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Interview: Sherman Alexie on sports and other things
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment

"The Lumberjack: You’re a huge basketball fan, right?

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."

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Sherman Alexie: The Lumberjack interview (The Northern Arizona University Lumberjack 3/5)