David Kamper is a professor of American Indian studies, associate director and cofounder of the Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change, and cofounder of Surf/Skate Studies Collaborative at San Diego State University. He is the author of The Work of Sovereignty: Tribal Labor Relations and Self-Determination at the Navajo Nation and coeditor of Waves of Belonging: Indigeneity, Race, and Gender in the Surfing Lineup.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Ball Is Life 2. Some Days It’s a Good Day to Play Basketball 3. Rezball, the Anti-Funeral 4. Rezball and Gender 5. Skate (Rez) Life 6. Skater Legends of the Rez 7. Skate Elders 8. Native Women and Nonbinary Skaters Epilogue Works Cited Index

“David Kamper has provided a provocative and insightful reimagining of the role and function of sport in contemporary Native life. His sensitive portrayal of basketball and skateboarding invites the reader into a vibrant world of youth cultures, community engagement, Indigenous survivance, and reinvention of what it means to be Indigenous in the twenty-first century.”-Jeffrey P. Shepherd, author of We Are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People “Rezballers and Skate Elders is a contribution to its field, offering an upbeat portrayal of American Indian youth culture that goes beyond yet another story about historical traumas and tragedies. This is a fascinating and thought-provoking work.”-Ashkan Soltani Stone, coauthor of Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Heavy Metal Scene

David Kamper is a professor of American Indian studies, associate director and cofounder of the Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change, and cofounder of Surf/Skate Studies Collaborative at San Diego State University. He is the author of The Work of Sovereignty: Tribal Labor Relations and Self-Determination at the Navajo Nation and coeditor of Waves of Belonging: Indigeneity, Race, and Gender in the Surfing Lineup.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Ball Is Life 2. Some Days It’s a Good Day to Play Basketball 3. Rezball, the Anti-Funeral 4. Rezball and Gender 5. Skate (Rez) Life 6. Skater Legends of the Rez 7. Skate Elders 8. Native Women and Nonbinary Skaters Epilogue Works Cited Index

“David Kamper has provided a provocative and insightful reimagining of the role and function of sport in contemporary Native life. His sensitive portrayal of basketball and skateboarding invites the reader into a vibrant world of youth cultures, community engagement, Indigenous survivance, and reinvention of what it means to be Indigenous in the twenty-first century.”-Jeffrey P. Shepherd, author of We Are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People “Rezballers and Skate Elders is a contribution to its field, offering an upbeat portrayal of American Indian youth culture that goes beyond yet another story about historical traumas and tragedies. This is a fascinating and thought-provoking work.”-Ashkan Soltani Stone, coauthor of Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Heavy Metal Scene

David Kamper is a professor of American Indian studies, associate director and cofounder of the Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change, and cofounder of Surf/Skate Studies Collaborative at San Diego State University. He is the author of The Work of Sovereignty: Tribal Labor Relations and Self-Determination at the Navajo Nation and coeditor of Waves of Belonging: Indigeneity, Race, and Gender in the Surfing Lineup.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Ball Is Life 2. Some Days It’s a Good Day to Play Basketball 3. Rezball, the Anti-Funeral 4. Rezball and Gender 5. Skate (Rez) Life 6. Skater Legends of the Rez 7. Skate Elders 8. Native Women and Nonbinary Skaters Epilogue Works Cited Index

“David Kamper has provided a provocative and insightful reimagining of the role and function of sport in contemporary Native life. His sensitive portrayal of basketball and skateboarding invites the reader into a vibrant world of youth cultures, community engagement, Indigenous survivance, and reinvention of what it means to be Indigenous in the twenty-first century.”-Jeffrey P. Shepherd, author of We Are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People “Rezballers and Skate Elders is a contribution to its field, offering an upbeat portrayal of American Indian youth culture that goes beyond yet another story about historical traumas and tragedies. This is a fascinating and thought-provoking work.”-Ashkan Soltani Stone, coauthor of Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Heavy Metal Scene