Controversy surrounds gift of Englestad to N.D. school

Jack Sullivan

Monday, Oct. 8, 2001 | 9:41 a.m.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A ceremony featuring American Indian dancers and drummers -- two wearing "Fighting Sioux" sweatshirts -- marked the dedication of North Dakota's $100-million hockey arena Friday amid a flap over the school's nickname.

Opponents of the nickname protested later.

Ralph Engelstad, whose money built the arena that bears his name, called the nickname a tradition of "lasting value." The logo, uniforms "and the spirit of being a Fighting Sioux are of lasting value and of immeasurable significance," Engelstad said in a statement.

Engelstad, his wife, Betty, and other family members joined a crowd of at least 300, including Gov. John Hoeven, for the unveiling of a bronze statue of a Sioux on a horse. A plaque says the statue was dedicated to the memory of Sitting Bull, the Sioux leader and a "patriot, statesman, diplomat, warrior (and) prophet."

A member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, Isaac Dog Eagle, wrote to University of North Dakota President Charles Kupchella, asking that the statue be removed. Dog Eagle said he is a direct descendant of Sitting Bull and that the school does not have permission to use the name.

Earl Strinden, a former North Dakota alumni director, said the nickname was chosen in 1930 to recognize "honor, pride, courage, overcoming adversity, winning battles."

Engelstad, an alumnus who was a goalie on the school's hockey team in the 1950s, owns the Imperial Palace casinos in Biloxi, Miss., and in Las Vegas, where he lives.

In December Kupchella was deciding whether the Fighting Sioux nickname should be changed when Engelstad said he would withdraw his gift if the nickname and logo were dropped.

The board voted the next day to keep the name and logo, which depicts an Indian warrior wearing feathers and war paint.

"I believe tradition is important," Engelstad's statement said. "I am disappointed in the modern-day relentless demolition and ridicule of admirable traditions."

He announced his $100-million gift in 1998.

The arena boasts 11,400 padded theater seats, 48 suites, two club rooms at opposite ends of the main rink and a $2 million, four-sided video scoreboard. It also includes an Olympic-size practice rink, training equipment and a lavish home locker room.