Chief Illiniwek's Last Dance

Chief Illiniwek performed his final half-time dance during the 54-42 victory for his Fighting Illini over the Michigan Wolverines Wednesday night at U of I's home court, Assembly Hall. It ended 81 years of tradition and over two full decades of controversy at the University of Illinois.

For some, Chief Illiniwek's trademark dance during half-time at university football and basketball games was not only a celebrated campus tradition, but a celebration of the state's Native American roots as well. So wrote popular movie critic and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Roger Eibert, himself a U of I graduate, in an opinion piece titled "Noble Spirit, More than Just a Mascot" back in March of 2001:

"Chief Illiniwek, for nearly a century the symbol of the University of Illinois, was until recently seen as a positive image of American Indians. The Chief never was a 'mascot,' and indeed goes back so far that he pre-dates the use of "mascots" for most sports teams. ... In recent years, however, Illiniwek has been under attack from a small, self-righteous coalition that wants to wipe him from the university's history."

For others, like the Champaign based Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative, these half-time antics amount to nothing more than a "racist caricature" This group has been engaged in the "long struggle" since 1989 to secure the "complete elimination of the inappropriate tradition and the use of race-based imagery."

The controversy began in 1989. A U of I student named Charlene Teters, who was a member of the Spokane Tribe, complained about the university's use of Chief Illiniwek to fire up the crowds at Illinois sporting events.