Fighting Sioux Nickname Supporters Make Another Push in Appeals Court

Supporters of UND's former Fighting Sioux Nickname made another push today to bring it back. They're asking the eighth US Court of Appeals to reverse a district court order dismissing their lawsuit against the NCAA.

Attorneys representing people on both sides of the issue presented their case before a judge in St. Paul. Pro-nickname members of the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux nations last year appealed U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson's dismissal of their lawsuit. Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe's pro-nickname Committee for Understanding and Respect had filed its lawsuit alleging violations of contract law and federal civil rights laws. They also want to reverse the 2005 NCAA policy against use of American Indian names and imagery by member schools, which resulted with the conflict with UND. The Presiding Judge Lavenski Smith said the three-member court "will continue to study the briefs and make a decision in due course."

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