Indian Spectacle

Reviews / Votes

"Novel and fresh, Indian Spectacle is a well researched and clearly written history of sport and society in the United States. Guiliano's sound, thorough, and comprehensive book makes a significant contribution to advancing current understandings in new and important ways."
- C. Richard King (professor of comparative ethnic studies, Washington State University) "Persuasively locating the University of Illinois as historical ground zero, Guiliano offers a beautifully written and thoroughly researched account of the development of the sport mascot. Indian Spectacle sets the standard for understanding the origins of the craziness at halftime." - Philip J. Deloria (author of Playing Indian) "For such a short book, the breadth of Indian Spectacle is impressive. It combines a handful of complicated, overlapping histories into a single narrative, providing the context to explore, analyze, and understand Indian mascots. This allows Guiliano to offer a nuanced understanding of the role of college sports in America and the power of their images and experiences. While college sports and mascots are the focus, Indian Spectacle further challenges us to explore issues of community identity, cultural heritage, and mass marketing in other settings." (Sport in American History) "Concise and eloquently written, Indian Spectacle offers valuable insights into the growth in popularity of football in America and the importance of the spectacle of mascots and halftime performances in narratives of white masculinity and dominance." (Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society) "A welcome addition to both scholarly and popular debates about the cultural appropriaton of American Indian images as sports mascots ... Scholars of cultural history, American Indian studies, and ethnic studies will find this book particularly useful, and the general reading public will find Giuliano's narrative revelatory. Highly recommended." (CHOICE) "The hallmark of [Indian Spectacle] is in bringing history to light in the contemporary conversation about Native American mascots." (History of Education Quarterly) "Indian Spectacle is tightly argued and well researched, theoretically rigorous and clearly written." (Great Plains Quarterly) "An outstanding contribution to a growing literature on native mascots." (The Historian) "A welcome historical text [that] adds a crucial perspective to this pressing and divisive issue in America." (French Journal of Media Studies) "The Mascot Is Fiction. The War Is Real: Why Chief Illiniwek, retired more than a decade ago, still inspires anger, pain, and pride at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign" by Chris Quintana (Chronicle of Higher Education) "Novel and fresh, Indian Spectacle is a well researched and clearly written history of sport and society in the United States. Guiliano's sound, thorough, and comprehensive book makes a significant contribution to advancing current understandings in new and important ways."
- C. Richard King (professor of comparative ethnic studies, Washington State University) "For such a short book, the breadth of Indian Spectacle is impressive. It combines a handful of complicated, overlapping histories into a single narrative, providing the context to explore, analyze, and understand Indian mascots. This allows Guiliano to offer a nuanced understanding of the role of college sports in America and the power of their images and experiences. While college sports and mascots are the focus, Indian Spectacle further challenges us to explore issues of community identity, cultural heritage, and mass marketing in other settings." (Sport in American History) "Concise and eloquently written, Indian Spectacle offers valuable insights into the growth in popularity of football in America and the importance of the spectacle of mascots and halftime performances in narratives of white masculinity and dominance." (Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society) "Persuasively locating the University of Illinois as historical ground zero, Guiliano offers a beautifully written and thoroughly researched account of the development of the sport mascot. Indian Spectacle sets the standard for understanding the origins of the craziness at halftime." - Philip J. Deloria (author of Playing Indian) "A welcome addition to both scholarly and popular debates about the cultural appropriaton of American Indian images as sports mascots ... Scholars of cultural history, American Indian studies, and ethnic studies will find this book particularly useful, and the general reading public will find Giuliano's narrative revelatory. Highly recommended." (CHOICE) "The hallmark of [Indian Spectacle] is in bringing history to light in the contemporary conversation about Native American mascots." (History of Education Quarterly) "Indian Spectacle is tightly argued and well researched, theoretically rigorous and clearly written." (Great Plains Quarterly) "An outstanding contribution to a growing literature on native mascots." (The Historian) "A welcome historical text [that] adds a crucial perspective to this pressing and divisive issue in America." (French Journal of Media Studies) "The Mascot Is Fiction. The War Is Real: Why Chief Illiniwek, retired more than a decade ago, still inspires anger, pain, and pride at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign" by Chris Quintana (Chronicle of Higher Education)