Uncomfortable Icons: Uneasiness, Expectations, and American Indians in Sport

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter examines how and why the continued use of Indianness in sport makes many American Indians uneasy and then turns to consider the manner in which Native Americans have assisted with and even endorsed such monikers and mascots.

Design/methodology/approach – The current study employs interpretive approaches common in cultural studies (broadly defined). It offers textual readings of historical incidences as well as ethnographic readings of current events.

Findings – The key findings of the study offer new insights into the multiple and often competing ways in which indigenous athletes, fans, and communities interpret Native American mascots, stressing the overlooked role of American Indians who enact and endorse them.

Research limitations/implications – The focus on the use of indigeneity in the United States is the key limitation of the current research.

Originality/value – The central contribution of this work lies in its attention to the social significance and cultural politics of indigenous interpretations of American Indian mascots. In particular, it explores the complexities and contradictions central to such interpretations, stressing the unappreciated role of expectations and the pronounced uneasiness at their core.

Citation

King, C.R. (2013), "Uncomfortable Icons: Uneasiness, Expectations, and American Indians in Sport", Native Games: Indigenous Peoples and Sports in the Post-Colonial World (Research in the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 247-266. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1476-2854(2013)0000007017