Chief Illiniwek is still Ms. Spindel's central case study. Although she has campaigned against him, her book is less a polemic than an exploration of the Chief's meaning for his supporters and detractors alike. Ms. Spindel, a transplant to Illinois who never expected to make her home there, initially supported the mascot. As a writer, that bothered me. She thinks the tenacity of their fans reveals something about American life.
People have a real longing for connection to place.
Well, if they think very seriously about how we acquired this land, they're caught in a tangle of ambivalence. Mythology is the human solution to that bind. But a myth that justifies the actions of the non-Indian majority does us real harm. Somehow we have to create a history that's encompassing and inclusive. This article may not be published, reposted, or redistributed without express permission from The Chronicle.