the name of the state, and not a Native American tribe. The state of Illinois was named by French explorers after the indigenous Illiniwek people, a consortium of Algonquian tribes which thrived in the area. The word Illiniwek or iliniwek is the plural form of ilinwe and means "those who speak in the ordinary way," although it has often been mistranslated as "tribe of superior men." Retiring Chief Illiniwek On February 16, 2007, Lawrence Eppley, chair of the board of trustees issued a unilateral ruling retiring Chief Illiniwek. Chief Illiniwek's last performance, by the final Chief, Dan Maloney of Galesburg, Illinois, took place on February 21, 2007 at the last men's home basketball game of the 2006–2007 regular season against Michigan, in Assembly Hall. As at the time, Chief Illiniwek also performed at women's home basketball games, the first halftime performance without the portrayal of Chief Illiniwek was the following night, February 22, 2007, at the women's basketball game against Michigan State. On March 13, 2007, the University of Illinois board of trustees voted to retire Illiniwek's name, image and regalia. In February 2007, the National Congress of American Indians thanked the University and commended them for retiring Chief Illiniwek. After retirement On October 4, 2009, the University of Illinois gave the Chief Illiniwek regalia to the Oglala Lakota. The media were denied entry to this event, which was called a "private function" by Associate Director of Athletics Dana Brenner. The university did not offer a public statement about the return. Students and fans still chant "Chief" during the performance of Three In One during halftime. Since neither the NCAA nor the university have any control over what the fans chant, opposition groups have called to additionally ban the Three In One performance. In April 2014, an indigenous student, Xochitl Sandoval, sent a letter to the university administration (which she also posted on her Facebook page) describing her thoughts of suicide resulting from the daily insults she felt due to the continued presence of "The Chief" on campus, including other students wearing the old image and name on sweatshirts and the continued "unofficial" performances by the current "Chief", Ivan A. Dozier. She stated that these thoughts came as a result of her feeling that she had no recourse because the university had not enforced its own policies regarding racism and the creation of a hostile environment for indigenous students such