The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 24 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 30 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
American Indian Sport History
Open accessAbstract
Swimming, cycling, and golf were modern as were the newer sports of baseball, basketball, and American football that would rise to public attention in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Lesser known sports as well as those with fewer professional opportunities have been overshadowed by considerations of how Natives fit into ‘the big three’. Games could demonstrate friendship between communities visiting for council or they could be used to settle disputes. Football, arguably the most well-known sport that Natives participated in, began at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1893. Hopi runner Louis Tewanima would participate in both the 1908 and 1912 Olympics, garnering silver in the 1912 10,000-metre event. Women at the Fort Shaw Indian School competed in, and won, the women’s basketball tournament at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The opportunities of Native sport were further mitigated by the rampant discrimination athletes faced.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This handbook chapter surveys the historiography of American Indian sport history, arguing that Indigenous communities adapted both pre-contact games and colonizer-introduced sports to their own value systems, and that the field needs decolonial approaches that center Native voices and knowledge. It traces this history from lacrosse, shinny, running, and horse racing through boarding-school athletics, baseball, football, and "Rez ball," to mascot activism and contemporary professional athletes.
Key findings
- Lacrosse was played under many names and forms — the Onandaga played *dehunshegawaes* ("they hit a round object"), the Ojibwe *bagaa'atowe* ("they hit something") — and served purposes including honoring the dead, encouraging fertility, settling disputes, and training for war; in 1763 Ojibwe players at Fort Michilimackinac used a game to disguise warriors who rushed the gates.
- Native women had far greater athletic access than white counterparts constrained by Protestant gender norms; Fort Shaw Indian School women won the basketball tournament at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, playing full court, twenty-minute halves, with no timeouts — rules used by their male counterparts, unlike the modified game played by white women.
- Running and horse racing operated as both sport and survival: Pawnee Big Hawk Chief ran the world's first recorded (but unofficial) sub-four-minute mile in 1876; Narragansett Ellison Brown Sr. won the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939; Oglala Lakota Billy Mills was the first Native to win the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics; Hopi Louis Tewanima took silver in the 1912 10,000-meter event.
- Boarding-school sport served assimilationist ends but also anticolonial ones, giving students community, autonomy, and travel; Navajo women embraced basketball in the early 1920s, before Mormon missionaries brought the game to the reservation in the 1940s, and the Shiprock Cardinals collected over a thousand trophies in state, regional, and national tournaments from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Methods
- This is a historiographical overview chapter in the *Routledge Handbook of Sport History*, synthesizing existing scholarship rather than presenting original primary research.
- It draws on a wide secondary literature (e.g., Vennum on lacrosse, Downey's *The Creator's Game*, Oxendine's *American Indian Sports Heritage*, Gilbert's *Hopi Runners*, Bloom on boarding-school sports, Guiliano's *Indian Spectacle*) plus archival sources such as Native letters, diaries, and newspapers.
- No formal sample, dataset, or statistical analysis is described.
Limitations
- The authors state that sports Indigenous women played, particularly before the 20th century, have long been underexplored, partly because contemporary archival practices preserve written and photographic evidence from boarding schools, colleges, and progressive organizations rather than oral histories and artifacts.
- The authors state that Native voices and interpretations are silenced in many archival spaces, and that archives within the settler-state purview either fail to incorporate Native experiences or reproduce archival silences by not challenging dominant discourses.
