Wade Davies – författare

Winner: John C. Ewers Book Award

A prominent Navajo educator once told historian Peter Iverson that “the five major sports on the Navajo Nation are basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball, and rodeo.” The Native American passion for basketball extends far beyond the Navajo, whether on reservations or in cities, among the young and the old. Why basketball—a relatively new sport—should hold such a place in Native culture is the question Wade Davies takes up in Native Hoops.

Indian basketball was born of hard times and hard places, its evolution traceable back to the boarding schools—or “Indian schools”—of the early twentieth century. Davies describes the ways in which the sport, plied as a tool of social control and cultural integration, was adopted and transformed by Native students for their own purposes, ultimately becoming the “Rez ball” that embodies Native American experience, identity, and community. Native Hoops travels the continent, from Alaska to North Carolina, tying the rise of basketball—and Native sports history—to sweeping educational, economic, social, and demographic trends through the course of the twentieth century. Along the way, the book highlights the toils and triumphs of well-known athletes, like Jim Thorpe and the 1904 Fort Shaw girl’s team, even as it brings to light the remarkable accomplishments of those whom history has, until now, left behind.

The first comprehensive history of American Indian basketball, Native Hoops tells a story of hope, achievement, and celebration—a story that reveals the redemptive power of sport and the transcendent spirit of Native culture.

In addition to revisions and updates, the second edition of “We Are Still Here” features new material, seeing this well-loved American History Series volume maintain its treatment of American Indians in the 20th century while extending its coverage into the opening decades of the 21st century.

In addition to revisions and updates, the second edition of “We Are Still Here” features new material, seeing this well-loved American History Series volume maintain its treatment of American Indians in the 20th century while extending its coverage into the opening decades of the 21st century.

As the COVID-19 pandemic struck peoples throughout the world, it disproportionately devastated Native American communities. The inequalities, disparities, and injustices they had long experienced as historically marginalized peoples magnified the effects of this crisis throughout Indian Country, causing high hospitalization and death rates, as well as intense economic and social dislocation. This edited volume seeks to tell stories of Native Americans facing this matrix of disease and colonialism in these pandemic years while also highlighting ways that Indigenous people innovated, bonded, and endured through this crisis. It features Indigenous perspectives and experiences through scholarly and creative pieces including short stories, visual art, and academic and personal narratives. Contributors ask how past experiences and traumas have contextualized Native people’s responses to COVID-19 and how intergenerational knowledge and ties have sustained their communities during the pandemic.