The University of Illinois has finally caved in. The days of mascot Chief Illiniwek are coming to an end. If you are not aware of this controversy then you definitely have not been in Illinois for the past several years. You see the University of Illinois are called the Illini. Now, there never was a tribe of Native Americans called the Illini. It was a kind of loose confederation of several tribes that lived in this area. Well, the Illini team have used the Indian as a mascot. During football games and basketball games a student, usually white, would dance around the field and across the floor in Native American garb. For years this has been controversial because many Native Americans found it offensive.

It is hard for me to understand this. You see, I wish that one of the parts of my nationalities would be made into a team name. I am so much of a WASP that I almost have wings and a stinger. I have a little bit of Irish in me so maybe the Fighting Irish are about as close as I get. There are no Fighting Finns for the Finnish in me. The Krauts do not exist for the German. This is all too bad because I would love to be thought of as so fierce that other teams should fear me.

However, I have never been part of a nationality that was invaded and had their entire culture and country stolen from them. Perhaps if I were a Native American I would find the idea of a white student dressed in supposedly sacred garb dancing around barefoot for a sporting event offensive. For me I think most of the Native American team names are fairly positive. They show the Native Americans as being fierce, brave and bold people. The one exception might be the Redskins as I think that term might be just at tad offensive. You wouldn’t have Black – or Yellow-skins.

Here is what I think should have been done and I am baffled as to why it was not done. There is a rugby team in New Zealand known as the All Blacks. They were originally composed entirely of Maori tribesmen. That isn’t the case any more but they still do something before each game that calls back to their origins of the Maori.

You see the Maori are the Indians from New Zealand. Much like the Aborigines from Australia and the Native Americans from here I am quite sure they were persecuted and mistreated. The whites of the world certainly loved to show up and push the people who were already there all over the place.

The Maori were fierce warriors. Before they would fight another tribe they would perform ritualistic dances where they would make hideous and scary faces. They would chant and dance and make threatening gestures. I am willing to bet more than one challengers saw these displays, promptly wet themselves and turned around to find something better to do. These dances were called a hakka.

Well, the All Blacks always performed a traditional hakka before their match. You can find images of this on You Tube by searching for the word “hakka” or All Blacks. There is something very cool in seeing the other team standing there looking unsure of what to do while this team dressed in all black does this fierce dance in front of them. It is also massively cool.

The thing is the Maori do not have a problem with this. Why? Because the All Blacks have made sure the Maori tribes are there to counsel them on everything the team does that tries to honor the Maori. The Maori make sure the hakka is authentic. The dances the people do, even the white ones, are exactly the same kind of authentic moves a real Maori tribesman would have done perhaps centuries ago. The counsel makes sure the team actually does honor them and does not exploit them. I am also willing to bet the All Blacks pay a very hefty amount of money back to the various tribes.

Why on earth would the University of Illinois not bring in a counsel of Native Americans? Why would they not have a committee of Native Americans who would oversee the dance and make sure it is accurate? Maybe they could ensure that the garb worn was traditional and accurate. They could make sure that the tribes are properly honored and not exploited. Plus, the University could probably kick some money the way of the tribes in a way that would be mutually beneficial to everyone.

Instead the NCAA clamped down on the University of Illinois. Showing the startling impotence and lack of creativity you could only find in central Illinois at a major university the U of I did nothing. It sat there making weak protests that didn’t even motivate me. The NCAA stated that unless the Chief was retired the U of I could not be host to any post-season or tournament games for basketball or football or, really, any college sport. Apparently this was enough to ultimately make the University cave in. The Chief is going away.

To many people this is no big deal. In the grand scheme of things this is no big deal. Again, speaking as someone who is in a group that is generally not mocked, prejudiced against or turned into a team name I cannot say how I would feel about this. It just seems to me that there are bigger things out there to worry about. I mean, will getting rid of Chief Illinewek help ease the problems experienced by Native Americans? Will it improve conditions at all of the reservations? Will it alleviate the problems with alcohol that come with those conditions? Will it restore any of the land stolen from them or right any of the thousands upon thousands of wrongs that have been heaped upon them? Then again, when so many have been heaped maybe having just one victory, however small, helps in some way and restores some bit of dignity.

I just always thought much of what was done at sporting events is just stupid. The Tomahawk Chop was always stupid rather than offensive. Singing songs to the pitcher of the opposing team as he is taken off the mound at a White Sox game is really, when you think about it, rather stupid. Most of the world of sports is really stupid and meaningless.

I just can’t help but think there was a better way to make this right than banning something outright. The idea of banning things just sits poorly with me. It smacks of censorship or something. It makes a small amount of people capable of affecting change across society and no matter how much that group of people were wronged that also bothers me. I think other options should have been explored and maybe a way to find true honor here was the better path. Oh well, what do I know? I’m just a WASP.

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.