Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy Over American Indian Mascots

By Carol Spindel

Book Overview

A persuasive and compassionate analysis of the appropriation of Native American culture in sports

Sports fans love to don paint and feathers to cheer on the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, the Florida State Seminoles, and the Warriors and Chiefs of their hometown high schools. But outside the stadiums, American Indians aren't cheering--they're yelling racism.

School boards and colleges are bombarded with emotional demands from both sides, while professional teams find themselves in court defending the right to trademark their Indian names and logos. In the face of opposition by a national anti-mascot movement, why are fans so determined to retain the fictional chiefs who plant flaming spears and dance on the fifty-yard line?

To answer this question, Dancing at Halftime takes the reader on a journey through the American imagination where our thinking about American Indians has been, and is still being, shaped. Dancing at Halftime is the story of Carol Spindel's determination to understand why her adopted town is so passionately attached to Chief Illiniwek, the American Indian mascot of the University of Illinois. She rummages through our national attic, holding dusty souvenirs from world's fairs and wild west shows, Edward Curtis photographs, Boy Scout handbooks, and faded football programs up to the light. Outside stadiums, while American Indian Movement protestors burn effigies, she listens to both activists and the fans who resent their attacks. Inside hearing rooms and high schools, she poses questions to linguists, lawyers, and university alumni.

A work of both persuasion and compassion, Dancing at Halftime reminds us that in America, where Pontiac is a car and Tecumseh a summer camp, Indians are often our symbolic servants, functioning as mascots and metaphors that express our longings to become "native" Americans, and to feel at home in our own land.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814781276
• ISBN13: 9780814781272
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Subtle,Profound--Extremely well-written

I'm an alumna of the University of Illinois, and was never very comfortable with the concept of "Chief Illiniwek." But I had no idea the role that Indian sports mascots have had in obscuring and distorting both the history and current status of Native peoples. Spindel's book examines the unique nexus of the history of Native peoples, football, the Big Ten, land grant universities, anthropology, wild west shows and photography, among others. In a careful and quiet way, she weaves these areas together to explore why these "mascots" are so demeaning to us all.

Uncovering the truth behind the myth

During my high school unit on Native American history and culture last fall, I used the Illiniwek issue to show my students the subtleties of racism. I wish at the time I had Spindel's book to drive her best point home: that white America needs its Native American symbols to justify our presence here on this continent and to forget a significant part of our shameful history. We also refuse to acknowledge the issues present day Native Americans face because then we would have to face up to the crimes of our founders. That it why supporters of Chief Illiniwek refuse to listen to the very people they claim to honor.

Racist Indian Mascots Exposed

An excellent analysis of the Indian mascot controversy in general and cheif illiniwek in particular. Very well researched and presented in an interesting and compelling manner.

The real story of chief illiniwek

This topic is extremely controvesial and Carol Swindel handles the topic very well. She takes time to present both sides of the issue including a history of both the Illini Indians and chief illiniwek. It's difficult to read this book and not be affected by both sides of the issue. I applaud Swindel for having the courage to write a comprehensive study of the use of racist mascots in America. A must read if you are a Big Ten or Illini fan.