Sitting Bull Trophy Sitting Bull Trophy The Sitting Bull Trophy is the name of the rivalry trophy that was awarded to the winner of the annual football game between the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly the North Dakota Fighting Sioux) and the University of South Dakota Coyotes. The rivalry stems from the time the two teams spent competing together in the North Central Conference (1922–2007) and later in the Great West Conference (2008–2011). The oak bust, displaying a picture of Sitting Bull, was created in 1953 after a suggestion by newspaperman Al Neuharth. The inspiration for the trophy was a minor
Sitting Bull Trophy 1953 dispute over which state was home to the final resting place of the famed chief, after it was revealed that Sitting Bull's family members had exhumed and reinterred what they believed to be his remains, moving them from Fort Yates, North Dakota to Mobridge, South Dakota. In 2000, the Sitting Bull Trophy was retired, amid the ongoing NCAA controversy over the use of Native American names and symbols by its member institutions. As of 2017, the two teams are currently not competing in the same conference, with North Dakota joining the Big Sky Conference and South Dakota joining the