This video was taken at halftime of the October 7, 2006 Illinois homecoming game. It would be Chief Illiniwek's last homecoming game. The Fighting Illini (still the team nickname by the way) lost to Indiana on this day 32-34.
I was in the Michigan Marching Band in 1967 and was fortunate to see the Chief perform at our one away game at Illinois. I loved the tradition and the performance.
That's hilarious about the clapping. We made a song back in the day called "Tha ILLINI" check out the clapping. In some parts it's completely opposite of the beat. Hope u enjoy the vid! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KYwAOSzt4tI.html
It's been ten years since the heartwrenching and sneaky midnight decision by the Board of Trustees to remove the Chief, a decision made for money pressured by people who didn't understand the tradition and haven't been to even one game. They just preferred to slander the tradition and spew untruths to get their way. It was a sad day to see him go. And we still miss this proud Symbol of the University.
Chief came to my grade school in the late 60's. It was an educational experience that did nothing but respect native American lives & traditions. The NCAA is a bunch of whimpering cowards that are way over payed & way un-educated. They might have looked into the good that this great & fun tradition gave to champaign county & alumni from everywhere. I grew up proud under this symbol. Saturday mornings in October on game day were electric wether you were going to the game or not. Sad not racist.
The student that got to be Chief Illiniwek, actually had to go to a Souix (Might not have been Sioux, I can’t remember) Reservation, and learn the dances from the actual tribe
Chief was not a , mascot. He was an identity of the town I grew up in. That town is now, lost much. Idiots won't understand. To bad. They would have been proud of him to. If they only knew.
Chief Illiniwek was meant to be a depiction and tribute to the tribes of the Illiniwek Confederation hence the name "Fighting Illini" 87% of those belonging to tribes within the Confederation support the use of the mascot and the dances that chief preforms are actually taught to him by members of the tribes and is more a compilation of the tribes dances. The decision was reached to ban the mascot by a school board vote without polling the student base or Illiniwek Confederation
Can you link proof for their support? As a FN person myself who was heavily involved in dancing styles in this region, I dont recognize a damn thing he did as any brand of tradition, grass, or fancy. Compilation? None of that was anything we have ever done in this region. Still, if they supported his inclusion, lets see it. Found the study you were quoting. Its not conclusive it seems as the methodology has been found wanting.
@@BillVol Specific how so? While originally supportive of the mascot, the Peoria people who are some of the last surviving remnants of the Confederation by 2000 did not support this mascot as it was not authentic to them or the outfit to the region. The dance certainly isnt. And yet most of you think its a real representation of the people. I mean, there really isnt any Illiniwek Confederation anymore as most of them were lost to illness or disease in days past. So, how would they poll them I ask? Maybe you should do a séance. Any educated person who looked for about 5 mins would have known this. But okay, to their elected leaders position: "Ron Froman was later elected Chief, by which time his views on the Chief Illiniwek symbol had changed. In April 2000, following meetings with American Indian students attending the University, the tribal council, with Chief Froman's support, passed by the margin of 3 to 2 a resolution requesting "the leadership of the University of Illinois to recognize the demeaning nature of the characterization of Chief Illiniwek, and cease use of this mascots [sic]".[21] Froman said, "I don't know what the origination was, or what the reason was for the university to create Chief Illiniwek. I don't think it was to honor us, because, hell, they ran our (butts) out of Illinois."[30] This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University, whose American Indian mascots are not opposed by the leadership of the corresponding tribes. In 2005, a new Chief, John P. Froman, when asked his position by the NCAA, indicated that "the Chief was not representative of our tribe and culture, mainly because the costume is Sioux."[31] In 2006, in response to a widely published column by journalist George Will in support of the mascot's use, he wrote a letter reiterating the Peoria Tribe's opposition to the mascot and decrying that the "University of Illinois has ignored the tribe's request for nearly five years."[32]" If the nation the mascot claims to represent has spoken to their people and are okay with it, then the rest of us ought to be. I certainly think thats the case. If they are not, which is the case here, and people still keep supporting tripe like this, then it is immoral and wrong to continue to do so. We should be a society that when a thing is claimed to represent a reality, at least try to act by the facts, no? So, did you make up your stats, or what? There is no Illiniwek Confederation anymore. The people closest to this past gathering of nations spoke against it, and you are saying 87% are for it. Polling the student base may be iffy if they are, as many in this comment section are still under the impression this is an accurate portrayal of the people it claims to represent when the outfit is Lakota, and the dance appears to be made up and in my eye as a history as a dancer, is actually ridiculous. Its like watching a drunk freshman stumble about, and the crowd applauding him for doing classical ballet. And people are pretty mad they are getting called out for that lol :P
@@shkotayd9749 you're a freakin moron... you are the one that is calling him out... where is your proof.... you don't get to walk around with a sense of self entitlement cuz you disagree with what was being said.... Get a clue
@@greysongladney4403 best not to call people morons when that is exactly what you come across in this idiotic, witless reply. "where is your proof" I literally wrote it out in my replies you literal numbskull, which you apparently were too dumb to bother reading. The wiki on this issue and who the people are this mascot is claiming to have been give it no such weight. Get a clue.
