Springwood, eds. (2001). Team Spirits: The Native American Mascots Controversy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska.
  
  Mihesuah, Devon A. (1996). American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities. Atlanta, GA: Clarity Press, Inc.
  
  Pewewardy, Cornell D. (1991). "Native American Mascots and Imagery: The Struggle of Unlearning Indian Stereotypes." Journal of Navaho Education 9(1):19-23.
  
  ---. (1999). "From La Belle Sauvage to the Nobel Savage: The Deculturalization of Indian Mascots in American Culture." Multicultural Education 6:6-11.
  
  ---. "Why Educators Can't Ignore Indian Mascots." 31 May 2007. <http://www.aics.org/mascot/cornel.html>.
  
  Slapin, Beverly, and Doris Seale, eds. (1992). Through Indian Eyes: the Native Experience in Books for Children. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.
  
  Spindel, Carol. (2000). Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy over American Indian Mascots. New York: New York University Press.
  
  Strong, Pauline Turner. (2004). "The Mascot Slot: Cultural Citizenship, Political Correctness, and Pseudo-Indian Sports Symbols." Journal of Sport & Social Issues 28(1):79-87.
- Other Mascot Resources
- C-U Organizations Against "The Chief" pdf file
- American-Indian Groups Against Mascots pdf file
- BOT "Native Heritage" Statement - pdf file
- North Central Association: Final Report - pdf file
- Plummer's Report: pdf file http://www.uillinois.edu/trustees/plummerreport/index.html
- I Resist materials to Black Caucus - Spring 2004 (special thanks to retirethechief.org Web site!)- pdf file
- Illinois State Republicans support Chief - pdf file
- U of I nondiscrimination statement - pdf file
- Link to University of Illinois "Dialogue" on the mascot issue: http://www.uiuc.edu/dialogue/
- Past articles in Daily Illini Newspaper - http://www.illinimedia.com/di/issues/chief.shtml
- WILL Radio - past stories on mascot issue - http://www.will.uiuc.edu/am/projects/chiefilliniwek/features.htm
Contact I Resist to have your site/materials linked - info at iresist.org

Sign the PETITION! available at: http://www.petitiononline.com/352Henry/petition.html To: The Board of Trustees- University of Illinois (U of I); President Joseph B. White- U of I; Chancellor Richard Herman - U of I; National Collegiate Athletic Association c/o Bob Williams; S.T.O.P. Nevada Street Vandalism at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign