A Chief Solution

Let's start with who I am because it does matter.

I'm 30 years old, white, and male. I'm a 2010 graduate of the great University of Illinois. I'm the son of two Illinois alumni and the brother of another. I grew up on the Illini. I grew up watching games, attending games, going to homecoming. I grew up orange and blue, and I grew up loving Chief Illiniwek.

The controversy never made sense to me back then. I thought the people opposed to the Chief just didn't understand where we were coming from. They didn't seem to understand how much he meant to us and how many good things he stood for. I was in Orange Krush for the 2006-07 basketball season, my freshman year. And I was on the court in the front row (at least that is my memory) for Chief Illiniwek's last dance. I cried before it, I cried during it, and I cried re-watching it many times. They were taking the Chief away from us, and it wasn't right or fair, I thought.

That's where I stood on the Chief. It's not where I stand today.

See, that was 12 years ago. We all gain new experiences and knowledge as we grow and live life. Mine have evolved my views on the Chief. And it truly was an evolution; there was never a switch that flipped. And I think that's important because this isn't a black and white or right and wrong issue.

As my views evolved, I started to come up with what I think might be a really good idea. It might not be! A white man shouldn't get to make this decision — certainly not alone. That'd defeat the very purpose of what I hope it accomplishes. But it is an idea.

It's also a compromise. If it's going to work — if you're even going to be able to consider it — you have to be able to put aside the idea that your current viewpoint is absolutely correct. If you think the Chief never should have been retired and must be allowed to return, this isn't going to work. And if you think there is no room whatsoever for Native American imagery in sports, this also won't work.

I'm not calling anybody wrong here. I'm saying if we can ease our positions — whether justified or not — there might be room to do something really, really special. Something that can make us all happy, proud, and better off.

The Chief Tradition is Well Intended

I'm going to present both sides of this, so if you're coming to this conversation with opposition to the Chief, don't start shouting this down yet. Stick with me.

With some exceptions aside, the roughly 90 year tradition (approximately 80 years in an official capacity) is well-intentioned. That is far from the end all be all, but it isn't nothing either.

The Chief was never (again, with a couple of rare exceptions in mostly unofficial executions) a goofy caricature simply there to rile up the fans. The Chief was always meant to be a positive symbol of the things the University wanted to stand for and the values it wanted it's athletic programs to embody.

We thought it was a fairly authentic representation of Native Americans that tied to the Illiniwek Confederation of tribes that called the general Illinois area home. The dance was closely inspired by authentic Sioux Fancy Dancing. The wardrobe was largely created for the University by an Native American. Authenticity was the goal.

The Chief was loved and respected by alumni for decades. The Chief wasn't there to rile fans up during the game, but to instill a sense of togetherness and pride. The symbol largely succeeded in doing this for a very long time. And even in controversy, the Chief, as a symbol, still largely accomplished this.

Intention and belief isn't always reality, though.

The Chief Fell Short of Being Respectful

Not understanding something doesn't make you a bad person, but it does mean you might be missing out on the full truth. And for decades, I think that applied to those who supported the Chief. It still applies to many today.

Part of my evolution on this issue took place as I saw the struggles of many groups of people over the past few years. They were people disenfranchised compared to the majority. It wasn't that the majority of people wanted them to be disenfranchised, but somewhere along the line it became built into the system, and it became super easy to ignore — or frankly just not realize — for those of us unaffected by it. And I started to see how that applied to the Chief tradition.

Yes, America is built on the influence of cultures all over the world. We borrow and adapt them, and that's not a bad thing. That was always one of my main arguments in favor of the Chief.

But when you take from someone else's culture, and you distort the reality of it, and you use it strictly for your own gain and enjoyment, that's not great. And when you do it to a culture that's been devastated by racist acts of the past, a culture who's largely been forgotten both historically and in the present day, well, that's disrespectful. It's unintended, sure, but it's disrespectful.

They never really had a say in this. Yes, there were moments of input. Yes, there have been surveys and votes (some for, some against). Yes, in theory Native Americans have every bit as much opportunity to indulge in the Chief tradition as any other race.

But in reality, we just kind of took their image (and depicted it incorrectly). Decided what it stood for. Decided when it should be presented. All so we could have something positive for ourselves.

We meant well. We really did. But for a culture that has had so much else stolen from them without much more than a token effort to make amends, it wasn't right. It just wasn't.

Erasing the Past Might Not be the Answer

And now we'll start to get to my proposal. It's predicated on the idea that both sides are coming to this with the right motivations deep down.

The supporters of the Chief tradition want back something that they always believed was respectful and that instilled positive feelings in them and what they hoped was the entire campus and base of alumni.

Those who oppose the Chief tradition find it important that the heritage of Native Americans are respected with accurate knowledge and appreciation that goes deeper than a few buzz words.

My position is that these things don't have to be in conflict with each other. Where there is so much passion and so much desire for good, there is the opportunity for something special.

I'm afraid we're going to miss that opportunity. Retiring Chief Illiniwek, and removing all references to him might in some ways resolve the issue of disrespect, but I think that only goes surface deep.

One of the reasons the Chief tradition thrived for as long as it did was because there is so little knowledge about the culture of Native Americans — be it the many many tribes that inhabited North America or the more specific few that were part of the Illiniwek Confederation. Additionally there isn't much attention paid to the struggling Native American communities that exist today in 2017. These were problems created by overt racism decades and centuries ago, but ones that linger today through policies and priorities established all those years ago.

Perhaps merely preventing inaccurate depictions of their culture can be a super long-term play to rectify the way people think. But I'm afraid it's just going to make us even more ignorant.

