Okla-homey
12/3/2007, 08:56 AM
http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/37545/2000949821983832156_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000949821983832156)
December 3, 1818: Illinois becomes the 21st state
189 years ago today, Illinois achieves statehood. Though Illinois presented unique challenges to immigrants unaccustomed to the soil and vegetation of the area, it grew to become a bustling and densely populated state.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/33607/2000920355393339418_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000920355393339418)
The strange but beautiful prairie lands east of the Mississippi and north of Lake Michigan presented a difficult challenge to the tide of westward-moving immigrants. Accustomed to the heavily forested lands of states like Kentucky and Tennessee, the early immigrants to Illinois did not know what to make of the vast treeless stretches of the prairie.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/36857/2000930381519978695_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000930381519978695)
Most pioneers believed that the fertility of soil revealed itself by the abundance of vegetation it supported, so they assumed that the lack of trees on the prairie signaled inferior farmland. Those brave souls who did try to farm the prairie found that their flimsy plows were inadequate to cut through prairie sod thickly knotted with deep roots.
http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/37545/2000929521640465896_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000929521640465896)
The Mother Road begins in Chicago
In an "age of wood," farmers also felt helpless without ready access to the trees they needed for their tools, homes, furniture, fences, and fuel. For all these reasons, most of the early Illinois settlers remained in the southern part of the state, where they built homes and farms near the trees that grew along the many creek and river bottoms.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/36068/2002097687558591391_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002097687558591391)
The challenge of the prairies slowed emigration into the region; when Illinois was granted statehood in 1818, the population was only about 35,000, and most of the prairie was still largely unsettled. Gradually, though, a few tough Illinois farmers took on the difficult task of plowing the prairie and discovered that the soil was far richer than they had expected.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/35477/2005392951115787768_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005392951115787768)
The development of heavy prairie plows and improved access to wood and other supplies through new shipping routes encouraged even more farmers to head out into the vast northern prairie lands of Illinois.
By 1840, the center of population in Illinois had shifted decisively to the north, and the once insignificant hamlet of Chicago rapidly became a bustling city.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/37264/2000971711419493130_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000971711419493130)
The four giant prairie counties of northern Illinois, which were the last to be settled, boasted population densities of 18 people per square mile. Increasingly recognized as one of the nation's most fertile agricultural areas, the vast emptiness of the Illinois prairie was eagerly conquered by both pioneers and plows.
Postcript: What is a Fighting Illini you ask?
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/37526/2004303001584048304_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004303001584048304)
Old logo involving Chief Illiniwek...out
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/36170/2005303740513594982_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005303740513594982)
New logo
A symbol of the University's athletic teams was, until recently, a Native American figure, Chief Illiniwek, who sparked significant controversy. Critics of the symbol claimed that it was a racist stereotype, and as a symbol of oppression to Native Americans that took place in past American history.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/35478/2000914241807698264_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000914241807698264)
Supporters claimed that it was inoffensive and is a source of pride and reverence to the Native American heritage of Illinois according to a majority of students and alumni. Recently, after past Sioux elder, Frank Fools Crow, sold an authentic ceremonial costume and headdress to the university, the Oglala Sioux tribe has demanded the costume and headdress back from the university.
The University was deeply divided on this issue; while some of the faculty condemned the symbol, the administration remained supportive of it. The University Board of Trustees announced on February 16, 2007 that the Chief's last public performance would be the final home game of the 2006-2007 Men's Basketball season.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/35141/2000927898035212532_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000927898035212532)
The name "Fighting Illini" was retained, as the NCAA rescinded its criticism of the use of the term. The name "Fighting Illini" pre-dates the Chief Illiniwek symbol and was bestowed upon the team in honor of Illinoisans who fought in World War I. At the Chief's last performance on Wed., February 21, 2007, students wore black to honor and mourn the chief's final performance.
The Oklahoma Connection
The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma are the closest living descendants of the Illiniwek Confederacy, having been relocated to Oklahoma in the 19th century.
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/35346/2001722243522751274_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001722243522751274)
Flag of the Peoria Nation of Oklahoma
The position of the tribal leadership has evolved over the years. In a television interview with WICD-TV in 1995, Don Giles, then Chief of the Peoria Tribe, said, "To say that we are anything but proud to have these portrayals would be completely wrong. We are proud. We're proud that the University of Illinois, the flagship university of the state, a seat of learning, is drawing on that background of our having been there. And what more honor could they pay us?" Supporting Chief Giles was another tribal elder, Ron Froman, who stated that the protesters "don't speak for all Native Americans, and certainly not us."
Ron Froman was later elected Chief, by which time his views on the Chief Illiniwek symbol had changed. His opinions shifted following meetings with American Indian students attending the University. In April 2000, 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]".
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."
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/34413/2001778913582816610_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001778913582816610)
This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University, whose Native American 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."
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."
