DENVER – APRIL 10: Goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux #1 of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux looks on during a break in the action against Boston College during semifinal action at the NCAA Frozen Four Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship at the Pepsi Center April 10, 2008 in Denver, Colorado. Gerbe scored three goals as Boston College defeated North Dakota 6-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
NCAABy Alex Putterman on

One day we’ll all look back and be embarrassed by the Native-American-themed nicknames so many American sports teams used to use, but for now we’ve got situations like that one at the University of North Dakota, home of the Fighting Hawks, formerly the Fighting Sioux.

As the Washington Post chronicles, the NCAA forced North Dakota to change its name more than 10 years ago, but the school fought back and ended up holding onto the trademark for its former nickname. But to maintain the trademark, North Dakota has to keep selling Fighting Sioux memorabilia, so now you’ve got a school banned from using an offensive nickname and logo advertising t-shirts featuring said nickname and logo.

And North Dakota is not doing only the bare minimum to maintain its trademark.

Via the Post:

Among the 9,000 items sold by stores that were licensed by the school: more than 1,000 sweatshirts, 3,000 hats and 300 lanyards. There will be another sale later this year.

“Usage isn’t defined by the law, but we’ve been advised by counsel that we need to be able to defend ourselves in court,” UND spokesman Peter Johnson told Inforum’s Mike McFeely. “If somebody comes at us and says we’re not meeting the trademark requirement, we have to be able to show that we are. We don’t know what the number is that will allow us to do that, but it’s not one.

God forbid North Dakota loses its trademark and is forced to totally stop selling racist imagery. You can read elsewhere about why it’s not ok to use a group of people as your mascot without their approval, but at the very least you’d think a school would be willing to let an old nickname go after they’ve been unequivocally banned from using it, but apparently not.

As we all know, people get really angry when you try to take their logo or mascot from them, as if the name of a sports team is worth offending thousands of people over. This situation illustrates just how stubborn fans and schools get when it comes to what they’re called and what emblem they wear.

Of course, according to the AP, North Dakota’s “Fighting Sioux” memorabilia sold out immediately, which means the school won’t stop selling it any time soon.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

View all posts by Alex Putterman