- The authors state that sport history has little existing scholarship on the inverse question — how sport is transformed by its relationship to Indigeneity — and that centering Indigenous experiences requires recognizing that Native ways of knowing may challenge dominant discourses of sport as pleasurable, civilizing, and capitalist.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
27 Sources not found · 17 Own interpretation · 3 No basis given · 2 Not checked yet · 1 Own result
In the paper
“Tennis, for example, was not embraced by male students at the Cherokee Seminary as they felt it a”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [22]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a causeSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Seneca Louis”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [13]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Along with these ball games, Native communities also organized around physical activities like running and horseracing.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“This ideology was on full display during the 1904 Anthropology Days in St. Louis, Missouri where white anthropologists devised a number of athletic competitions for Indigenous peoples participating in the World's Fair.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [15]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Running in this manner often confounded white sportsmen who viewed the sport of running as requiring a finish line and a clear, sole winner.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Winnebago players, for example, would share their successes in war before play to intimidate opponents.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [8]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates a causeSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“When, during a footrace, the athletes waited to cross the finish line together, director of Physical Culture James Sullivan attributed this practice to a sign of mental weakness rather than recognizing an alternative conception of running.15”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [15]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“That disruption has manifested in a continuing tension between sports as familial, communal, and sacred, and sports as a way for Native athletes to achieve notoriety and opportunity outside of their tribal communities.38”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [38]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Natives, particularly those who lived within the U.S. Plains and the Southwest, turned to running and horse-racing as both a sport and as a means of survival.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“For the Hopi, running was not just a sport that relied on fixed times and lengths of runs-it was and remains a significant cultural practice that underlines Hopi ways of knowing and being.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [14]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Pi-Kániwa (Piegan Blackfoot), Gros Venture, and Apache participated in horse races between tribal communities, including those”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It also, dependent on the sport, was met with Native student's own belief systems about which sports were appropriate based on gender.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 38
- The quote only partly states this claim. 4
- Probably not a substantial claim. 3
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Running was a not just individual, it was also a matter of tribal identity.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Carlisle and Haskell were not the only boarding schools who encouraged sport as a means of”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [24]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“They also served as training for war and even a distraction.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Sports at Native boarding schools served anticolonial purposes by allowing them a measure of community and autonomy that they would not have had otherwise.Sport allowed them to travel locally, regionally, and in some cases nationally.It also allowed them time set aside from the strict authoritarian rules of Superintendents and other white administrators.Yet, these moments of joy were tempered by”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Warfare was also tied to horse-racing as men, including race attendees, would boast of their prowess at war before and during races.Racehorses themselves were also valuable commodities that were carefully protected.Acquiring a racehorse through raiding was considered an impressive feat.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“lacrosse abounded with men dominating play in some communities and women participating in others: the Onandaga played dehunshegawaes (”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [5]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“The opportunities of Native sport were further mitigated by the rampant discrimination athletes faced.26 Racial sensationalism from sportswriters captured the football and baseball games as battles between Indian”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [26]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Contemporary Native athletes who compete professionally often speak of their relationship to sport as generational knowledge transfer.Others, like Madison Hammond (Navajo, San Felipe), note that their success as a professional athlete provides an opportunity for tribal youth to see others with similar backgrounds and experiences succeed.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Western colonizers often lamented that Indigenous peoples' play did not conform to Western value systems.The religious rituals associated with sport were perceived as forms of paganism.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Lacrosse was not the only game that interested Natives.René Goulaine de Laudonnière recorded the Timucua playing a game where they lobbed a ball into a reed mat placed atop a tree in the 1560s.Mississippian Natives played chunkey, which involved rolling a disk or hoop across a playing field in the 15 th and 16 th centuries.9 Native communities also played shinny”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [9]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although not as elaborately religious as lacrosse, shinny still operated as an important community ritual.The Makah, for example, celebrated the successful capture of a whale that would feed and support community survival with a game of shinny.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Spiritual ceremony including protective medicines would be utilized to enhance both the horse's performance and that of its rider as well as to guard against those who might wish the horse or rider harm.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Similarly, Inuit, Iñuiat, Yupik and other Alaska natives would develop their own sporting culture around circumpolar life. Stick pull games simulated common activities in daily life including grabbing a slippery salmon from rushing water (the Indian Stick Pull) and pulling seals from holes in ice (the Eskimo Stick Pull). 37 Other games mimicked skills competitors would need to hunt seals, carry”
§ American Indian Sport History > References
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [37]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Cayuga Haudenosaunee would play the”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [6]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“When the Office of Indian Affairs (later known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs) started constructing off-reservation Native American boarding schools in the latter half of the 19 th century, sports emerged as curricular focal point.U.S. administrators were guided by Progressives who believed sports could assist with assimilation activities within Native communities.19”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [19]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Like indigenous ball games which missionaries and colonizers feared would lead to gambling and laziness, surfing was also perceived by missionaries in the 1820s as potentially corruptive. Despite their prohibition, surfing along with canoeing and hula remained a vital part of Kanaka Maoli culture as it not only served as a form of resistance to white colonizers but also became a way for Native”
§ American Indian Sport History > References
