Wednesday, april 23, 1980
lincoln, nebraska vol. 104, no. 68
Author of controversial book on Sioux moves talk
By Rose Fitzpatrick
What was scheduled as a speech at the
Nebraska Union by Ruth Beebe Hill,
author of llanta Yo, ended up as a talk
before a television camera and a few stu
dents on the lawn of a private residence
Monday.
A group opposed to Hill and her work
spoke at the Nebraska Union rostrum,
where - they went hoping to find Hill.
Hill's speech was canceled by Council of
American Indian Students President Chuck
Roach at the end of a press conference at
5 p.m. Monday at the Clayton House
Motel.
Roach said that the public appearance
would be canceled and instead "they
would meet privately with interested staff
and students, and so avoid embarrassment
to the Indian community, the university,
and the Council of American Indian Stu
dents1 The location was not announced.
He said the group sponsoring the press
conference confronted Hill before and
caused an embarrassing disruption.
Roots likeness disputed
Jo Allyn Archambault, of the Ad Hoc
Committee to Stop llanta Yo, said no one
with this group had ever met with Hill.
Press releases for the book llanta Yo state
that the book is the Indian equivalent of
Roots by Alex Haley, and this is a major
point of contention for Indian people
opposing the book.
Plans have beertmade by the ABC net
work to do a 10-hour version of the book
which will be produced by David Wolper
who produced the television serial
"Roots."
Press releases for the book also claim
that Hill worked on the book for 29 years
with Chunksa Yuha, also called Lorenzo
Blacksmith, a Santee Sioux.
Hill and Blacksmith translated Hill's
work into a dialect of the Sioux language
and back to English which Hill claims
makes the dialogue more authentic. Black
smith lived with Hill and her husband dur
ing those years and he travels with Hill now
to promote the book.
The speech originally scheduled Monday
night was moved to the front lawn of a
home, where, under the garish spotlight of
a television camera, an agitated Hill talked
about Indian life to the camera and
audience of about 10.
Without addressing the points that have
been continuously raised about the book's
credibility and Hill's source, Blacksmith,
Hill talked about traditional Indian life as
she understood it.
She introduced Chunksa Yuha (Black
smith) and talked about his educational
background.
Questioners of llanta Yo have said there
is no record of academic degrees from the
universities of Chicago and Kansas which
Hill and Blacksmith said he has.
Hill said Blacksmith studied at night and
traded songs of the Indian people for his
instruction. He later went to Chicago and
studied as a day student, she said. A record
of this is in the office of her attorney
Richard Harker who lives in San Francisco
Valley, Hill said.
In a telephone interview, Marker's secre
tary said that she couldn't find the papers
but thought that they stated that he took
some music classes at Kansas.
Continued on Page 7
New football ticket policy
restricts student pass use
By Rich Jurgens
A new policy effective in the fall of
1980 will emphasize refusing admittance
of non-students using student tickets to
UNL football games.
Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor for
student affairs, said the policy will lessen
incentive for non-students to buy student
tickets, because ticket takers will be given
strict orders to keep non-students using
student tickets out of the stadium.
Helen Ruth Wagner, UNL ticket man
ager, said that if non-students were caught
using a student ticket in previous years, the
ticket was confiscated, but the ticket hold
ers were admitted. Next fall the tickets will
not be taken away, she said.
"A person would be a little less apt to
buy a student ticket and stand the chance
of not getting in the game," Wagner said.
The new ticket policy also states that
the ticket holder will have to prove he is a
student. The gatekeepers, in suspicious
cases, may require a second and third form
of identification, preferably including a
photo ID such as the Nebraska state
driver's licence, Armstrong said.
However, he said, two forms of identifi
cation could present problems if the stu
dent did have his own ticket and no second
form of identification and was questioned.
Armstrong said the gatekeeper would
have to make a judgment call, but that
there would be a backup person if there
were any problems.
Wagner agreed that the new policy was
not 100 percent perfect, but that the pub
lic will be a little more reluctant to buy
student tickets.
The use of photo student identification
cards was abandoned because it would have
cost about $75,000 to implement the first
year, Armstrong said.
The new ticket policy, which will be in
effect for the 1980-81 football season, will
have a trial period , he said .
If the new ticket policy doesn't decrease
student ticket scalping, Armstrong said,
"the consequence could be much more
severe."
He said if the policy doesn't work, stu
dent tickets could be sold at regular price.
Then, he said, students could sell their
tickets to whomever they want without
violating university policy.
"I don.t like the idea of a full charge
and I don't care for photo ID cards, but
if it (new policy) isn't effective, another
system will nave to be addressed."
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Photo by J ry McBride
Although many Lincoln citizens felt like it was the beg .ining of sun mer in
stead of spring this week, these birds appear comfortable on theii perch.
ASUN needs fee money for elections Wessels
By Kent Warneke
Without student fees the future of the Student Legal
Services and the ASUN Credit Union would be seriously
affected, and ASUN could no longer afford to hold elec
tions for a student regent, according to Renee Wessels,
ASUN president.
The availability of student fees is currently in question.
During Saturday's meeting of the NU Board of Regents,
.Fund A student fee allocations for UNL and UNO failed
to gain approval.
The allocations, which help finance ASUN, the Daily
Nebraskan and the University Program Council on the
UNL campus, were caught in a deadlock vote by the
regents.
However, Wessels said that deciding what would
happen without student fees is less important than get
ting visible student suppoit for the proposal that has been
made.
"Students should be upset about what is happening,"
Wessels said. "The vote Saturday threatens all those things
that students can use and participate in." '
Wessels emphasized that students should realize that
not only ASUN, but the major programming bodies on
campus, could feel the effects of a cut.
"ASUN doesn't always affect students with the magni
tue other organizations do, but these other organizations
could be without funds too," Wessels said. "The perform
ing arts series at Kimball, which brings the ballets and
mime troups to campus, could be cut in half."
ASUN is now looking for reasons why the regents
voted as they did so they provide justification for the
student fees in areas of concern, she said.
According to Wessels, the regents kept bringing up the
UPC speakers program as an area of concern, but their
reasons were difficult to define with various inciden
tal items that played a part in the discussion.
Wessels sajd she is confident that the problem can be
worked out.
'We're going to stick with our original proposal for
student fees, which we feel has gained student support
through the hearing process and the publication of the
results," Wessels said.
Gaining multipe student support is the main ASUN
objective, she said. ASUN is planning to work with
the administration, parents of UNL students, citizens
of the state and other organizations on campus to build
up support.
Going into Saturday's meeting, Wessels sad she
thought a possible curtailment of student fees might re
sult, but she was not expecting anything like a total elimin
ation of student fees.
Wessels said the regents' executive Committee will be
centrally involved in the matter before next month's
meeting to look for alternatives to the Fund A plan not
accepted Saturday. Members of the executive commitee
are Wessels and Regents Robert Raun of Minden, Robert
Prokop of Wilber and Robert Koefoot of Grand Island.
"Perhaps a task force will be set up to study and inves
tigate alternative methods for the use of student fees for
the long-range future Wessels said. "It seems that the
regents were concerned over long-range planning at Satur
day's meeting."