The Struggle for Chief Illiniwek
             Imagine going to a University of Illinois sporting event and not seeing Chief
             Illiniwek perform at half time. This may soon be the case. Many Native Americans feel
             that the symbol of Chief Illiniwek portrays a racist stereotype, but because Chief Illiniwek
             represents the pride for athletics, as well as respect for the University of Illinois itself, he
             should not be dismissed as mascot and swapped with some common, unoriginal
             replacement. The dismissal of the chief would be an outrage.
             The tradition of Chief Illiniwek was started on October 30, 1926, during a football
             game against the University of Pennsylvania(Beckham 1). Also according to Beckham,
             Lester Leutweiler, who portrayed the first Chief Illiniwek, was chosen because he had
             studied Native American dance and leather work as a boy scout. Leutweiler made the first
             Chief Illiniwek custom and created the first dance(1). Of all the students that have
             portrayed Chief Illiniwek, only one was a female. The second student who portrayed
             Chief Illiniwek was Webber Borchers. Borchers was the first student who portrayed the
             chief to wear an authentic Native American outfit. He traveled to a South Dakota
             reservation, where he stayed for a couple months, and an elderly Native American woman
             and her apprentice hand crafted the outfit for him.
             On September 25, 1982, Sioux Chief Frank Fools Crow traveled to the University
             of Illinois with fellow Sioux elders Anthony Whirlwind Horse and Joe American
             Horse(Welker 1). Chief Frank Fools Crow was considered the greatest Native American
             spiritual leader of the nineteenth century. During half time ceremony, Chief Fools Crow
             gave the University of Illinois the regalia that are currently worn by Chief Illiniwek(Welker
             1). The regalia were Chief Fools Crow's own, which was handcrafted by his wife. Many
             say Chief Fools Crow was proud to present the University of Illinois with the...