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The athletic cultures created and fostered at Native boarding schools permeated the boundaries of the schools.It provided a literal training ground for Native athletes who would find success in professional sports of running, boxing, baseball, and football.20”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [20]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Football, arguably the most well-known sport that Natives participated in, began at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1893.It was not until Superintendent Richard Henry Pratt hired famous football coach Glenn”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Basketball, which could be played indoors during 23 For examples of boarding school histories see: David Wallace Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928 (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1995); Brenda Child, Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940 the winter, had been introduced to the Montana school after student”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [25]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a causeSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Beginning in the late 1920s, colleges, universities, and professional teams would develop Indian-themed athletic brands that drew on colonial tropes of conquest and subjugation.Using headdresses, breech clothes, feathered capes, and other supposedly Native imagery, white institutions would reenact stereotypes of Indians.This would include war whoops, quasi-fancy dancing, and the adoption of music”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [29]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Betting with beaver robes, porcelain collars, and other goods, clans would compete against one another not only for victory but also to gain favor for their family and village.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [7]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Games could demonstrate friendship between communities visiting for council or they could be used to settle disputes.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
hedgedstates a possible cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Shoshone, Bannock, Crow, Ute, Diné, and other Native peoples acquired horses from Spanish colonizers reinvigorating the horse-trading network that had arisen prior to the 18 th century in the lands that would become Mexico.16”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [16]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Today's Indian Relay competitions serves as a modern manifestation of this historical ritual.18 Competitors often connect their own sporting experience to those of tribal or familiar elders.This acts as an expression of both cultural continuity and Indigenous agency.Participating is a way to honor one's history and one's community.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [18]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“Penobscot Louis Sockalexis would debut for Major League Baseball's Cleveland Spiders in October 1871 after attending the College of the Holy Cross and Notre Dame University.Six years later, Sporting Life recorded that Sockalexis' taking the field was greeted with”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [27]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites [28]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites [29]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“Shinny crossed racial and gender divisions: soldiers in the American Revolution played shinny at camp; enslaved children on South Carolina plantations played shinny prior to the Civil War. 10 It could be played against other Native women, against Indigenous men, or both.11”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [10]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites [11]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In 1763, Ojibwe players invited British troops at Fort Michilimachinac [now Fort Mackinac] to watch a game of lacrosse.They used play to disguise warriors who rushed the gates and overwhelmed British troops securing use of the fort as they fought against”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Boarding school archives offer significant archival collections around sport including Native letters, diaries, and publications where Native athletes expressed their own ways of understanding sport.Importantly, though, like all archival holdings tied to the settlercolonial state, we must understand the complexity of those records.While students might express joy at the sporting opportunities, it”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Native communities off the mainland participated in their own sporting experiences. Kanaka Maoli Duke Paoa Kahanamoku popularized the Hawaiian sport of He'e nalu (surfing). He'e nalu was an expression of the kapu system of political and religious structures that organized Indigenous life. Commoners could not surf with tribal chiefs, certain surf breaks were reserved for royalty, and boards”
§ American Indian Sport History > References
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [36]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Centering Indigenous experiences in sport requires the recognition that Native voices and interpretations are silenced in many archival spaces.Archives within the settler-state purview either wholesale fail to incorporate Native experiences and voices or reproduce archival silences by neglecting to challenge dominant discourses around Indigenous sports and athletes.39”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [39]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Native communities were deeply invested in sport as uniquely Indigenous.Even when adopting sports developed by white colonizers, Indigenous communities adapted games to incorporate their own value systems.Dependent on tribe, this could include using one's Native language to organize play, participating in religious or spiritual ceremonies, incorporating communal knowledge, Native dress, and”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Indigenous religious, political, and communal practices are enmeshed within sport and as such reveals a richer and more progressive history than its white US counterpart.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The size of the playing field and materials used to create the sticks and balls varied; some played the game on ice while others used level ground as a playing field.Players could hit, or even kick the ball, but could not use their hands in any way.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“Despite the suppression of horse-racing and its associated betting by colonizers, its importance to Native communities remained consistent historically.It was incorporated into Independence Day festivals, Native fairs, and other communal events like rodeo.17”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [17]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Unmarried women could play double-ball where two balls tied together with a string where thrown and caught upon a stick, scoring points against one's opponents.They could also compete in games like kicking the ball which Crow woman Pretty Shield remembered playing with her female friends growing up.12”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [12]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Despite these opportunities for Indigenous women, the sports Indigenous women played have long been underexplored by scholars, particularly those prior to the 20 th century.In part, this is a function of contemporary archival practices that have preserved written and photographic evidence from boarding schools, colleges and universities, and progressive organizations.Much less attention has been”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a possible cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Native women enjoyed far greater access to athletic opportunities than their white counterparts who were constrained by Protestant gender norms.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Lacrosse games historically were hosted to honor the dead, encourage fertility, and as signs of faith to placate spirits.”
§ American Indian Sport History > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [7]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
The paper relies on this without support.
The dominance of boarding schools and the associated sports of baseball and football have overshadowed other sporting histories in the early to mid-twentieth century.
“The dominance of boarding schools and the associated sports of baseball and football have overshadowed other sporting histories in the early to mid-twentieth century.”
The paper relies on this without support.
There is little existing scholarship on how sport is transformed by its relationship to Indigeneity.
“However, what it also illustrates is a shortcoming within sport history where there is little existing scholarship on the inverse: how is sport transformed by its relationship to Indigeneity?”
The paper relies on this without support.
The Haudenosaunee-Iroquois are consistently ranked in the top five teams in the world in lacrosse.
