|
||||
HomeThe PerformanceHistoryThe Chief TodayPhoto GalleryLearn MoreAbout the ProjectContact us |
Welcome to Chief80A study of Illinois' revered and reviled Chief IlliniwekFor 20 years, the University of Illinois community engaged in an ever-growing debate. |
|
Chief Illiniwek, the subject of that debate, was a controversial university symbol that came to penetrate nearly every aspect of life on the Champaign-Urbana campus. Students identified as pro-Chief or anti-, classes debated the appropriateness of the Chief's dance and protestors on both sides fanned a firey media interest. On Oct. 26, 1926, University of Illinois student Lester Leutwiler donned a feather bonnet and beaded buckskins for a football halftime performance intended to highlight Illinois' growing association with American Indians. For the next 80 years, Illiniwek entertained fans at Illinois football, basketball and volleyball games, spinning and stepping across the plane of play in a dance that evolved from that initial act. His performances were discontinued on Feb. 16, 2006. To those who supported him, Chief Illiniwek was an image of pride, bravery, strength and valor. He presented a positive model Illinois' athletic teams, students and fans would do well to emulate. His performance, supporters said, was done with respect to the cultures from which he drew his image. Illiniwek's opponents said the Chief was riddled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations. He flattened the diverse spectrum of American Indian cultures into a one-dimensional stereotype and perpetuated misconceptions about America's most trivialized citizens. He was outdated, opponents said, and marred the reputation of a prominent educational institution. This Web site is designed to take a balanced approach to unraveling the Chief Illiniwek debate. It uses three years of research and a fourth year of editing and organization to present an in-depth examination of the eight decades through which Illiniwek was first formed, later changed, challenged and finally terminated. Reporting on Illiniwek has taken us to the sports mecca of the NCAA Final Four and to a sleepy farm town in Northeast Oklahoma. We have done hundreds of interviews with dozens of people ranging from academic scholars to regular students to the men, young and old, behind the portrayal. We hope this site offers a resourceful tool for anyone interested in studying Chief Illiniwek and the use of American Indian imagery in college athletics. Thank you for visiting. |
||
Copyright 2007 Chief 80. All rights reserved. |
