Court Sides with NCAA in Continuing Battle of the ‘Fighting Sioux’ Nickname

A federal judge from the District of North Dakota has dismissed a lawsuit brought by members of the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes against the NCAA, who had sought approximately $10 million from the association and the reversal of an NCAA policy banning the use of American Indian imagery.   The plaintiffs, who were trying to save the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname, had claimed the policy represented a restraint of trade. The court, however, granted the NCAA