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The

ILLINI CHIEF

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Welcome to the official home page on the debate of Chief Illiniwek

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    History of Chief Illiniwek

    The idea to implement a Chief as a school mascot started in 1926, when a student named Lester and his band director decided to pitch the idea of using a chief illiniwek to represent the illini for future generations. Through traditional song, dance, and attire, they planned on honestly representing the indian heritage. Little did they know the path they were creating would lead to years of controversy, protests, and radical uprisings. The presentation of Chief Illiniwek involves appearances at sporting events where a traditional, indian style dance is performed, accompanied by tribal music. Followed by a dramatic exit where crowd members cheer off the act in one big "CHIEEEEEEEEEEF!" As time went on, the designated chief performer would be passed on to the next succesful auditionee. The chief icon lived on for decades. It established a sense of tradition and school spirit for UIUC and the greater Illinois. However, as time changes so do opinions. As the university rolled into the 90's, 64 years after Chief Illiniwek's establishment, talk began to stir. People were not happy with the exploitation of Indian culture. After another decade of pushing and pulling, hundreds of protests, nationwide complaints, and countless meetings, the Illini Union Board marked the end of the Chief in 2007. Illiniwek performed its last halftime show during a football game - an 81 year tradition comes to an end. To this day, protests occur, logos appear, merchandise is sold. The only difference is none of it can be associated with the university. So many may argue that the Chief still lives on, just silently in the hearts of alumni and all who hail CHIEF.

1967 Interview

With Fred Turner

Transcription:

JJ: What about Illiniwek, which is a, maybe more vital to ( ) in today, one of the, was this started with Homecoming or later?

FT: The Chief, the chief? Well no, that started with a, with a student and a band director. The first Chief was a boy named, Lester Leutwiler, whose father head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. You know the big house, It's on Pennsylvania Avenue, just East of the United Church House of Pennsylvania, on the North side?

JJ: Yeah

FT: Well that’s where the Leutwiler's, Professor Leutwiler had a son, Lester, who had been a great scout, boy scout. He’d been to Europe, one of the international gatherings of Boy Scouts of America and was, was a great student of Indian ( ). Well at that time under Mr. Harding we also had an assistant Band director named, Ray Dvorak. And Ray, Ray in a sense had been a director of bands up at the University of Wisconsin, I expect you know him. Anyway, Ray and Les Leutwiler, Les had been a great student of Indian lore, why he’d been a great Boy Scout and Les and Ray worked out this, this business of building the uniform and doing the Chief’s dance at a football game, and he, they tried it once and it was their, Les started this as a freshman in 1926, and he did the, let’s see it had been the fall of 1925, was the first one and then he graduated in 29. He was the first, he was first one, and served all 4 years. Well, I think there’s a picture over at the Y, of Les and his uniform as the first Chief.

JJ: Did it catch on? Did the students respond?

FT: Oh yes, yes, it caught on immediately. Of course you’ve had it ever since, without fail. In fact the war years we even had a girl do the chief as you may know. During World War II I think for two years we didn’t have a man who could qualify.

JJ: What kind of qualifications are involved, do you have ( )?

FT: Yeah, the knowledge of the dance, is, because these are authentic Indian dances that they do, and they, Les, Les got his from the Indian himself. And the uniform is authentic, in fact we’re going to have to have new the eagle feathers are wearing out on the present uniform and it’s, they’re going to be hard to, very hard to replace, they’re hard to replace, eagle’s are getting scarce.

JJ: I imagine so, so there’s got to be the right size too, to fit into that thing?

FT: No, that’s right, it’s heavy, it weighs about 30 pounds.

JJ: Does it really?

FT: Man who does that is pretty well done in, the time he does, but that’s been a great tradition here and I think Les and Ray get the, Les Leutwiler and Ray Dvorak get the credit for that. I, I, I sometimes think that, that the Chief at the football games today gets bigger cheer then anything else that happens on when he comes, when he comes on between the halves.