Various arguments against Native American mascots have used assumptions based on similar critiques such as those connected to discourse about colonialism, racism and white hegemony (e.g., Hewitt, 1991; Schultz, 1991; Monaghan, 1992). While these criticisms are very justified, in this essay, the cultural roots, symbolism and performance of sport mascots will be considered as they have been articulated to the symbolic production of cultural narratives such as "good luck"; "authenticity"; and "nostalgia." First, classicist David Sansone's (1988) ideas concerning the origin of sport will be discussed as they may be connected to present-day sport mascot rituals. The essay then uses the symbolic anthropological construct of "cultural performance" to explore the ideologies of sport mascots in today's culture.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.