The dress and dance were both designed and approved of by the chief of the illiniwek tribe. it is an authentic garb, authentic dance, and tribute to the tribe. I had the privalege of getting to see him perform my freshman and half my sophomore year. That is until the burned out stoners with nothing better to do started litering the campus with false literature about how offensive it was. Check your facts and quit complaining
O rly? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Illiniwek "Licensed use of the logo by the university has been increasingly restrictive as a result of the ongoing controversy. Chief Illiniwek is not based on an actual American Indian chief, nor did a historical figure with this name ever exist." At the least, the headdress looks to be made of turkey feathers. Not an authentic dance of anything I have ever seen in these regions and I was both a singer and dancer for 25 plus years who travelled extensively. So then, how can it be a tribute? Those are Sioux clothing as well. Not used in that region at ALL. It so far looks fucking ridiculous as a mascot. Glad to see it go. If you really believe this was an honest presentation, then you really have been given a false image to go by and are proud of a fabrication that attempts to somehow pass as the real thing? In the Wiki as well: "Froman said, "I don't know what the origination was, or what the reason was for the university to create Chief Illiniwek. I don't think it was to honor us, because, hell, they ran our (butts) out of Illinois."[25] This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University, whose American Indian mascots are not opposed by the leadership of the corresponding tribes. In 2005, a new Chief, John P. Froman, when asked his position by the NCAA, indicated that "the Chief was not representative of our tribe and culture, mainly because the costume is Sioux."[26] In 2006, in response to a widely published column by journalist George Will in support of the symbol's use, he wrote a letter reiterating the Peoria Tribe's opposition to the symbol and decrying that the "University of Illinois has ignored the tribe's request for nearly five years."[27]" So, care to reevaluate?
Shkotay D with the poverty, alcohol/substance abuse, depression/suicide and violence that plagues American Indian tribes, do you really think they give a shit about college/high school mascots? I wonder what it must feel like to have the national media only concentrate on mascots and not the real problems that have never been addressed in their tribes. They don’t give a shit about mascot names, they are more offended at the fact that no one cares about the current problems they face...you have to love white American liberals who tell everyone if they should be offended or not
@@shkotayd9749 who gives an oskee wow wow? Just because they didn’t represent the tribe correctly doesn’t matter and this war chant has been here for multiple years yet no one has ever noticed to call it out until now cancel culture isn’t my favorite and by the way they still have the name for the team lol
@@mariomario9209 apparently not you, "doesn’t matter and this war chant has been here for multiple years yet no one has ever noticed to call it out until now" Doesnt remove the falsehood its an authentic native originated dance of any type based on a completely fictional character the OP lied about that never existed, which means its based on a lie that hose it claims to represent have an issue with :P Who gives a shit if you like cancel culture or not? I dont like lies being mainstream. I guess you are ok with it. Argumetum ad populum is not helping you look any more legit btw.
