Chief Illiniwek Going to Court over University of Illinois Symbol

The Creator of the University of Illinois Symbol Seeking to Recover His Use of His Creation

Chief Illiniwek is not dead. The controversial symbol that some call racist and demeaning to Native Americans, and that others revere, is headed into federal district court, with the original creator of the logo and symbol attempting to wrest control from the University of Illinois.

Jack Davis, the creator of the round "headdress" logo and face of Chief Illiniwek is seeking an injunction against the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, and the University's Chancellor Richard Herman, to force them to stop using the logo in a manner he says he never approved.

Davis is being represented by Urbana attorney Robert Auler in the lawsuit brought against the University in U.S. District Court. "Jack wants to preserve the availability of the logo for use by the real fans, including myself," Auler said in a telephone interview.

Calls left with Richard Herman's wife and office late Friday afternoon were not returned.

The issue of whether or not the symbol is racist seems to be a matter of opinion - and the opinion of the people that it would seem should have been most actively sought were apparently ignored. In an interview in July 2007 with John "Chief AJ" Huffer, chief of the Central Illinois Tribal Council, said that the tribe has no trouble with the logo, the symbol, or even the student performances of Chief Illiniwek at the halftimes of football and basketball games.

"We objected to some of the products they put it on, like toilet paper and liquor. Those uses were demeaning," Huffer said. "Othewise, we would have backed the continued use of the logo. All we wanted were five scholarships a year for members of our tribe, and a say in what products it was used on." Huffer showed me letters he directed to the Board of Trustees in the early and mid 1990s, to that effect. "I didn't hear back from them for years," Huffer said.