Last week’s demand by the Oglala Sioux tribe that the University of Illinois return the regalia used by Chief Illiniwek, especially an eagle-feathered war bonnet, caught many by surprise.
The request particularly puzzled some university officials, who believed the headdress had been returned to the tribe in the early 1990s.
On Friday they found written evidence that they were right, and a tribal official acknowledged he has the headgear, including the feathers.
But, like everything connected to the university’s mascot–even the word “mascot” offends some supporters of Chief Illiniwek–this controversy is far from over.
For years some students and Native Americans have pushed to end the tradition of Chief Illiniwek, a student who performs barefoot in the buckskin costume and headdress at football, basketball and volleyball games. They say the depiction is humiliating and creates a hostile environment on campus. Supporters say the Chief respects Native American culture and is a revered tradition that dates to 1926.
The Oglala Sioux tribe’s executive committee put the argument back in the spotlight with its resolution on the chief’s regalia. Though the ceremonial chief now acknowledges he has the headdress, he still wants the rest of the regalia returned and the tradition ended.
On Friday, the tribe got a boost from the former university band director who arranged for the school’s purchase of the ceremonial dress in 1982.
“They should have it back because it is part of their cultural history and belonged to a legendary Native American,” said Gary Smith, director of the Marching Illini from 1976 to 1998. “I feel that they are entitled to have it back, but they should not have offered it to us in the beginning.”
Journey to reservation
Smith said he traveled to the tribe’s South Dakota reservation to seek help in finding a Native American artist to make a new outfit for Chief Illiniwek, whose earlier outfits were based on the Oglala Sioux style.
Chief Anthony Whirlwind Horse suggested that Smith buy an outfit belonging to 93-year-old Frank Fools Crow, an elder who had once traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.
Whirlwind Horse “requested that rather than have an outfit made, we purchase one from Frank Fools Crow, who was destitute at the time and needed the money,” Smith said.
Smith paid $3,500 for moccasins, a tunic, breastplate, leggings, peace pipe pouch and war bonnet with eagle feathers, according to a May 25, 1982, voucher and other documents.
In fall 1982, local businessmen flew Fools Crow, Whirlwind Horse and a representative from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the U. of I. on their private plane. The regalia was presented during a halftime ceremony that included the smoking of a peace pipe, Smith said.
But the headdress was put in storage because it was in poor condition and too short, Smith and university officials said.
The university then got a permit for 25 eagle feathers to add a tail to the headdress. The feathers were given to Fools Crow, but later lost, according to a May 23, 1991, letter from Judith Rowan, a former associate chancellor for the school, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fools Crow died in 1989.
Federal law prohibits owning an eagle feather unless the holder has an educational permit, is a licensed rehabilitator or is a member of a Native American tribe and has requested a feather for spiritual reasons. Turkey feathers have been used on Chief Illiniwek’s headdress for more than 15 years, according to the school’s sports media guide.
On Friday university administrators located documents, including a shipping invoice, that show a 3-pound box containing the bonnet was shipped to the tribe’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1991. On May 14, 1991, Rowan wrote a letter to Whirlwind Horse, thanking him for the use of the bonnet.
“I would appreciate it if you would convey our thanks to Chief Fools Crow’s family for allowing the university to borrow the bonnet. It was a great honor for us, and we return it with gratitude to his family,” Rowan wrote.
Fools Crow’s grandson, Mel Lone Hill, confirmed in a telephone interview Friday that he has the feathered headdress. He said the executive committee shouldn’t have demanded that the feathers be returned. Still, he said, he wants the rest of the regalia back.
“I have another one, but it would be nice to have that old one back. It is rightfully mine,” said Lone Hill, 58. “If they want to sell it back, I’ll buy it back.”
John McKinn, assistant director of the Native American House at the U. of I., hopes the Oglala Sioux’s resolution sways the board to retire the Chief.
“This resolution gives the university and administrators an opportunity to do what is right. What is right is to return the regalia to the culture and to the people to whom it belongs,” McKinn said.
Museum option suggested
Roger Huddleston, co-founder of the Honor the Chief Society, a pro-Chief group, said he does not think the university should return the clothing.
“I don’t think Fools Crow and his word should be dishonored by [it] being demanded back,” Huddleston said. If trustees decide to retire the Chief, Huddleston thinks the regalia should be given to a museum.
University board Chairman Lawrence Eppley signaled Thursday that a decision about the Chief’s future will be made this year in response to a National Collegiate Athletic Association ruling that prohibits the university from hosting postseason competition as long as it continues using Illiniwek, which the NCAA has called “hostile and abusive.”
In a phone interview, Smith recalled that Fools Crow and other tribal members who saw the Chief’s performance did not think it was degrading.
“I showed them videotapes before they came … and asked them their opinion,” Smith said. “They said their concerns were … things that portrayed Native Americans in a negative sense. They felt what we were doing was done in dignity.”
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jscohen@tribune.com
