Mascot Chief Illiniwek offends Native Americans and violates Illinois’s 2003 Civil Rights Act, according to a lawsuit filed by the Illinois Native American Bar Association against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The suit marks yet another battle in the war over whether the mascot should stay or go. The conflict has gone on for 15 years, since a Native American student was offended by a 1989 performance by the chief. Another U. of Illinois student and a resident of Champaign, Ill., are also plaintiffs in the current lawsuit.
