This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The University of Utah has long referred to its athletic teams as the Utes. So long as the Ute Tribal Council continues to give its permission for the use of the tribe's name, there is no immediate reason to change it.
Nevertheless, the university should take the initiative to change the name, if only because the drum and feather or circle and feather logo used by the team involve symbols held sacred by Native American cultures.
In addition, sports mascots are often chosen as representatives of ferocity in war or in nature. Given the long and unfortunate history of white American culture referring to Native Americans as warlike savages who are to be feared, naming the team after a tribe and using its symbols treads painfully close to racial stereotyping.
That said, there is an argument to be made for keeping the name Utes. Utah is named for the tribe, and calling the teams of the state's flagship university the Utes is a natural outgrowth of that fact. Associating the tribe's name with the school also has a deep and long heritage. In this context, the use of Utes can be considered an honorific.
But a similar argument could be made for calling the athletic teams of the university the Mormons, and no one would seriously propose that because it would be deemed offensive.
Identity is a tricky emotional thing, and you tamper with it at your peril. Which is why many University of Utah alumni probably will be angered by our suggestion that their alma mater drop the name of the Utes.
Still, because the motivation behind the name can be easily misconstrued or questioned, the university would be better off to move past it. In 1972 the university dropped "Redskins" from its nomenclature, for obvious reasons, but retained Utes. In 1996 it introduced Swoop, a red-tailed hawk, as the sideline mascot, partly to distance itself from racial stereotyping. The next logical step might be for the university to adopt the red hawks as the name of the teams. The red-tailed hawk is a magnificent bird and Utah is part of its natural habitat, where it can often be seen soaring majestically.
However, dropping the name Utes should only be made in consultation with the Ute Tribal Council. If the tribe would be insulted by the university dropping the name, then it should be kept.
But in that case, the tribe should get value for the use of its name. All real Utes, certified by the council as members of the tribe and meeting the university's admission requirements, should attend the university free of charge.