Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2013This dissertation is an ethnographic study of the social and cultural significance of the game of basketball in the community of Nenana, Alaska. Since the building of high school gymnasiums across rural Alaska in the mid-1970s, basketball has become a popular and socially significant activity in rural Alaskan communities. The dissertation focuses on the nature of the social relations that arise from playing basketball and related activities and the constitution of a social space within which these relations become meaningful. It argues that the sport is a metaphor for community cohesiveness and ultimately a reflection of the social and cultural construction of community itself. Moreover, basketball has an effect on the everyday life of a community by providing a symbolic stage, which reinforces community identity and a sense of belonging through the renegotiation of interpersonal relations, dissemination of cultural values, and storytelling.Chapter 1.1. Introduction -- 1.1.1. Research questions -- 1.2. The community of Nenana -- 1.2.1. History -- 1.2.2. The community today -- 1.2.3. Demographic challenges -- 1.3. An anthropologist in Nenana -- 1.4. Alaskan basketball literature -- 1.5. Sports and social theory -- 1.6. Sports settings as symbolic spaces -- Chapter 2.1. History of basketball in Alaska: a brief overview -- 2.1.1. Basketball as an indoor sport for students -- 2.2. Basketball in Alaska -- 2.2.1. Organizational efforts -- 2.3. Basketball adopted and adapted -- 2.3.1. Why basketball? -- 2.4. Basketball in Nenana -- 2.5. Conclusion -- Chapter 3.1. Basketball nights in Nenana -- 3.1.1. Basketball games; a wealth of symbolisms -- 3.2. Analyzing the experience of high school basketball -- 3.2.1. Practices: learning the rules -- 3.2.2. Written rules: eligibility and the ASAA contract -- 3.2.3. Unwritten rules -- 3.2.4. Educative purpose and the teaching of values -- 3.2.5. Understanding conflict -- 3.2.6. Making friends in practice -- 3.3. Road trips in Alaska -- 3.4. The game: living in the moment -- 3.5. Watching the game: spectatorship and participation -- 3.6. Conclusion -- Chapter 4.1. The ups and downs of Nenana's school spirit -- 4.2. Community spirit in Nenana -- 4.3. The social function of basketball -- 4.3.1. Pick-up games -- 4.3.2. High school basketball nights -- 4.3.3. Nenana Invitational Tournament (NIT) -- 4.4. The heart of the game and collective memory -- 4.4.1. The "heart of the game" -- 4.4.2. Collective memory: consolidation of the social effects -- 4.5. Conclusion -- Chapter 5.1. Gym life -- 5.1.1. The gym as a contested space -- 5.2. The gym: a symbolic world -- 5.2.1. The gymnasium deconstructed -- 5.3. The gym versus the street -- 5.4. The gym and the world; connecting people -- 5.5. Conclusion -- Chapter 6.1. Conclusion -- 6.1.1. More than science -- References
