Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Board of Higher Education set a new deadline and tougher requirements for keeping the controversial “Fighting Sioux” nickname and logo of the University of North Dakota.
UND has until October 1 to reach an agreement with the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Both tribes must support the name and they must agree to its use for another 30 years.
“It’s not an easy step,” said Standing Rock Sioux Ron His Horse Is
Thunder. “And it is full of controversy. But I think every great step
in this country was filled with controversy … The civil rights
movements in the ‘60s didn’t happen with a whimper.”
Members of the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation voted to back the name. Standing Rock Sioux leaders passed a resolution to oppose it.