scholarly journals Assimilating American Indians in James Fenimore Cooper’s Novels?

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Michal Peprník
Keyword(s):  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Slight Degree ◽  
Family Saga ◽  
Vanishing Indian ◽  
Peculiar Mode

Abstract The article employs critical concepts from sociology and anthropology to examine the stereotype of the Vanishing Indian and disclose its contradictory character. The article argues that in James Fenimore Cooper’s late novels from the 1840s a type of American Indian appears who can be regarded as a Vanishing Indian in many respects as he displays some slight degree of assimilation but at the same time he can be found to reveal a surprising amount of resistance to the process of vanishing and marginalization. His peculiar mode of survival and his mode of living demonstrate a certain degree of acculturation, which comes close to Gerald Vizenor’s survivance and for which I propose a term critical integration. I base my study on Susquesus (alias Trackless), Cooper’s less well-known character from The Littlepage Manuscripts, a three-book family saga.

Indigenous standpoint theory as a theoretical framework for decolonizing social science health research with American Indian communities

2021 ◽  
pp. 117718012110420
Author(s):  
Genevieve R Cox ◽  
Paula FireMoon ◽  
Michael P Anastario ◽  
Adriann Ricker ◽  
Ramey Escarcega-Growing Thunder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Social

Theoretical frameworks rooted in Western knowledge claims utilized for public health research in the social sciences are not inclusive of American Indian communities. Developed by Indigenous researchers, Indigenous standpoint theory builds from and moves beyond Western theoretical frameworks. We argue that using Indigenous standpoint theory in partnership with American Indian communities works to decolonize research related to American Indian health in the social sciences and combats the effects of colonization in three ways. First, Indigenous standpoint theory aids in interpreting how the intersections unique to American Indians including the effects of colonization, tribal and other identities, and cultural context are linked to structural inequalities for American Indian communities. Second, Indigenous standpoint theory integrates Indigenous ways of knowing with Western research orientations and methodologies in a collaborative process that works to decolonize social science research for American Indians. Third, Indigenous standpoint theory promotes direct application of research benefits to American Indian communities.

Recounting coup as the recirculation of Indigenous vitality: A narrative alternative to historical trauma

2021 ◽  
pp. 136346152110549
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Gone
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Trauma Narrative ◽  
War Narratives ◽  
Tribal Communities ◽  
The Impact

Contemporary American Indians suffer from disproportionately high degrees of psychiatric distress. Mental health researchers and professionals, as well as American Indian community members, have consistently associated these disproportionate rates of distress with Indigenous historical experiences of European and Euro-American colonization. This emphasis on the impact of colonization and associated historical consciousness within tribal communities has occasioned increasingly widespread professional consideration of historical trauma among Indigenous peoples. In contrast to personal experiences of a traumatic nature, the discourse of Indigenous historical trauma (IHT) weds the concepts of “historical oppression” and “psychological trauma” to explain community-wide risk for adverse mental health outcomes originating from the depredations of past colonial subjugation through intergenerational transmission of vulnerability and risk. Long before the emergence of accounts of IHT, however, many American Indian communities prized a markedly different form of narrative: the coup tale. By way of illustration, I explore various historical functions of this speech genre by focusing on Aaniiih-Gros Ventre war narratives, including their role in conveying vitality or life. By virtue of their recognition and celebration of agency, mastery, and vitality, Aaniiih war stories functioned as the discursive antithesis of IHT. Through comparative consideration of the coup tale and the trauma narrative, I propose an alternative framework for cultivating Indigenous community “survivance” rather than vulnerability based on these divergent discursive practices.

Stepfamily Closeness and Depression Among American Indian Emerging Adults: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin P. Ward ◽  
Gordon E. Limb ◽  
Sarah Higbee ◽  
Helena Haueter
Keyword(s):  
American Indian ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Biological Parent ◽  
Parent Child

Stepfamilies are one of the fastest growing family structures among all racial groups in the United States. Stepfamily research among many racial groups, specifically American Indians, is virtually nonexistent. This is unfortunate, as American Indians are more likely to divorce and remarry compared with other populations. From a family systems perspective, this study examined whether retrospectively perceived closeness in three stepfamily relationships, namely child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling, were negatively associated with depression scores in 226 American Indian emerging adults. A structural equation model showed that increased child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling closeness predicted decreased depression scores, whereas child–residential stepparent closeness did not. We also found that depression scores significantly predicted retrospective perceptions of child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling closeness. Findings encourage interventions that strengthen American Indian child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling relationships, and underscore the need for further research that explores American Indian stepfamily relationships.

Negotiating American Indian Inclusion: Sovereignty, Same-Sex Marriage, and Sexual Minorities in Indian Country

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Valerie Lambert
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
The United States ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Domestic Relations ◽  
Indian Country ◽  
Marriage Laws ◽  
And Gender

American Indians are often overlooked in the story of the struggle for marriage equality in the United States. Using anthropological approaches, this article synthesizes and extends scholarly knowledge about Native participation in this struggle. With sovereign rights to control their own domestic relations, tribes have been actively revising their marriage laws, laws that reflect the range of reservation climates for sexual and gender-identity minorities. Debates in Indian Country over the rights of these minorities and over queering marriage bring to the fore issues that help define the distinctiveness of Native participation in the movement. These include issues of “tradition,” “culture,” and Christianity.

