The Golden Feather Club was organized on the UND campus in 1956 in an effort to bolster lagging school spirit. The club had its constitution temporarily revoked in 1970 for harassing several campus sorority houses. However, the club was reinstated and changed its name to the UND Feathers in 1971 in order to shed a tarnished image. UND disbanded the club in 1977 due to financial problems.

The main responsibility of the Golden Feather Club was selecting the cheerleading squads, but the club also performed many other activities. These included buying new cheerleading uniforms, presenting a $150 baseball scholarship, awarding the Bill Borovsky Memorial Trophy to the most valuable goalie in the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League, organizing pep rallies, and routinely traveling to Fargo for basketball games and to Minnesota for hockey games. In 1956, the Feathers split the cheerleading squads into freshmen and varsity teams. The club is also credited with creating the "Sammy the Sioux" mascot and organized the King Kold Karnival in 1968.