What's in s Mascot? When the N.C.A.A. cracked down on Indian mascots last year, not every tribe applauded. A look at the relationship between the Seminoles and Florida State University.

• Author: Lapointe, Joe

Before the first players take the field at a Florida State University football game, a student dressed as Chief Osceola, a 19th-century Seminole warrior, rides a horse to the 50-yard line and throws a flaming spear into the ground. The fans, including some Seminole tribe members, erupt with cheers.

Outside the stadium stands a statue of the mascot above the word "Unconquered," because the Seminoles never surrendered to the United States when they were at war.

Images like these represent the complex relationship between Seminole culture and sports at Florida State. This bond has strengthened since a crackdown by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N.C.A.A.) last year on Indian mascots, nicknames, and imagery among sports teams.

Toni Sanchez, a Florida State senior with both Seminole and Hispanic roots, calls the N.C.A.A. policy "beyond idiotic." She thinks the Indian imagery around campus is beautiful. "Every time I look at it, I get really giddy inside," she says. "I'm so proud of it."

The Seminole tribe, formed in the 1700s, was made up of Indians, especially Creek, who migrated south to Florida from Georgia and Alabama, as well as escaped slaves. In the 1830s, the U.S. government, under President Andrew Jackson, forced thousands of Indians to march from the southern U.S. to Oklahoma, along what became known as the "Trail of Tears." But hundreds of Seminoles stayed behind to fight, and the tribe is the only one never to sign a formal peace treaty with the U.S.

Today, there are 3,200 members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Many live near the university's Tallahassee campus.

18 SCHOOLS CITED

Florida State was one of 18 institutions cited by the N.C.A.A. in 2005 for "mascots, nicknames, or images deemed hostile or abusive in terms of race, ethnicity, or national origin." The policy, which forbids schools from using the symbols during N.C.A.A. postseason events, came after years of complaints from Native American groups.

Six of the 18 schools have since received N.C.A.A. permission to continue using their imagery after getting approval from specific Indian groups--in Florida State's case, the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Eight others have changed or plan to change their nicknames, according to the N.C.A.A. (see chart).

"What we've accomplished in part is to raise the level of awareness nationally about how we treat Native Americans," says N.C.A.A. president Myles Brand. "If we don't stand by our values, we lose our integrity." At...