01/30/2018 - Chief Illiniwek was the official mascot of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign but was retired in 2007 after controversy involving the NCAA and several Native American groups. An unofficial group still names a student to act as the Chief at occasional games.
Mascot News
01/29/2018 - The Cleveland Indians will phase out the Chief Wahoo logo. But other teams continue to face controversy for the use of Native American imagery that is considered racist by many.
02/23/2016 - The Navajo Nation has filed a brief in support of upholding the cancellation of the Washington Redskins trademark held by Pro-Football Inc.
02/18/2016 - Chief Illiniwek, the former University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign mascot, was banned by the NCAA in 2007 for being “hostile and abusive” toward American Indians -- but people attending the university's sporting events might be forgiven for not knowing this.
11/01/2015 - The chief local critic of many Illini fans' most cherished symbol says it's not enough that Chief Illiniwek has been banished.
10/28/2014 - Members of a fraternity are expected to meet soon with University of Illinois officials following its posting of a sign that depicted a knife-wielding American Indian posed over a gopher.
05/07/2013 - The head of the Peoria tribe says he doesn't support a proposal from former Chief Illiniwek portrayers to bring back the Chief in a limited way, because the idea lacks the University of Illinois' backing.
01/01/2010 - A timeline to the vandalism of the "Beyond the Chief" exhibit
10/16/2009 - Along with Native American Rights Fund, NCAI, and other national and tribal organizations, American Indian Studies (AIS) and Native American House (NAH) formally participated in the US Supreme Court amicus brief
05/20/2009 - On May 20, 2009, three items from the Beyond the Chief art exhibit, created by the renowned Cheyenne-Arapaho artist HOCK E AYE VI Edgar Heap of Birds, were vandalized for the fifth time. The damaged signs include those representing the Wea, Meskwaki, and Peoria tribes of Illinois.
01/18/2007 - On January 17, 2007, the Executive Committee of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Nation submitted a resolution to the University of Illinois President and Board of Trustees and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor demanding the return of the Lakota regalia used in the portrayal of the school's mascot to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
03/30/2006 - Native American House and American Indian Studies commend the NCAA for its commitment to "promote an atmosphere of respect for and sensitivity to the dignity of every person" and its actions based upon that commitment.
02/03/2006 - The Native American House and American Indian Studies faculty, staff, and community are disappointed by the University of Illinois' Board of Trustees' decision to file a second appeal that rejects the NCAA ruling concerning the mascot, 'chief illiniwek.'
05/05/2005 - The Native American House finds the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's response to the NCAA’s request to perform an "Institutional Self Evaluation Examining the Use of American Indian Mascots, Nicknames and Logos" to be in essence no response at all
03/17/2005 - Reflecting upon both the historical and contemporary implications of university sponsorship of the "Chief," Dr. Gone (Gros Ventre), a graduate of the doctoral program in clinical psychology at UIUC, recounted his first-hand experience in the collective efforts of local Native American activists to retire the mascot
