Too Many Chiefs, Not Enough Indians

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The Chief is back in the news. Or should I say Chiefs. I’m not going to rehash the whole Chief Illiniwek controversy (my take from early last year is here and remains largely unchanged) but I will say I found this SJ-R article informative. Informative in that I now realize this whole cult of the Chief is nuttier than I has previously thought. You see, the silly dancing Chiefs, when they hang up (or pass on, I guess) their headdress, become part of an organization known as the Council of Chiefs.

Steve Raquel, one of 27 members of the Council of Chiefs, said it's premature to talk about the fate of the 80-year-old tradition of a student dressed as an Indian chief performing a halftime dance at athletic events. The council has been involved in discussions with the university's board of trustees about the Chief's future and was dismayed that the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday, citing unidentified university sources, that Illiniwek will no longer dance after the upcoming basketball season, he said.

Not only is there such an organization but they can be “involved in discussions with the university’s board of trustees”. Heh. I think the trustees should promise the retired chiefs anything they demand and then renege later. You know, just to make things as historically accurate as the Chief’s supporters claim Illiniwek is.