@@shkotayd9749 I could name a handful of universities that still own “offensive mascots” in this situation it was just a few people at the university being to sensitive towards the mascot (this is just my take on the situation) and thus they didn’t want any backlash so the mascot retired and every time they play the theme from memorial stadium you can still hear people chanting for the chief even though it spreads “falsehood” many people still obviously care for the mascot And it shows, its a fictional character anyway and doesn’t represent a specific tribe so wtf
True Native Americans that are full blood don’t care. I lived on the Navajo Reservation and seen a lot of Natives who would wear Indians, Braves, Redskins, Seminoles, and other sport gear representing Natives. My daughter is half Native American. I respect the culture a lot. I know a ton of Natives that would be honored to be Chief Illiniwek. That’s what they should have done was have a real Native in the gear. Illinois Tribes are gone, mixed up with other tribes now in Oklahoma. Ask The Siminole Tribe about Florida State. They are honored. It’s just gave these people with not even an eighth percent with Native American blood to complain and banish The Chief. Sad. Someone pay me the money and I would go to each reservation to get signatures to bring the Chief back.
as a current member of the marching Illini, all i can say is I wish i was born 10 years earlier. everytime i see a chief video it gives me chills. mascots die, symbols live forever
@@socalsocal88 actually there are plenty of native americans at UI and i'm sure a few have blood dated back to the people who used to own the illinois lands
@@socalsocal88 well since the Chief represent them they could bring him back under the stipulation they have exclusive control of the chief and functions
@@socalsocal88 well they better quicken the pace because they gave in two a handful of jaded cunts even when native americans supported and love the Chief.
If this act offends you so much then why do you go on youtube searching for it? are you just trying to start fights with people who are true Illini Fans?
So a true Illini fan can't criticize a racist historical tradition? Come on, that doesn't follow. Besides, I was linked to it, and I suspect Justinwilson was.
true Illini fans would care more about the sorry ass state of our basketball and football teams under the direction of an asshat A.D. who cares more about pleasing alumni than anything else. But yeah go ahead and keep getting your panties in a bunch about a guy who danced around like an epileptic who just watched Dances with Wolves....bullshit like this is the reason why Illinois doesn't go anywhere in the sports that actually matter And just for the record, I'm not even anti-Chief. But I would rather spend my time and energy worrying about the performance of our teams on the field than focusing on this dance that was retired more than 10 years ago now
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Illiniwek Be a true fan of the team and all. But dont think your mascot was anything but a ridiculous fabrication that is seems many in the comments actually thought was a real thing. Its not, and its fucking ridiculous.
Looking back at this 10 years ago I still get a tear in my eye. I was a student in the mid 60's and Chief Illinwek made me so proud of the U of I. Political correctness at it's worst. Look live the Chief.
I’m class of 71 and I am still very outraged over the school’s dumping of the chief. I recall that during my first two years the Illini only won one football game! Even with the worst football team of any school that I’ve ever heard of, the chief was able to whip us up into a frenzy during the 3 in 1! Now I watch the same music but I think “why bother?”. Without the chief, it’s just another marching band routine. It’ll take both the students and the alumni if the chief is ever to return: the students need to keep shouting for the chief at the games and the alumni need to put the $ pressure on the school by withholding endowments. But, the later will only be effective if we make sure that the school understands why. So, more guys my age need to speak up!!! Is anyone out there still breathing? I say: if someone doesn’t like it that we have a chief doing a war dance, then they should just shut up and go to some other school.
NCAA basically said that the Chief needed to go, otherwise UofI wouldn't be eligible to host certain events. It's a very controversial decision, sure, but there's basically nobody online who has the whole story straight, so it's useless to say it's "only" wrong or right. It's a bit of both, more likely. What we do know is that there were multiple occasions in which the Chief was a racist and misrepresentative symbol. It's just a fact of the matter, and isn't up for debate. Having people who are not Native American and/or have not taken the time to understand Native American culture should not take on the role of a Native American Chief, regardless of the separate University traditions that people remember the Chief for. Outside of that, my own personal opinion is the fact that people still yell "CHIEF!" during halftime performances and openly criticize the decision to remove the symbol only shows that most people have not taken the time to look into why the symbol was taken away. Yes, it sucks that it was done so without asking students, and it's very disappointing that such a powerful symbol was lost. However, people need to understand that the cost of certain traditions was the cultural appropriation and harmful perpetuation of racial stereotypes of Native American people. Not good.
When I see the Kansas City Chiefs and Florida State logos - and wonder why Illinois gave up a respectful tradition so quickly and bowed to a few as opposed to the many supporters of the tradition - it makes me SICK! How did our school become so PC? It's almost like we are in Urbana, California. The Chief was not disrespectful in anyway, and some common sense could have come into play. I cut my contributions to the school because our leadership is so weak.
