I agree with posts I’ve seen on the DI website, harness the recent surge of pro-Chief energy and put it to productive use (substitute dead American soldiers and Iraqi civilians for the Chief in a candlelight vigil, etc.)

As for the fervor of the anti-Chiefers, how about channeling that as well? The Chief has danced his last, but activists shouldn’t kid themselves; the problems facing real Native Americans are alive and well. Alcoholism, five-hour long school bus rides (each way) for Pueblo Indian children, tumbledown health clinics, loss of identity, general aimlessness … have any of these issues been researched by “anti” activists in between commissioning T-shirts and staging sit-ins over the years? I can’t imagine that they haven’t; that would be more than a little ironic.

Well, now that the evil presence of a time-honored mascot has been dealt with (time-honored and beloved, if based in ignorance, I don’t get it, but I don’t get a lot of things) why not keep on in that activist spirit? There’s still stuff to do, stuff about which people should be made aware. Less sexy stuff, but reality isn’t always sexy.

Rachel Lutz

University alumna