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The End of an Era
One of my very first blog posts was about the Chief Illiniwek controversy. For those coming to the party late, in 1926, in an attempt to honor the Indian nations that the state was named for, the University of Illinois adopted the tradition of "Chief Illiniwek." This tradition consisted of a man (one woman, during WWII) in Native American garb performing a traditional Indian dance at halftime of U of I games.
The garb and the dance were taught to the first chief by the descendants of the original Illini Indians (actually a confederation of tribes, with names like "Peoria" and "Tamaroa," currently names of towns in Illinois) and a ceremonial headdress, made by said descendants, was presented to the University. Unfortunately, the Illini were driven out of this territory in the late 1700s, and the descendants merged with other tribes, so the headdress is of the style of Plains Indians. There is some evidence that the dance, at least, is authentic.
Unlike the Fighting Irish (nicknamed in part due to Irish tendencies to be pugnacious when drunk) or the Hoosiers, he didn't hang out with cheerleaders on the sidelines or do silly stunts with other team's mascots. Chief Illinwek was never a "mascot." He did his performance, and left.
The bugbear of our time, political correctness, has intervened. Under orders from the NCAA, the University of Illinois is no longer allowing the Chief to dance. His last performance was Wednesday. You can watch the dance at the link, emailed to me by my sister Jennie. I'm sorry to see him go, and if that makes me some kind of bigot, well sue me.
The garb and the dance were taught to the first chief by the descendants of the original Illini Indians (actually a confederation of tribes, with names like "Peoria" and "Tamaroa," currently names of towns in Illinois) and a ceremonial headdress, made by said descendants, was presented to the University. Unfortunately, the Illini were driven out of this territory in the late 1700s, and the descendants merged with other tribes, so the headdress is of the style of Plains Indians. There is some evidence that the dance, at least, is authentic.
Unlike the Fighting Irish (nicknamed in part due to Irish tendencies to be pugnacious when drunk) or the Hoosiers, he didn't hang out with cheerleaders on the sidelines or do silly stunts with other team's mascots. Chief Illinwek was never a "mascot." He did his performance, and left.
The bugbear of our time, political correctness, has intervened. Under orders from the NCAA, the University of Illinois is no longer allowing the Chief to dance. His last performance was Wednesday. You can watch the dance at the link, emailed to me by my sister Jennie. I'm sorry to see him go, and if that makes me some kind of bigot, well sue me.