Native American Identity in Sports

This collection of essays examines how sport has contributed to shaping and expressing Native American identity—from the attempt of the old Indian Schools to "Americanize" Native Americans through sport to the "Indian mascot" controversy and what it says about the broader public view of Native Americans. Additional essays explore the contemporary use of the traditional sport Toka to combat obesity in some Native American communities, the Seminoles’ commercialization of alligator wrestling—a "Native" sport that was, in fact, only developed as a sport due to interest from tourists—and much more. The contributions to this volume not only tell the story of Native Americans’ participation in the world of sports, but also how Native Americans have changed and enriched the sports world in the process.

Frank A. Salamone is emeritus professor and past Chair of Sociology and Anthropology at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY. He has authored or edited more than 10 books and over 100 articles. His recent books include The Lucy Memorial Freed Slaves' Home, with Virginia Salamone, The Italians of Rochester, NY: 1940-1860, and The Culture of Jazz: Jazz as Critical Culture.

Preface Chapter One: Building a Library Collection: Fifty Years of Native American Athletes, Sports and Games on Film Daisy V. Domínguez Chapter Two: Asserting Native American Agency in an Assimilationist Institution Stacy Sewell Chapter Three: Amateur Boxing and Assimilation at the Stewart Indian School, Carson City, Nevada, 1935-1948 Andrew McGregor Chapter Four: Federal Indian Boarding Schools in New Mexico Sean Sullivan Chapter Five: American Indian Collegiate Athletes: Accessing Higher Education Through Sport Ali Christie Chapter Six: Toka: Empowering Women and Combating Obesity in Tohono O'odham Communities Kathy Brookes Chapter Seven: Native American Wrestling Frank Salamone Chapter Eight: Grappling with Tradition: The Seminoles and the Commercialization of Alligator Wrestling Andrew Frank Chapter Nine: Sacred Ground and Ground Strokes: the Development of Native American Tennis Misty May Jackson and Jannus Roossien Cottrell Chapter Ten: Olympic Champion, Lakota Warrior Andrew McGregor and Billy Mills Chapter Eleven: The Coldest War: Billy Mills, the 1960 Olympics and the Understandings of Native American Cold War Race Relations Dan Taradash Chapter Twelve: On the Offensive: Anti-Indian Racism in the Creation and Contestation of the NCAA Ban on Native American Mascots Richard King