The Chief and Coca-Cola: Global and Local Symbols of Pride...or Oppression?

Photos by Nathan Craig and Margaret Brown Vega. Perusing a second-hand shop in Champaign, Illinois one can find interesting items. This special edition Coca-Cola bottle from 1983 celebrates the Illini as Big 10 Champs. The bottle is surrounded by other memorabilia celebrating Chief Illiniwek. Chief Illiniwek, known as The Chief, displayed prominently on the bottle, is now, and has been for some time now, a HIGHLY contested figure. This fictitious character, whose genesis has ties to the Ku Klux Klan, became the mascot for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Chief, a student dressed in an amalgamation of Sioux and other 'native' regalia, is a creation by non-indigenous peoples using indigenous material culture and dance traditions. Chief Illiniwek reasserted this symbol and pride at every sporting event until 2007 when, amid racial tension and the ultimate succes of anti-Chief efforts, was retired under a mandate from the NCAA. Students and alumni whose very identity was attacked by the retiring of this symbol now assert it with greater fervor than ever. The Chief is now more visible on t-shirts and has re-materialized with force.