Appeals Court Rejects Tribe's Lawsuit Over NCAA Mascot Policy

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a Sioux tribe's effort to stop the National Collegiate Athletic Association from restricting the University of North Dakota's use of the Fighting Sioux name and mascot. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a lower court's decision dismissing the lawsuit by the Spirit Lake Tribe of Indians, which had sought to enjoin the NCAA from blocking North Dakota's use of the Native American symbols. The court's ruling is the latest of many failed efforts to sustain the university's use of the Fighting Sioux.