University of North Dakota Athletics

University Of North Dakota Athletics

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux were the varsity athletic teams of the University of North Dakota (UND), which is located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the United States. UND's former athletic logo, a Native American figure, was designed by Bennett Brien, a local artist and UND graduate of Ojibwa ethnicity. In recent history, national discussion of the UND athletics program has often revolved around this logo. Due to the NCAA's perception that the term "Fighting Sioux" and the accompanying logo are offensive to native Americans, the NCAA pressured the university to discontinue use of the logo, including threatening the forfeit of post-season games if UND athletes, cheerleaders, or band members wear attire with the Fighting Sioux nickname or Native American head logo. On June 14, 2012, the state Board of Higher Education voted to discontinue the use of the University of North Dakota's moniker and Indian head logo. The university is prohibited from adopting a new team name until 2015.