The 3,300-member Florida Seminole tribe has publicly supported FSU’s use of the Seminole name and the Osceola mascot, who traditionally opens each home football game by riding in on a horse and throwing a flaming spear into the ground. Both the university and tribal leadership insist that no money has changed hands in the arrangement, although some scholarships have been awarded to tribal members. The leadership of the 6,000-member Seminole tribe of Oklahoma also supports FSU’s use of the name and mascot.
The other three schools have arrangements with their areas’ respective tribal groups. In a public statement, NCAA senior vice president Bernard W. Franklin, said, “the decision of a namesake sovereign tribe, regarding when and how its name and imagery can be used, must be respected even when others may not agree.”
--Mary Annette Pember
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