"The Lumberjack: You’re a huge basketball fan, right?
Sherman Alexie: Mmhmm.
LJ: Are you still a Sonics fan after their relocation to Oklahoma City (renamed the Thunder) or have you changed your loyalty to the Portland Trailblazers?
Alexie: (Laughs) I am a man without a team.
LJ: Really?
Alexie: Oh yeah. There is nothing more tribal than sports fans. I’ve watched a few (Thunder) games on TV. I’ve got a 10-game pack for the Blazers, so I’ve gone to about seven of those games this year. But I’m an outsider. I’m not from Portland, so it’s not my team. It’ll never be my team. So I’m a man without a tribe.
LJ: (Laughs) Alright, and now a more serious question…
Alexie: Oh, that’s the most serious question you’re going to ask today. Everything else is bull(expletive). Everything else is just my writing career, and that’s all bull(expletive). Now basketball… that’s serious.
LJ: How do you think representations of Native Americans have changed in recent years, if they have at all?
Alexie: We’ve gone from environmental superheroes to casino-owning Americans. That’s about the only difference. You know, there’s no mass-marketed images of Indians; there’s no TV shows, there’s no big movies, there’s no newscasters, sportcasters… there’s no professional athletes, so images don’t change at all. Every image you think of from 20 years go still persists."
Get the Story:
Sherman Alexie: The Lumberjack interview
(The Northern Arizona University Lumberjack 3/5)
Trending in News
1 White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
More Stories
Share this Story!
You are enjoying stories from the Indianz.Com Archive, a collection dating back to 2000. Some outgoing links may no longer work due to age.
All stories in the Indianz.Com Archive are available for publishing via Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)