What caught my eye, of course, was the “hostile and abusive” name of the company. I looked on the company’s website and found some very interesting facts:
– the company is “100% Tribally owned by the Spirit Lake Nation.” Aren’t these the guys whining about the UND Fighting Sioux logo? So why is it that…
– “By 1989, the Spirit Lake Nation had purchased the last remaining shares of the company owned by the Brunswick Corporation, thereby gaining full ownership of the company. Renamed Sioux Manufacturing Corporation (SMC)…”
So, once again, it’s apparently just fine for anyone but UND to use the name Sioux. If this name brings up such pain and anguish and is such a derogatory term, why are the tribes using it? I think the whole thing is simply a matter of belligerence on the part of the anti-UND crowd.
I can’t forget the quote by Archie Fool Bear: “We went to a hockey game, and they talked about the courage and integrity of the Sioux people. We looked at each other like, ‘Wow, we don’t even honor our Sioux warriors or veterans like this on the reservation.’ ” According to the details in the NY Times article, I’m inclined to believe that UND is more interested in portraying the integrity of the Sioux people than a Tribally owned company.