http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/articles/index.cfm?id=11737

Sources: UND must get tribe approval to retain ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname

Amy Dalrymple, Bemidji Pioneer
Published Friday, October 26, 2007

The Fighting Sioux nickname will be retired in three years unless the
University of North Dakota gets support from the area’s Sioux tribes,
according to terms of a pending settlement agreement.

Anonymous sources familiar with initial settlement talks told The Forum
that the proposed agreement with the NCAA allows UND to use the Fighting
Sioux nickname in postseason play for the next three years.

The Forum does not typically use anonymous sources, but is making an
exception in this case because of overriding public interest.

Some of the Sioux logos would have to be removed from the Ralph Engelstad
Arena, but the more permanent logos, such as those in granite, would stay,
sources said.

The agreement includes an acknowledgement by the NCAA that UND was not
hostile or abusive toward American Indians in its use of the Fighting Sioux
nickname, sources said.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and the NCAA did not respond
to requests for comment Thursday.

The state Board of Higher Education will meet this morning in Grand Forks
to discuss the agreement with Stenehjem.

The board will take action on Stenehjem’s recommendation following a
closed-door meeting.

UND President Charles Kupchella will not be at UND for the settlement
discussion today because he’s on vacation in Pennsylvania.

UND spokesman Peter Johnson said the vacation to visit family had been on
his calendar for some time.

UND is suing the NCAA over a 2005 mandate that bars the school from
displaying its nickname and logo during postseason play.

Northeast Central Judicial District Judge Lawrence Jahnke, who has presided
over the case, has encouraged the parties to work toward an agreement so
the case would not go to trial, scheduled for December. In April, Jahnke
told the parties legal fees were “rapidly spiraling out of control.”

Combined legal fees and expenses in the case have reached $2 million,
making it one of the most expensive court cases in state history, Jahnke
wrote in a court ruling this week.

Private donations through the UND Alumni Association and Foundation are
funding North Dakota’s legal costs in the case. The state’s most recent
billings put the cost at just under $900,000.

In September, Jahnke sealed future court filings in the case to facilitate
settlement talks between the parties.