‘Fighting Sioux’ sign removed from outside walls of Ralph

Workers began removing the words “Home of the Fighting Sioux” from the outside walls of the University of North Dakota’s Ralph Engelstad Arena Monday.

The work is required by the 2007 agreement that settled a lawsuit between the state of North Dakota and the NCAA.

An addendum to that agreement negotiated earlier this year between Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Bernard Franklin, an NCAA vice president, released the REA from having to remove most other Fighting Sioux logos and symbols from the arena.

Removal of the outside signage will take most of this week, according to REA spokesman Chris Semrau. It will be replaced by “Home of North Dakota Hockey” in late November when the new letters and signage are ready, he said.

After a long and contentious fight over use of the Sioux name, a use that began in 1930, state voters endorsed retirement of the nickname earlier this year and the State Board of Higher Education directed UND to drop it. By action of the North Dakota Legislature, no new nickname may be adopted until 2015, and university officials have declared that teams will be called UND or North Dakota.

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