From the Grand Forks Herald via Pechanga:
FARGO — As an English instructor at the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal College in Sisseton, S.D., I collected from a young Dakota woman a paper that mused on the collective virtue of cultural humility.
She wrote: “It becomes clear to me that humility emanates from happiness.”
I find this beautiful statement to be sweetly representative of my personal experience with American Indians and also illustrative of the problems with UND’s nickname, “The Fighting Sioux.”
I would contend that the young lady’s connection between happiness and humility creates a better understanding of the “Fighting Sioux” logo issue than the old pro-logo arguments.
For me, her paper pinpoints keys to realizing some things important about American Indian people: traditionally, they want happiness, not fanfare; currently, they prefer humility to fanfare; most often, they connect humility to happiness and fanfare to unhappiness.
Even the most famous of American Indian historical figures, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, both accomplished fighting men, are purported to have seen humility — not bragging or unwanted visibility — as keys to life and happiness, as shown in author Joseph Marshall III’s book, “The Lakota Way.”
“Humility” is the first chapter.
But this young Dakota woman’s words even go a step farther. They define humility as “emanating” from happiness. Therefore, in her eyes, happiness is the element that precedes a humble lifeway, a humble lifeway apparently so key to Dakota, Lakota and Nakota culture that their most famous fighting men preferred to wear a single feather instead of more showy headdresses of many feathers.
Whether we look to Sioux history or to the words of people such as this student, we can question the need to retain the name.
If happiness is a goal and its byproduct is humility, what can be said about a nickname that flaunts itself?
What is the logical source of the desire for such an image? Bragging, seeking the limelight, boasting — are these products of a happy situation? Are they merely byproducts of a deeper unhappiness? Should we follow such apparent self-dissatisfaction?
Would not humbly giving up this highly visible and ostentatious name be an indication that there is a proper level of understanding of traditional and contemporary American Indian connections between happiness and humility?
It might be a step toward honor.
Stuart Rieke
Turtle Talk 