Members of the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe have asked the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to stop using its controversial Indian mascot and costume, according to the ChicagoTribune.
A resolution passed on Thursday by the Oglala Sioux asks the university to stop using the Chief Illiniwek mascot and to return the Chief’s attire, which the university purchased from the tribe in 1982.
The tribe’s demands are the latest in a growing campaign by students, faculty members, American Indian groups, and the NCAA to put an end to the mascot.
The NCAA has allowed Illinois to keep using its “Illini” and “Fighting Illini” nicknames, but it considers Chief Illiniwek to be hostile and abusive. Illinois has announced no plans to get rid of Chief Illiniwek.
The latest episode comes as an Illinois student faces possible expulsion over a comment on a pro-Chief Web site threatening to hurt a student who opposed the mascot.
