Examining the Gathering of Nations Powwow and a NCCA Division I basketball game

Steven Aicinena; Sebahattin Ziyanak

doi:10.14687/jhs.v16i3.5742

Authors

Steven Aicinena University of Texas Permian Basin
Sebahattin Ziyanak University of Texas Permian Basin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14687/jhs.v16i3.5742

Keywords:

Native Americans, powwows, spectacle, NCAA basketball, large intertribal contest powwows, gathering of nations powwow, Pan-Indianism, sport

Abstract

Powwows are ceremonial gatherings of North America’s indigenous peoples that deliver ritual focus, solidarity, collective identity, cohesion, and cultural persistence through song, dance, and social interaction. Powwows underwent significant transformations after indigenous peoples’ contact with European colonialists. The Gathering of Nations Powwow is a large intertribal contest powwow (LICP) that attracts over 3,500 dancers who compete for prize money in front of more than 15,000 spectators. This paper examines the construction of a large intertribal contest powwow and an NCAA Division I basketball game. The purpose of this study is to determine in what ways the structure of the Gathering of Nations Powwow and a New Mexico Lobo (NCAA Division I Institution) basketball game are similar and different in promotional and staging activities. This study focused on two questions “Are both LICPs and NCAA Division I basketball games rightfully considered spectacles?” And, “If LICPs are, indeed, spectacles, to what extent do they share the structural characteristics of sports spectacles such as NCAA Division I basketball games?” The participant observation method is utilized to make comparisons between the two events. All field ethnographic observations were conducted during the 2018 Gathering of Nations Powwow and a University of New Mexico men’s basketball game held during the 2018-19 season. We determined that the Gathering of Nations Powwow is a spectacle and that it is highly similar to an NCAA Division I basketball game in terms of its structure.

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Author Biographies

Steven Aicinena, University of Texas Permian Basin

Professor, University of Texas Permian Basin, College of Arts and Sciences, Kinesiology

Sebahattin Ziyanak, University of Texas Permian Basin

Assistant Professor, University of Texas Permian Basin, College of Arts and Sciences, Sociology

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