@@stevewasserman905 Apparently my post was deleted. How convenient. Why do you think a white boy in an inauthentic costume, an inauthentic headdress, and face paint jumping around and doing gymnastics to made up "Hollywood Injun" music is respectful? Do you think that's actually what the Illini did?
@@stevewasserman905 Yes, actually I can. There's this entire field of study you might have heard of, it's called Anthropology. Illini Indians did not wear buckskin shirts and pants. They did not wear that type of headdress. Further, there were no brass bands in the central part of North America 400 years ago. It is inauthentic, it is ignorant, it is offensive, and I'm glad it's gone. I'm glad all "Indian" mascots are disappearing and anyone who thinks they are respectful or cool is a backwards thinker.
Away went the Chief, and away went Illinois' identity in athletics. Since the mascot was retired, have the Illini had any resemblance of success? It's sad, in no way were the Illini faithful degrading the emblem, if anything Illinois should be praised for keeping the tradition alive. Now whatever the Illiniwek stood for will be forgotten. That said, if you're forced to change your logo, you can't come up with something a little more creative than a BLOCK I? C'mon Fightin' Illini..... you're better than that!
Ok, those that wanted their 15 minutes of fame got the Chief abolished. Ok, fine. But it doesn't stop there. The whole argument was he was a racist symbol or that a Native American shouldn't be used as a mascot. Ok, fine. So now that their 15 minutes of fame is over, they tried to abolish the 3 in 1 song. Why? Are we to abolish anything that has some sort of ethnic background? If so, need to do away with all music then, so as not to offend the people of said ethnic background. This is getting ridiculous. Banning music now? Oh......but Salaita, Kilgore, and Ayers are just A-ok? LMAO
GUYS, it's just about being proud of your state. My family came to America in the 1920's (long after the CHIEF began.) I was raised in Chicago. Those celebrating the chief are doing nothing to make light of the native american people. In fact, getting rid of the Chief will only diminish the attention that their cause is receiving. I appreciate the discourse, but don't assume that all Americans think little of our Native American citizens. That would be silly. Absolutely Silly.
Jason Zaremba you mean a top university is a joke? One of the absolute best music schools in the country is a joke? Yeah the football team may be a joke now, but they still have a decent basketball team, a good baseball program, great wrestling, gymnastics, and other low level talked about sport programs. But the level of education you need to get into the school isn't a joke, but whatever lol.
Bunch of white people in the comments mad that they can't mock a tribe with their minstrel show. U of I is lucky that the Potawatomi, Kickapoo and Winnebago tribes allow them to still use the name Illini.
Its a bullshit mascot and frankly going by the Wiki on it, quoting the closest local nation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Illiniwek Froman said, "I don't know what the origination was, or what the reason was for the university to create Chief Illiniwek. I don't think it was to honor us, because, hell, they ran our (butts) out of Illinois."[25] This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University, whose American Indian mascots are not opposed by the leadership of the corresponding tribes. In 2005, a new Chief, John P. Froman, when asked his position by the NCAA, indicated that "the Chief was not representative of our tribe and culture, mainly because the costume is Sioux."[26] In 2006, in response to a widely published column by journalist George Will in support of the symbol's use, he wrote a letter reiterating the Peoria Tribe's opposition to the symbol and decrying that the "University of Illinois has ignored the tribe's request for nearly five years."[27] The more they looked at it, the more they changed their own minds. And if they dont like it, then dont speak for them. The mascot was a total fabrication, pushing some kind of....well that wasnt a dance at least. Unlike deliberately ridiculous caricatures, this one tries to lass as legitimate, and going by the comments, a lot of you actually thought this mascot really represented the people. Toes too close to the line for me, so, good call that its gone.
@chicagogal09 A proud symbol? You took an Illiniwek indian and dressed him up like a goddamn Sioux. How are you honoring them? At least Florida State puts forth the time and effort to put an accurate portrayal on the field.
Illiniwek mascot was racist, the War Chant is racist, appropriating the name "Fighting Illini" is racist, using the Indian-derived term Illinois is racist. Change the state name! Illinois word comes from the Illini Indians STOP THE RACISM!
