"CHIEF
ILLINIWEK"
Why is the "Chief
Illiniwek" a racist symbol? Read this letter to
the U. of I.
Board of Trustees, composed and signed by a
large majority
of the anthropology department faculty at UIUC.
Unfortunately,
the image of Chief Illiniwek completely misrepresents
the American Indian peoples who lived in what is now the state of
Illinois. Historical and archaeological records inform us that the
Illini
were primarily farmers and people of trade and commerce who lived
in settled villages within a loose political confederacy of twelve tribes.
The men did not wear war bonnets, nor were they "warriors" in the
sense of having military societies like the Plains tribes. To represent
the Illini with a Plains Indian war bonnet, to name them the "fighting
Illini," and to dress the mascot in the military regalia of a Sioux
warrior, is therefore
totally inaccurate. It is the direct equivalent
of representing
Italians or Germans with someone dressed
in a Scottish
kilt and playing the bagpipes.
.... from the Native perspective, the young man portraying the Chief
has not earned the right to wear Lakota Sioux military regalia, just as
he has not earned the right to wear a U.S. Marine's uniform and a Purple
Heart. [Students] would know that Native American dancing and the
wearing of traditional regalia are always connected with spiritual beliefs
and practices and so would understand why the Chief's performance
as entertainment at a sporting event violates the religious sensibilities
of many American Indian people. They would know that American Indians
are the only recognized ethnic minority in the US who are still subjected
to public stereotyping, and that ethnic stereotyping, however well
intentioned, misrepresents, and so dishonors, those it portrays.
....In marked contrast to indigenous dance forms, the choreographed
movements performed by the Chief are a combination of stereotyped
gestures and steps taken from the Boy Scout movement and Wild
West Shows of
the 1920s and 30s, supplemented by acrobatic
display. The
musical accompaniment is likewise a stereotypic
misrepresentation
derived from early Hollywood movies.
...[O]ne unintended consequence of the Chief Illiniwek symbol is that it
romanticizes and sentimentalizes indigenous peoples ..... It thus
ignores the historical record which shows that European intrusions
into the Northeast
and Midwest resulted in more than two centuries
of social turmoil
that fueled inter-tribal conflicts as well as conflicts
between Europeans
and indigenous peoples.
Under government pressure to cede large tracts of land to European
settlers in the early 19th century, the indigenous people of this region
were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated west of the
Mississippi River. They were subject to arrest and execution if they
attempted to remain in their homelands. The romantic symbol
of the Chief
betrays a lack of awareness of this history of
oppression. This,
in turn, provides compelling reasons why most
contemporary
American Indian people strongly object to the
suggestion that
they are being "honored" by the Chief. ...
February 17, 1998.
Links to anti-racist mascot sites
Federal Court Rules in Favor of Anti-chief Plaintiffs
Trustees Reject Justice Department Offer to Mediate Mascot Issue
Chief Illiniwek: Dignified or Damaging?
Psychological Considerations of Racial Mascots
