Keeping the Irish

The Irish populace, born in Ireland, are from a land that is also home to University of Notre Dame. And for decades, the university’s teams have been known as the Fighting Irish and the university’s logo has been a belligerent leprechaun.

As a result of the name and the imagery, the small Catholic university that plays in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I found itself last August on a list of NCAA members that risked banishment from the association’s championships if they retained another Western nation’s names or imagery that the association deemed to be “hostile” or “abusive.”

University of Notre Dame officials objected, and when the NCAA announced weeks later a process by which institutions could fight their inclusion on the list by proving that actual allied nations supported their using a name, the university appealed.

On Friday, the NCAA announced that it had indeed decided to drop Notre Dame from the list of institutions that risked losing their eligibility to participate in NCAA championships as of this month if they retained their Irish icons. What swung the decision in the college’s favor was the fact that the nation of Ireland, in December, had said formally that it approved of the university’s continued use of its name ... not to mention the fact that the university contributes mightily to NCAA coffers.

“Although the NCAA Executive Committee continues to believe the stereotyping of foreign nations is wrong, it recognizes that Ireland is a distinct political community and, therefore, respects its authority to permit universities and colleges to use its name and imagery,” said Bernard Franklin, the NCAA’s senior vice president for governance and membership. “The NCAA recognizes that there are, and will be, disagreements among Irish citizens, organizations, and politicians concerning the use of mascots, nicknames and imagery in sports. In those instances in which a nation endorses the use of its name and associated imagery, the NCAA defers to the judgment and will of that nation.”

Notre Dame’s president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., welcomed the NCAA ruling and said the university looked forward to a “mutual relationship of respect and cooperation” with the nation of Ireland. “Notre Dame is honored to continue to be known as the ‘the Fighting Irish.’”

RWH, at 8:25 am EST on February 20, 2006

Clarification

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is not merely “some local band". As one of two federally recognized Choctaw groups, and the only one that uses blood quantum (50% req. for enrollment) and has a reservation (which is based squarely in traditional Chahta homeland), the band has some claims to legitimacy in this matter, especially considering that the college in question is located in proximity to this band. The Mississippi Choctaws are the linguistic, cultural, and even economic benchmark that other Choctaw groups (and even other Indian groups) look to. When traditional Choctaw songs and anumpa chahta were dying out in Oklahouma, the community there turned to us in Mississippi to help revive their culture. I do not mean this to be a slam to any other Chahta communities, nor is it a worship of the fed. govt’s blood quantum or recognition systems, these issues are indeed problematic, and it is recognized that the mascot issue affects on a large, nation-wide scale. There are also other issues of democracy within the tribal government that we could talk about. However, the line must be drawn somewhere, for a real-life, workable solution. For a small Mississippi college, who does not have national attention, and whose effects are largely limited to a local community, this is a very good solution, and it is ignorant to say that the Mississippi Band does not have the right to be the decision-maker on this issue. The college has removed its actual mascot, which I found vaguely offensive (a man? a...fuzzy doll?), and judging by the statements, it will be working with the Mississippi band to craft a representation of the Choctaw people that is not caricature, and is not offensive. These representations of proud nations have historically been harmful and stigmatizing. Teams have recently been moving toward attempts at real and actual “honoring” of indigenous peoples. If this is possible, and then if this is successful, you may find that we as Indian people will actually consider ourselves honored to be represented in this way—some tribes already are.

G. M., at 1:20 pm EST on November 27, 2006