Using the Master’s Tools: Resisting Colonization through Colonial Sports.

This ethnographic research analyzes the relationship between colonial sports and traditional Navajo culture. It finds that while the Navajo have fully ingrained colonial sports into their culture, they have not necessarily adopted the colonial meanings of individualism and dominance associated with those sports. Sports like basketball and baseball are shown to provide the Navajo with recreation and entertainment; but most significantly, they seem to provide the opportunity to compete directly against Euro-Americans in an ostensibly equal arena. By occasionally beating white teams at their own game, this research shows that colonial sports are actually used as a form of resistance against colonial culture. Still, this research shows that standout athletes find themselves caught between a sport that promotes superstardom and a culture that rejects it, a social location that is difficult for these athletes to navigate.