Joseph Gone, a member of the Aaniiih-Gros Ventre Tribal Nation and a psychologist and professor at Harvard University, told IPM’s The 21st Show that Native American mascots can spread negative stereotypes and limit outcomes for Native students.
Students have been pushing since 2019 for the blue and orange bird to be U of I’s official mascot.
A plan for addressing issues related to the University of Illinois’ use of Chief Illiniwek as a mascot includes formation of a student council to look at the development of new traditions for the Urbana campus. Chancellor Robert Jones released the implementation plan on Friday. The plan draws from input from a series of community-wide
URBANA – Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert remembers watching a man dressed up in Native American regalia dance across a football field as “surreal” and “in many ways silly.” It was the fall of 2006, and the University of Illinois’ former mascot, Chief Illiniwek, sported a feather headdress and face paint, as he wove in and out