FORT YATES (AP) - Some members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe say a tribal vote should be held on the fate of the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname.

"I'm not sure if it would pass or not," Ricky Red Eagle said. "But the answer has to come from the people."

Red Eagle was one of 11 Standing Rock tribal members interviewed by the Grand Forks Herald recently at the tribe's Prairie Knights Casino in Fort Yates.

The Herald said the interviews were arranged by Sam Dupris, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River, S.D., Sioux Tribe, who is supporting the nickname and is a paid envoy of the privately owned Ralph Engelstad Arena, which holds UND hockey games.

No nickname opponents were invited to the interviews, the Herald said, and none of the people interviewed are members of the Standing Rock tribal council. Most of those interviewed were given a meal and gas money, paid by the arena through Dupris, the Herald said.

Under a settlement with the NCAA, UND has three years to win support of the Fighting Sioux nickname from the state's Sioux tribes. Standing Rock Chairman Ron His Horse Is Thunder and other tribal leaders have maintained their opposition.

Some of those interviewed by the Herald advocated a reservation-wide referendum after debates in every reservation district. Others suggested a popular vote at meetings of the governing councils of the eight districts, with those results given to the tribal council. One suggested a vote among American Indian students at UND.

Red Eagle, a Vietnam veteran, said he was offended that tribal leaders held a press conference at UND about the nickname instead of speaking on the reservation.

"It's the pettiest thing this tribe has ever had to fight," he said. "There are deeper issues here that we need to work on. The issues aren't over there (in Grand Forks) … Respectable men gave them that name. Who are these guys to take it away?"

Diane Gates' father, Edward Loon, was part of a Standing Rock tribal delegation that formally gave the University of North Dakota the right to use its UND nickname and logo in 1969.

"I don't see it as offensive to anyone," Diane Gates said of the nickname. "I think it was given out of respect. Sioux people, years ago, worked as a team, they cooperated … they should respect what my father did … it's about the bravery to compete, to succeed, to encourage our youth to go to school."

Thelma Shell Track, a former tribal judge, said the nickname represents something honorable about her people.

"We are Fighting Sioux in real life, from way back when," she said. "We're alive now today because we were fighting way back when. We've had to fight for everything we've got."

Those interviewed said tribal council members spend too much time denouncing the nickname and too little time addressing issues on the reservation.

"The logo isn't heating my house," said Mary Louise Defender Wilson, who is in her 80s. She said she often cannot get enough help to fill her propane tank.

"(The logo) is not something we feel strongly about," she said, "so why are our leaders spending so much time on it? They should be doing something to make our lives better at home. They should be Fighting Sioux and fight for better services for us."

Those interviewed said racism will continue with or without the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.