Indian Country is in the midst of a cosmic conundrum. Our identity is having an identity crisis.

Recently (so very recently) I read with stunned interest a news story about the University of North Dakota (UND) and their deadline (July 1, 2011) to adhere to a ban on the Fighting Sioux logo from its marketed merchandise. Amazingly, the caricature has harvested a bumper crop from the mini-conglomerate that uses Indian imagery to hawk its wares.

The angle of the story was whether the school would make the mandatory deadline. After all, time was a-ticking.

The information noted that a privately-owned building where UND plays hockey has invested an undetermined amount of money on Indian head logos, a like portrait encased on floor granite and brass medallions on row ends (whether these bear resemblance to “peace medals,” I am unsure). The news item hinted that private sponsorship could stall a complete transformation from the “Fighting Sioux” nickname.

Interestingly, one Sioux band in the state voices distaste for the logo and one can live with it. The Sioux Nations within North Dakota have a history fraught with prejudice, poverty and acrimony. For it to be a toss-up only adds to the debate.

Elsewhere, the Southeastern University of Oklahoma in Durant, OK changed its logo several years ago from “Savage” to “Savage Storm.” I covered the story then and I remember a handsome front page story that bore an aesthetic graphic to boot. The school, (SEOKU), managed to skirt the issue by taking sole emphasis off a term that was bandied about in the 1800s. The move was clever, but unsettling somehow.

Yet much is at stake at UND, we are told. A list of local Indian-as-Mascot initiatives at UND include: Fighting Sioux Club, Sioux-Per-Swing, Fighting Sioux ROTC Battalion, Sioux Laundry, Sioux Fan Fest, Sioux Amateur Radio, Sioux Boosters, Sioux Kids Club, Sioux Crew, Sioux-Per-Burger, Sioux Strong, Soaring Sioux, Sioux Award and Spirit of Sioux Award. I am not making this up. To be fair, the school is revamping in order to avoid potential bans from NCAA tournaments.

But Indian people view themselves not as marketable merchandise or societal mascots. Tribes now employ lobbyists, revive floundering local economies and advise with the President. Yet, in pockets of America, Indian monikers are clutched like gold coins.

Perhaps it hearkens back to the time (19th Century) when Manifest Destiny was all the rage. Indians, mind you, had to be removed from the landscape so that this ideology could be realized. This era was when the image of the “Noble Savage” was born. Indians carried a form of martyrdom: Beautiful to look at but a relic of the past: Enter mascots.

In a defiant twist, memorabilia with the UND Fighting Sioux Mascot are expected to become hot, hot, hot as the deadline approaches. So I searched online at the Fighting Sioux jersey which is now set to be a collector’s item. I saw brown and green jerseys sporting non-threatening Indian head logos. Here, dissociation from oppression springs to life.

The reasons vary. One educator theorizes the dominating society must relegate its foe in an inferior stance as a sign of conquest. Still another proposes that power gone unchecked rationalizes Indian mascots.

I began to consider if the shoe were on the other foot. Then I looked for school mascots with Anglo derivatives. Predictably, Indian mascots far outnumber the latter. Yet a phenomenon exists in Stillwater, OK where the local team bears the name of the Pioneers. Coincidentally, the OK State Cowboys (also in Stillwater) bear the visage of an Anglo-mustachioed man as team mascot. At both venues, racial implications send negative messages.

Laying down all race-based mascot metaphors can bring us fully into the present. Sociologists contend that if stereotypical imagery dwindles, public and self-perception of a culture can evolve. As it morphs, a higher self-esteem emerges. In essence, if we free our minds, the rest will follow.

Now a transition approacheth UND. Let’s be positive. Changing an Indian mascot name guarantees the birth of trendy collectibles for the old gear. Get yours quick, UND gear is expected to fly off the shelves this summer.