MONDAY October 30, 2017
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 147 Issue 19
‘Please tell me where my daughter is’ Yingying Zhang’s family opens up about alleged kidnapping BY KAREN LIU STAFF WRITER
For more than two months, Yingying Zhang’s family waits for answers in a dimly lit, one-story house day after day. The family sat on a set of couches facing away from the window in their rented Urbana home Thursday afternoon, looking at the otherwise empty living room during long moments of silence, which were only interrupted by Yingying’s father’s deep sighs. Lifeng Ye, Yingying’s mother, said she never met suspect Brendt Christensen’s family, though she wanted to. She wanted to learn more about the man
who allegedly kidnapped her daughter. “(Christensen’s) mother is also a mother, so it must be painful for her too. I just want to beg his mother, ask him to tell me where my daughter is,” she said, her voice muffled through cries. “Every mother’s worst nightmare is something like this happening to her child. I stand here every day and look out the window, hoping to see my daughter.” Most of Zhang’s family arrived in the United States in June, but not Ye. She came on Aug. 19. Nearly two months later, she finally saw Christensen for the first time in court on Oct. 11.
Zhang said it was a painful experience. She had to be escorted out before the session started after breaking down in tears. “I really wanted to kill him, but then, I think about his mother,” she said. “Let him take the consequences and take the punishment. If punishment is what he deserved, then punishment is what he should get.” Ye said it’s hard for the family to come all the way from China, have to quickly learn English and have to wait for so long to find Yingying, whom the FBI presumes dead. Ye’s words were interrupted several times by her crying, and she had to be comforted
by Xiaolin Hou, Yingying’s long-time boyfriend. “I am in pain, every night when I go to bed. I hardly get any sleep. I just keep having dreams about my daughter. Please tell me where my daughter is,” Ye said. “Without her, I don’t know how I will go on. I keep dreaming about my daughter. Where is my daughter?” Ronggao Zhang, Yingying’s father, agreed Christensen’s parents should take some responsibility for their son’s actions to earn Yingying’s family’s forgiveness. “My daughter is innoSEE YINGYING | 3A
BRIAN BAUER THE DAILY ILLINI
From left to right: Ronggao Zhang (Yingying’s father), Lifeng Ye (Yingying’s mother), Xiaolin Hou (Yingying’s boyfriend) and Xinyang Zhang (Yingying’s brother) sit in their rented Urbana home on Thursday.
Native American Guardian Association advocates for Chief Illiniwek BY KARAN ABROL STAFF WRITER
Saturday’s football game against Wisconsin was preceded by a Native American dance performance to show solidarity with the use of Chief Illiniwek’s likeness on campus. The performance was hosted by the Native American Guardian Association, an organization dedicated to preserving Native American imagery and symbolism in American athletics. “We come to find with recent research … most Native American people actually embrace (Native American symbols),” said Mark Thomas Beasley Yellow Horse, president of NAGA. The performance featured an Honor Song in respect for war veterans and both a women’s traditional and a men’s traditional Native American dance. It ended with a Unity song, in which the crowd of over 50 people joined hands and moved in a circle to a slow beat. Beasley said NAGA also focuses on encouraging
more authentic portrayals and educating people who propagate Native American symbolism to do so accurately. “That’s mainly how most people on reservations view it: They like it; they’re proud that they want to use our name and show our heritage,” said Eunice Davidson, a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe. Davidson is a board member of NAGA. The event was primarily in defence of keeping the “Fighting Illini” as the University’s official football team name. “We agree that sometimes the symbols that have been used are not appropriate,” said Andre Billeaudeaux, executive director of NAGA. “But the idea is to educate, not eradicate, and the idea is to improve what you have but never give up the opportunity to teach about Native Americanism.” The organization has traveled to other states to preserve the symbolism used. “We want to support keeping the Fighting Illini. We’ve gone many plac-
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Ivan Dozier, the unofficial Chief Illiniwek from 2010 to 2015, spoke of an Illini Republicans meeting Thursday in Lincoln Hall. Dozier informed those in attendance of the general history of the Chief, how it was started, how it was carried out and why it was retired. Currently, the Native American Guardian Association and others are encouraging the authentic use of the Chief.
es. We ended up going to Michigan to save the Redskins name, and the vote eventually saved it there,” Davidson said. Ivan Dozier, board member of the Honor the Chief Society and unofficial Chief Illiniwek from 2010 to 2015,
was also in attendance. Dozier said the Honor the Chief Society was looking to partner with NAGA to make sure honorable representations of Native American culture are celebrated rather than destroyed. “They’re here to stand
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and support Illinois in the way that it celebrates its Native American imagery, and we’re here to secure the movement and the Chief’s return,” Dozier said. Davidson said that
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