The St Francis mission Indians and the National Interscholastic Catholic basketball tournament, 1924–1941 |
| |
| Authors: | Wade Davies Rich Clow |
| |
| Institution: | 1. wade.davies@mso.umt.edu |
| |
| Abstract: | Organizers of the National Interscholastic Catholic Basketball Tournament in Chicago consistently extended bids to a tribal team from St Francis Mission during the 1920s and 1930s. The authors argue that they did so because putting a ‘real’ Indian team on the court drew crowds that helped the tournament compete with a rival ‘anti-Catholic’ public school tourney at the University of Chicago. Jesuit educators at St Francis and the tribal athletes agreed to take part for other reasons, the Jesuits hoping to advance their mission goals and the players finding an opportunity to excel at a game they loved. The team's triumphs on the court thus involved them in political, interuniversity and cultural battles being waged by others off the court. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