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/34980/2000915804951939418_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000915804951939418)
December 3, 1818: Illinois becomes the 21st state
189 years ago today, Illinois achieves statehood. Though Illinois presented unique challenges to immigrants unaccustomed to the soil and vegetation of the area, it grew to become a bustling and densely populated state.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/33607/2000920355393339418_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000920355393339418)
The strange but beautiful prairie lands east of the Mississippi and north of Lake Michigan presented a difficult challenge to the tide of westward-moving immigrants. Accustomed to the heavily forested lands of states like Kentucky and Tennessee, the early immigrants to Illinois did not know what to make of the vast treeless stretches of the prairie.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/36857/2000930381519978695_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000930381519978695)
Most pioneers believed that the fertility of soil revealed itself by the abundance of vegetation it supported, so they assumed that the lack of trees on the prairie signaled inferior farmland. Those brave souls who did try to farm the prairie found that their flimsy plows were inadequate to cut through prairie sod thickly knotted with deep roots.
http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/37545/2000929521640465896_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000929521640465896)
The Mother Road begins in Chicago
In an "age of wood," farmers also felt helpless without ready access to the trees they needed for their tools, homes, furniture, fences, and fuel. For all these reasons, most of the early Illinois settlers remained in the southern part of the state, where they built homes and farms near the trees that grew along the many creek and river bottoms.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/36068/2002097687558591391_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002097687558591391)
The challenge of the prairies slowed emigration into the region; when Illinois was granted statehood in 1818, the population was only about 35,000, and most of the prairie was still largely unsettled. Gradually, though, a few tough Illinois farmers took on the difficult task of plowing the prairie and discovered that the soil was far richer than they had expected.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/35477/2005392951115787768_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005392951115787768)
The development of heavy prairie plows and improved access to wood and other supplies through new shipping routes encouraged even more farmers to head out into the vast northern prairie lands of Illinois.
By 1840, the center of population in Illinois had shifted decisively to the north, and the once insignificant hamlet of Chicago rapidly became a bustling city.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/37264/2000971711419493130_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000971711419493130)
The four giant prairie counties of northern Illinois, which were the last to be settled, boasted population densities of 18 people per square mile. Increasingly recognized as one of the nation's most fertile agricultural areas, the vast emptiness of the Illinois prairie was eagerly conquered by both pioneers and plows.
Postcript: What is a Fighting Illini you ask?
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/37526/2004303001584048304_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004303001584048304)
Old logo involving Chief Illiniwek...out
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/36170/2005303740513594982_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005303740513594982)
New logo
A symbol of the University's athletic teams was, until recently, a Native American figure, Chief Illiniwek, who sparked significant controversy. Critics of the symbol claimed that it was a racist stereotype, and as a symbol of oppression to Native Americans that took place in past American history.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/35478/2000914241807698264_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000914241807698264)
Supporters claimed that it was inoffensive and is a source of pride and reverence to the Native American heritage of Illinois according to a majority of students and alumni. Recently, after past Sioux elder, Frank Fools Crow, sold an authentic ceremonial costume and headdress to the university, the Oglala Sioux tribe has demanded the costume and headdress back from the university.
The University was deeply divided on this issue; while some of the faculty condemned the symbol, the administration remained supportive of it. The University Board of Trustees announced on February 16, 2007 that the Chief's last public performance would be the final home game of the 2006-2007 Men's Basketball season.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/35141/2000927898035212532_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000927898035212532)
The name "Fighting Illini" was retained, as the NCAA rescinded its criticism of the use of the term. The name "Fighting Illini" pre-dates the Chief Illiniwek symbol and was bestowed upon the team in honor of Illinoisans who fought in World War I. At the Chief's last performance on Wed., February 21, 2007, students wore black to honor and mourn the chief's final performance.
The Oklahoma Connection
The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma are the closest living descendants of the Illiniwek Confederacy, having been relocated to Oklahoma in the 19th century.
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/35346/2001722243522751274_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001722243522751274)
Flag of the Peoria Nation of Oklahoma
The position of the tribal leadership has evolved over the years. In a television interview with WICD-TV in 1995, Don Giles, then Chief of the Peoria Tribe, said, "To say that we are anything but proud to have these portrayals would be completely wrong. We are proud. We're proud that the University of Illinois, the flagship university of the state, a seat of learning, is drawing on that background of our having been there. And what more honor could they pay us?" Supporting Chief Giles was another tribal elder, Ron Froman, who stated that the protesters "don't speak for all Native Americans, and certainly not us."
Ron Froman was later elected Chief, by which time his views on the Chief Illiniwek symbol had changed. His opinions shifted following meetings with American Indian students attending the University. In April 2000, 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]".
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."
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/34413/2001778913582816610_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001778913582816610)
This puts Chief Illiniwek in a position different from that of the mascots of other schools such as Florida State University, whose Native American 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."
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."
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/34980/2000915804951939418_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000915804951939418)