Uni High Gargoyle Staff Blog

“Ask any Native American or knowledgeable person, and they’ll tell you why.”

So pro-Chief people are stupid and uninformed?

-Ben

While in principle I’m opposed to the Chief, the anti-Chiefers have a way of, as Mr. Sutton would say, pushing away the moderates. Until the obnoxiousness of the angry self-righteous mob of people opposed to the Chief dies down, they will continue to make enemies of reasonable, intelligent people. It’s all about how you state ya case, gangsta.

You make a good point. I’m neutral about most of the issue, but I just thought of something interesting.

First of all, nobody is a “Native American”. The group of people largely thought of as that migrated to the Americas during the last ice age.

Also, can’t anybody born in America be considered a “Native American”? After all, it’s not like they have any other native land. All they have is the US.

Just a thought. Good entry otherwise, Andrea.

Figured I’d check up on my old high school and stumbled upon this, thought I might add my 2 cents worth.

First, I do not think it’s fair to talk about how “the Native Americans were brutally oppressed by the various groups of colonials and conquistadors that came to take over the American continent” or the rest of the things in this paragraph because not all Native Americans are the same nor were treated the same. Many tribes fought among themselves. Many hated each other. I do not feel sorry for all of Africa because of Rwanda, nor do I feel badly for the entire U.S. because of the hurricanes in New Orleans. If someone wants to educate me on the history of the Illini, that’s fine, but they shouldn’t be lumped in with all other Native Americans.

Also, I have gone between pro- and anti- Chief for a long time. I have known well people who have claimed to have been hurt by it, and I know well people who love it. What made me realize my position on it though was watching the Chief dance one last time. It made me remember growing up in Champaign and all the fond memories that came with it: hockey games with my Dad, or tailgating with my grandparents. My family is 4th generation U of I and is responsible for constructing many of the buildings you know and love (including Uni, the Union, and Memorial Stadium), and they deeply love the Chief. When I was growing up at sporting events, after the Chief would perform I would hear stories my relatives and their friends had been reminded of. I would be told the history of the Illini and of the Chief. I didn’t view the ancestors of Native Americans as humans, I viewed them as legends, people I would have loved to have met and admired. Growing up I knew that not all Native Americans danced and wore the same clothes, I could tell this was special, and something I should appreciate (I think what made me realize this most was that people wouldn’t even be quiet for the National Anthem, but when the Chief performed everyone gave him their full attention). The Chief wasn’t just a symbol to those people I knew growing up, it was a reminder of the love they had for the University and their time there.

I realize now that this is more respect than most anti-Chief people have for the symbol/tribe. From anti-Chief supporters I only hear blanket statements about Native Americans. I don’t hear about the people themselves, the history of the tribe. I’m told I’m ignorant for not being anti-Chief, yet I can back up my reasoning with facts and history, not just “It’s wrong because it’s racist ask anyone who knows” as I so often hear.

I realize the symbol isn’t perfect, but I believe the most important thing is educating people, so they know the truth about the Chief, the Illini, and Native Americans as a whole. I’ve been in a position where anti-Chief supporters have had VERY good chances to educate me, but they still failed in comparison to the knowledge people who love and respect the Chief have given me. While I’m all for ways to improve the Chief, banishing and demonizing him is disrespectful to me and all the other thousands of people who consider the Chief part of our childhood and memories. I realize the Chief has hurt people, but it has also done, in my opinion, more good than harm. Perhaps just as I can’t see what it’s like to be a minority, others aren’t in a position to see my stance. That’s fine, I understand that. I’m just tired of people not respecting it.

Sorry for such a long post but this sort of struck a nerve. I’m getting a little tired of the “pro-Chief is for those that don’t know better” stance.

Excuse me for the roughness and maybe a bit offensiveness of my post, it was in a middle school e-mail. This is my arguement to my competitor. I’ve tried to edit this as much as possible.

I am quite uneducated about the Chief, but from the information I have been given, the Chief is extremely offensive to Native Americans. Let’s start with my competitors flimsy arguements. >

 THERE'S NOTHING RASCIST ABOUT THE CHIEF-- it comes from a boy who

can’t spell “racist.” As Arielle had meant: If it were you’re own race, would you be so supportive? If yes, than think about the other people who aren’t as “numb” as you. Do you think that if one or two people are offended by this, it’s okay? No, and more than a few people are deeply insulted by this. I consider those who support the Chief selfish, narrow-minded citizens that care only for their personal satisfaction rather than the welfare of the diverse culture that Americans are foolishly proud of. They do not think about the concepts that Americans founded this country on— equality.

 "Oh, the Chief is funny, let's keep him." That's what Americans

think when they see the Chief publicly humiliating his race. They would rather laugh at the Native Americans and feel happy about and degrade the Natives, rather than think about what the how the others feel about this monstrosity. Why should the Natives be dancing for us? We should be dancing for them; we took their land almost 300 years ago.

 BECAUSE  OF THE CHIEF GOING, THE U OF I IS LOSING MONEY. Finally,

something spelled correctly. You made a flaw in your poorly designed sentence, Nealay. Tell me this, Chief-worshippers. Is the Chief the main source of money for the U of I? Is the Chief a bare necessity for the U of I? No for both. The flaw you made is that, the Net Loss of the money of the U of I is not negative. The money coming in from the chief is. The U of I is still gaining money, just not as much as when the Chief was still here.

 On a different note: IF U DON'T AGREE WITH ME, DON'T BOTHER

REPLYING. That’s just egotistic, Nealay.

I feel strongly about the Chief, and I'm surprised no one has lead a

protest yet.