Educate Where People Are, Not Where You Wish They Were

Athletics seems like a strange lens through which to discuss such serious subject matter. There's no doubt about that. And yet, it happens time after time after time. The attachment we have as a culture to sports isn't one of logic, but it's reality. At their best, sports transcend race and gender and age. We learn invaluable lessons, all in the name of a game (or games).

Maybe it's the fact that they are so unrelated to anything that should matter that we're able to get past so many of those distinctions to enjoy athletics together.

Of course, those distinctions weren't (and in some ways still aren't) always overcome. But that's kind of my point. Sports help us have these conversations. Look at what Jackie Robinson's emergence into Major League Baseball did to help lead our country through an important and long overdue discussion on race.

Because the audience is there and because people want to come together to enjoy these moments with each other, athletics supporters are a prime audience through which to make cultural progress.

The Proposal

Now I'll actually get to my idea. It's not a detailed plan of action because it needs input from everyone if we're going to do this right. But it's a series of ideas that I think could culminate in something special.

Yes, let's bring back Chief Illiniwek — sort of.

But before we even get to Chief Illiniwek, let's, as a University, start a serious relationship with Native American tribes. As many as we can, but especially the ones that trace their history back to the Illiniwek Confederation and the ones that currently make their home in the general region. Native American House on campus might be the right place to start.

Support of these tribes with resources might be appropriate, but I'm not talking about some kind of payoff. I'm talking about a real relationship. Let's send students to these tribes for projects appropriate to their major where applicable. Let's create and strengthen scholarship programs for these tribes (and all Native Americans).

And then let's take it further. Why shouldn't the University of Illinois have the absolute best Native American museum in the world? Or the best Native American history program in the world? Let's raise the money to make it happen.

To my previous point about learning through athletics, most of what I know about Native American culture was learned in research related to the Chief. Well let's make sure it's impossible for any member of the Illini family not to know the history of the Native Americans that inhabited the land before us. Let's make this a special part of campus. A MUST see when you're in Champaign-Urbana for Homecoming or anything else.

Let's make understanding the history and heritage of the Illiniwek Confederation (and other Native American tribes) a core part of the Illini culture.

That was never true under the previous iteration of Chief Illiniwek. We made some token references to the history, and hardcore supporters might have known it a little more in-depth, but appreciating that heritage was never a requirement of the Chief tradition. Let's make sure it's such an ingrained part of our new tradition that it unofficially becomes required knowledge.

And that leads me back to Chief Illiniwek.

We can't have a live, physical embodiment of the Chief. I just don't see any manner in which we should return to that. The Three-in-One should go on as it has without him and as it did before the Chief tradition started. It's okay to think of the Chief during the Three-in-One, and it will be even better if we start thinking of the actual culture in which he should be inspired by. But we can't have a live iteration of him anymore.

What I think might be the right solution is to have a monument or a statue of Chief Illiniwek, but a revised Chief. Something that we'll still recognize as a continuation of the previous tradition, but also something that is an accurate portrayal of an Illiniwek Confederation chief.

I'd ideally place this statue inside or near the museum, which itself would be ideally located somewhere near the athletics complex. My goal would be to ingrain all of these things together to guide people who are there for athletics to experience the museum. And then perhaps even those detached from athletics to recognize the positive intentions of the athletics supporters.

This would all require a lot of input. The very idea of a statue or a monument is loaded with concerns. It has to be protected and respected. It has to strike that balance between being something that we appreciate and understand for the right reasons and not something that we worship for the wrong reasons. So there remains much to think through.

In Closing

My intention is not to present this as a perfect proposal but simply as a real compromise that could accomplish a lot of special things and satisfy a lot of people. (As is true with most compromise, there certainly will be some who grumble about what this proposal doesn't do.)

If the absolute worst thing we could do is continue to disrespect a culture that doesn't deserve it, I think the second worst thing we could do is continue to forget about that culture. And if we don't take advantage of a unique opportunity to educate a huge number of passionate people, I'm afraid that is exactly what will happen.

Those who have supported the Chief tradition did so and do so for almost exclusively positive reasons. And those who haven't did so and do so for correct and valid reasons.

I think at the end of the day, neither side would disagree with the other on their principles; it's always been a disagreement of whether the realities of the tradition meet or fail those principles.

If there's a solution that can meet them all, even if it's different from the one you envisioned as the right solution, shouldn't we consider that?

I am simply an alum. I have no ties to the University administration. I have no ties to Native American tribes. I have no ties to the Native American House on campus. I've sent emails on occassion, but I haven't received responses, nor did I realistically expect that I would.

So I'm trying to broaden the conversation. Is this one we should have?

I'm interested in your thoughts, but more important would be to ask (and I do mean ask) for the thoughts of those in a position to influence this. President Timothy L. Killeen (tkilleen@illinois.edu) and Chancellor Robert J. Jones (rjjones@illinois.edu) can help begin this conversation. The input and consideration of Dr. Gioconda Guerra Pérez (gguerra@illinois.edu), the Interim Director of Native American House, would be extremely meaningful. The original tie to athletics means that Athletic Director Josh Whitman (IlliniAD@illinois.edu) could have a notable voice in this as well. The response and opinion of Professor Stephen Kaufman (stephenk@illinois.edu), a vocal and influential long-time opponent of the Chief tradition, could also be important. More input and opinions are needed, but that would be a start.

And that's where I'll leave it for now. I simply couldn't sit idly by as giant fluffy pieces of corn were being proposed as the solution to "moving forward." The University of Illinois is one of the best universities in the world. Let's think critically about how to move forward in the best possible way rather than simply taking an easy way out.

Justin Striebel

jstriebel@gmail.com

@jstriebel22

Press and Mentions

U of I Alum Proposes New Presentation For Chief Illiniwek | May 13, 2016