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By Dan Gunderson
Minnesota Public Radio
October 5, 2001
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RealAudio |
The Minnesota Gopher men's hockey team is in Grand Forks Friday evening to play arch rival the University of North Dakota. The game may be overshadowed by the venue. Tonight marks the opening of the ornate and controversial Ralph Engelstad Arena, which some see as a hockey palace. Others see it as a shrine to racism.
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"It's been a project of a lifetime. It's just been a great deal of fun," says Bill Schoen, lead architect for the project. "We have millions of dollars tied up in scoreboards, video boards, instant replay - lots of really fun stuff."
That's what the fans will notice. In the lower levels, players can work out in the largest weight room of any hockey facility in the world, recover from injuries on an underwater treadmill, and keep their hockey sticks fresh in a climate-controlled storage room.
"We've got a lot no one else has, and we're still going to try to play good hard-nosed hockey," says UND head coach Dean Blais.
These days, Blais is grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Recruiting players just got a lot easier. Only the pros have access to better facilities. But Blais also knows people will expect a winner.
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"Would they put a picture of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary there and have people walk over it with dirty boots?"
- American Indian activist Clyde Bellecourt, on the Fighting Sioux logos inlaid in the arena floor | |
The coach is interrupted by an exhibition of the arena's multi-million-dollar sound and light system. Green lasers pulse across the seats as white spotlights dance across the ice.
But not everyone is charmed by Ralph's palace. A short way across the UND campus, about 100 people gather to talk about the use of American Indian nicknames and logos. As American Indian Movement founder Clyde Bellecourt asks for a blessing on the event, audience members file by, some with tears streaming down their cheeks, to drop bits of tobacco in a bowl.
Clyde Bellecourt says the lavish use of the Fighting Sioux logo in the new arena is a slap in the face of Indian people. Visitors entering the arena will pass a huge statue of Sitting Bull, then see a statue of Ralph Engelstad on the wall, and a large Indian head logo on floor. Everyone entering will walk across the Indian's face.
"Would they put a picture of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary there and have people walk over it with dirty boots?" asks Bellecourt. "That'd be desecrating. I'm sure the Christian people would stand up and say something. To have thousands of people walking over you every day - That's a desecration and an insult."
Bellecourt says the arena is a classic example of those with the most money making the rules. Anti-nickname groups have been campaigning against the UND logo for years. Local tribes have repeatedly asked the school to drop the nickname. It looked as if the school was on the verge of doing it last year, but then Ralph Engelstad threatened to immediately stop the arena construction. The school kept the name.
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The arena that's now the focus of anger from many American Indians may also damage UND's standing as a university with one of the finest American Indian studies programs in the nation. Program Director Leigh Jeanotte says he's happy for the hockey program, but he's worried about the reaction of American Indian students.
"I know some of the tribes have gone on record nearly stating they're going to boycott our institution," says Jeanotte. "From the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, we typically have 10 or 15 students from that reservation coming to UND. This year we have one transfer student."
Jeanotte says the Fighting Sioux nickname will not be changed any time soon. He is hopeful the American Indian studies program will survive the ongoing controversy. University officials say they will spend millions to improve opportunities for American Indian students.
Many Grand Forks residents are smarting from the national media reports painting their town as a bastion of racism. Oly Olafson is a UND graduate who now teaches at the university.
"We're not racist. We're Norwegians, we're Icelanders, we're Germans, we're Swedes. We're a mix of people. I don't look down on Indian people, we as a whole in Grand Forks don't look down on Indian people. Some of the faculty are more liberal than a lot of the people in Grand Forks, and they think it's a problem," says Olafson.
Those opposition voices say they will continue to speak out at UND, but they may have a hard time being heard above the roar from Ralph's Palace.
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