“Its importance remains as the Haudenosaunee-Iroquois are consistently ranked in the top five teams in the world in lacrosse.”
Citations
Cites
The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America
Klein, A. M., & Gorn, E. J. (1987) · The New England Quarterly · doi:10.2307/365432 · Cited by 86
American Indian Lacrosse, Little Brother of War
Stevens, P. L., & Vennum, T. (1994) · Michigan Historical Review · doi:10.2307/20173485 · Cited by 52
American Indian sports heritage
Grueninger, R. W., & Oxendine, J. (1990) · The American Indian Quarterly · doi:10.2307/1185693 · Cited by 34
Downey, A. (2018) · University of British Columbia Press eBooks · doi:10.59962/9780774836043 · Cited by 30
The Play of Slave Children in the Plantation Communities of the Old South, 1820-1860
Wiggins, D. K. (1980) · Cited by 27
Reading football how the popular press created an American spectacle
Oriard, M. V. (n.d.) · Cited by 25
The Cyclical History of Horse Racing: The USA's Oldest and (Sometimes) Most Popular Spectator Sport
Riess, S. A. (2014) · The International Journal of the History of Sport · doi:10.1080/09523367.2013.862520 · Cited by 18
Debating on Cultural Performances of Hawaiian Surfing in the 19th Century
Lemarié, J. (2016) · Journal de la Société des océanistes · doi:10.4000/jso.7625 · Cited by 17
American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War
Calloway, C. G., & Vennum, T. (1995) · The New England Quarterly · doi:10.2307/366274 · Cited by 17
Full-court quest: the girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, basketball champions of the world
(2009) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.46-5099 · Cited by 16
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Ranking chiefs would compete against one another, demonstrating their knowledge of ocean currents as well as their physical skill. Like indigenous ball games which missionaries and colonizers feared would lead to gambling and laziness, surfing was also perceived by missionaries in the 1820s as potentially corruptive. Despite their prohibition, surfing along with canoeing and hula remained a vital part of Kanaka Maoli culture as it not only served as a form of resistance to white colonizers but also became a way for Native Hawaiians to build industries around tourists who would journey to Hawaii after its annexation. Similarly, Inuit, Iñuiat, Yupik and other Alaska natives would develop their own sporting culture around circumpolar life. Stick pull games simulated common activities in daily life including grabbing a slippery salmon from rushing water (the Indian Stick Pull) and pulling seals from holes in ice (the Eskimo Stick Pull). 37 Other games mimicked skills competitors would need to hunt seals, carry animals across long distances as a result of successful hunts, and contests of balance that represented practice needed when moving over ice floes. Dog mushing, cross country and downhill skiing, as well as curling, ice hockey (known as ricket prior to the 18 th century) and other sports appropriate for ice play also encouraged Native athleticism. They also adopted games from the lower forty-eight 36 Jérémy Lemarié, "Debating on Cultural Performances of Hawaiian Surfing in the 19th Century," Journal de La Société Des Océanistes, no. 142-143 (2016): 159-174.
- Davies, Wade. "How Boarding School Basketball Became Indian Basketball." American Indians and Popular Culture: Media, Sports, and Politics 1 (2012): 263-78.
- Dyreson, Mark. "The" Physical Value" of Races and Nations: Anthropology and Athletics at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition." In The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games: Sport, Race, and American Imperialism, 127-155. University of Nebraska Press, 2008.
- Gilbert, Matthew Sakiestewa. Hopi Runners: Crossing Between Indian and American. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2018.
- Ledbetter, Bonnie S. "Sports and Games of the American Revolution." Journal of Sport History 6, no. 3 (1979): 29-40.
- Sparks, Randy J. "Gentleman's Sport: Horse Racing in Antebellum Charleston." The South Carolina Historical Magazine 93, no. 1 (1992): 15-30.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Herrera, R. A. (2026) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108938037.003
Huebner, A. J., & Keene, J. D. (2026) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108938037.002
Metadata
- Authors
- Guiliano, J., & Eby, B.
- Affiliations
- Indiana University Indianapolis (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Guiliano, Jennifer
- ORCID
- Guiliano, Jennifer
- Venue
- Routledge Handbook of Sport History
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Published
- 2021-07-26
- Pages
- 303-311
- OpenAlex
- W3184249804
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
- IUScholarWorks (Indiana University) (submittedVersion)
- Purdue University Indianapolis (Indiana University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Miami
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Sociology, History and Politics of Sport
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › American Sports and Literature
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Indigenous Cultures and History
- Keywords
- Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Olympic Games, world's fairs, discrimination in sport, Native American schools, American football, swimming, cycling, baseball, basketball, golf
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-27, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-27 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review