March 17, 2001 - Try selling that to actual American Indians who strive daily to maintain and preserve sacred tribal cultures and traditions that have existed for thousands of years.
... Dancing around the basketball court and football field wearing feathers, leather and beads as the band plays and thousands of fans clap and cheer, Illiniweks have been performing their faux native rituals for seven interminable decades.
Just last week, the university's board of trustees overwhelmingly voted to keep the Illiniwek tradition alive for future generations of Illinois fans to embrace and adore.
Illinois loyalists, including John Madigan, the white grad student who puts on feathers and face paint to perform as Illiniwek, consider the Illiniwek ritual a tribute to American Indians and to the heritage of the university and the state.
Try selling that to actual American Indians who strive daily to maintain and preserve sacred tribal cultures and traditions that have existed for thousands of years.
The operative word is authenticity.
By definition, everything about real American Indians is authentic. That includes culture, tribal traditions and the tragic history of near extermination. It also includes the real struggle that many, if not most, Indians are waging today to stay alive and well in an American that too often views them as outcasts and strangers in their native land.
In contrast, everything about Illiniwek and the posturing of his Illinois supporters is fake.....
~~~ 2001 March 17, Argus Leader
Just last week, the university's board of trustees overwhelmingly voted to keep the Illiniwek tradition alive for future generations of Illinois fans to embrace and adore.
Illinois loyalists, including John Madigan, the white grad student who puts on feathers and face paint to perform as Illiniwek, consider the Illiniwek ritual a tribute to American Indians and to the heritage of the university and the state.
Try selling that to actual American Indians who strive daily to maintain and preserve sacred tribal cultures and traditions that have existed for thousands of years.
The operative word is authenticity.
By definition, everything about real American Indians is authentic. That includes culture, tribal traditions and the tragic history of near extermination. It also includes the real struggle that many, if not most, Indians are waging today to stay alive and well in an American that too often views them as outcasts and strangers in their native land.
In contrast, everything about Illiniwek and the posturing of his Illinois supporters is fake.....
~~~ 2001 March 17, Argus Leader
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| 2001 March 17, Argus Leader |
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