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| − | Before the [[Prairie Fire]], the mascot of [[Knox College]] was "Old Siwash". The term was discontinued because it was thought by President John McCall that it was offensive to Native Americans. | + | Before the [[Prairie Fire]], the mascot of [[Knox College]] was "Old Siwash". But "siwash" means "drunk Indian", so it wasn't [[politically correct]]. |
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| − | ==Siwash origins==
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| − | The term became popular on the Knox College campus when alumnus [[George Fitch]] used the term to describe a college similar to Knox in a fictional story he published, "Good Old Siwash College"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Helgesen_Fitch George Helgesen Fitch] - Wikipedia</ref>. Students informally used the term to describe Knox and later the school formally adopted Siwash as the nickname for the college.
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| − | Siwash was used heavily in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska from the 19th century through World War II. A term in Chinook Jargon<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_jargon Chinook Jargon] - Wikipedia</ref> to refer to a native person. The term was not originally meant to be offensive, but it was a term that "othered" native people in the area during the rise of cities like [[Seattle]] and [[Vancouver]]. Over time, the term (from the French "sauvage", meaning wild or savage) developed the overtly offensive connotation it holds today.
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| − | ===Knox County, Seattle and Siwash===
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| − | The white "founders" of Seattle, called the Denny Party, took off for the northwest from a town they called Cherry Grove, IL. Now called Cedar, this town is located eight miles south of [[Galesburg]] and Knox College<ref>[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7875 Finding Cherry Grove] - by Hunter Brown</ref>. Whether the term traveled from [[Knox County]] to the northwest (unlikely) or traveled back from early Seattleites to their friends and family back home (more likely) is not yet known.
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| − | ==Controversy==
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| − | The term Siwash is, for some reason, still a controversial issue for alumni. The school supposedly lost a lot of donations (though this has not been confirmed or recorded to the best of my knowledge) from alumni who were angry that the school had caved to demands for a more [[politically correct]] school nickname.
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| − | This was the subject of a fall 2009 opinion column in [[The Knox Student]]<ref>[http://www.theknoxstudent.com/newsroom/article/bigotry-name-tradition/ Bigotry In the Name of Tradition?] - The Knox Student, 11-12-09</ref>
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| − | During Homecoming 2010, those alumni who were still die-hard Siwash weren't allowed to have their table on campus, so they set up camp in Standish Park instead.
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| − | ==References==
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| − | <references/>
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| − | [[Category:History]]
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