The last dance of Chief Illiniwek

[Waya]

By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji)

The news is out that the University of Illinois will drop its Chief Illiniwek mascot. It just goes to show that not all traditions are honorable.
It all began in 1926 when an Illinois student named Lester Leutwiler put on a homemade Indian costume and pranced around the football field at halftime. It will come to an end on Wednesday when the current mascot, Dan Maloney, will do the splits and other non-Indian dance steps for the last time.
This time-honored tradition faced its first objection when a young lady of Spokane Indian heritage, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, named Charlene Teters, stood alone and fearful at a football game in Champaign holding a small sign that read, We are human beings and not mascots.
Many of the fans and alumni of the Fighting Illini were at first puzzled and then angered at the audacity of this young Indian lady. Some spat on her as they walked past and others flipped burning cigarettes at her. But she tearfully stood her ground because she had grown increasingly sick and tired of having her people insulted every Saturday for the sake of a football game............


http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8609

[cleofus1]

1. i know charlene

met her thru diego romero many years ago...(22 years?) back in santa fe when we were revolving around the institute of american indian arts...haven't seen her in about fifteen years...but i still hear about her...and really respect the person she has become...