Edinburgh Handedness Inventory Scores: Caucasian and American Indian College Students

1994 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 675-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry M. Dingman ◽  
Mary A. Mroczka
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Chi Squared ◽  
American Indian College Students

Laterality Quotients for 80 American Indian college students were less right-biased than those for 80 Caucasian college students on the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Oldfield's 1971 empirically derived deciles for the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory were used to assign decile levels to the data. Deciles were then used to assign data to one of three proposed handedness phenotype classifications. Pheno-type classifications were based on Annett's 1985 proposed distribution for a single gene theorized to underlie human handedness. Chi-squared goodness-of-fit analysis showed that the data for Caucasian college students did not differ significantly from what would be anticipated by Annett's model, but American Indians differed significantly. Results provide empirical support for the hypothesis that frequency distributions for Annett's hypothesized right-shift gene may differ across racial groups.

Wounding the Spirit: Discrimination and Traditional American Indian Belief Systems

1988 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Locust
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Indian Children ◽  
Learning Patterns ◽  
American Indian Students ◽  
Indian Students

When educators debate the effects of cultural differences on educational practice, they are normally concerned with issues of language, learning patterns, and preferred communication styles. Seldom do they consider how differences in belief systems might affect educational practice. Carol Locust argues that fundamental differences exist between the belief systems of American Indians and those of non-Indians, and that the lack of knowledge about these belief systems on the part of the U.S. educational system has led to discriminatory treatment of American Indian students. Locust concludes that educators must understand and respect American Indian belief systems before they can begin to improve the educational experiences of American Indian children.

Prevention of Alcohol Misuse: A Review of Health Promotion Efforts among American Indians

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 288-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A. May ◽  
James R. Moran
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Native American ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Alcohol Misuse ◽  
Heavy Drinking ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Wide Range

Purpose. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of a wide range of potentially useful strategies to address the prevention of alcohol misuse among American Indians. This broad approach to the review is useful because the extreme heterogeneity of the American Indian population requires that health promotion professionals explore many options and tailor their activities to specific communities. Search Method. A literature search was initiated through MEDLINE using the following key words: prevention, alcohol, substance abuse, American Indian, and Native American. The search yielded 29 articles from the years 1982 through 1994. These articles, along with 45 previously identified in three overview articles, form the basis of the review and discussion in this paper. Summary of findings. As a group, American Indians experience many health problems that are related to alcohol misuse. Comparison of Indians to non-Indians shows that the age of first involvement with alcohol is younger, the frequency and amount of drinking is greater, and negative consequences are more common. Health promotion programs that address these issues must take into account American Indian heterogeneity and should use a comprehensive approach that addresses both heavy drinking and the sequelae of problems related to alcohol misuse. Major Conclusions. Important concepts for providing health promotion services to this population are: cultural relevance must be carefully planned and monitored; individuals in the local community must be involved; the drunken Indian stereotype must be addressed; and community empowerment should be an important goal.

scholarly journals Dialectics of Time and Space in American Indian Women’s Writings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qasim Shafiq ◽  
Dr. Ghulam Murtaza2 ◽  
Asma Haseeb Qazi
Keyword(s):  
Women Writers ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
American Indian Women ◽  
Indian Women

<p>This study new-historically explores the dialectics of time and space in American Indian women’s writings to explain American Indians’ awareness of and attachment to their surrounding nature and its expression in the contemporary American Indian tribal life. With delimited focus on Louise Erdrich’s <i>Tracks</i> (1988) and Leslie Marmon Silko’s <i>Ceremony </i>(1977), this article analyzes American Indian approach to time and space reflecting Natives’ awareness of their surrounding place. Mythical stories of oral tradition inscribed in <i>Tracks</i> and <i>Ceremony </i>recreate American Indian timeless and macrocosmic realities. American Indian women writers have been selected owing to the matriarchal nature of American Indian social order wherein women have been the conscious carriers of their timeless oral tradition. The two selected novels of different settings express the cultural range of American Indian tribal belt from Canadian border (<i>Tracks’ </i>setting) to Mexican border (<i>Ceremony’s </i>setting). This range is evidence of the synchronic and diachronic integrations and distinctions of American Indian past, present and future.</p>

Public Heritage Communication on American Indian Wars Sites: Policy Improvement and Remaining Challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-168
Author(s):  
Hyojung Cho ◽  
Ernest Gendron
Keyword(s):  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Military History ◽  
Policy Improvement ◽  
Indian Wars ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government

Federal historic preservation is an important way to provide public recognition and to promote heritage that was selected by the government for the nation. The history of (American) Indian policies shows an arduous relationship between the US government and American Indians. In spite of the evolution of federal preservation efforts and the federal government’s public heritage communication, Indian heritage sites still reflect the authoritarian and utilitarian understanding towards the Indian heritage. This research studies the US federal government’s understanding of Indian Wars sites through the analysis of interpretation at the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, which reveals the historically dual approaches towards Indian heritage conservation and the persistent tendency of limited under-standing for American history in the larger social and political arenas despite policy improvement. American Indian battlefields have been neglected in orthodox preservation considering their insufficient value to qualify for patriotic military history preservation or Indian relics preservation. The analysis of preservation efforts and interpretation of Indian Wars sites indicates the evolution of controlling (American) Indian heritage through policy changes and the assessment of policy implementation.

Working On, Working For, and Working With American Indians

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Weibel-Orlando
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
American Indian ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Politically Active

The lyrics of the Curtis and Westerman song, dating from circa 1960 (printed in Vine Deloria's Custer Died for Your Sins) exemplify the then prevailing attitude of a number of politically active and vocal Native Americans toward anthropologists in general and, in particular, those of us who have "worked with" American Indians. The social distance between researcher and researched community as suggested by the lyrics' invective has approached, in some instances, the ultimate semantic contrast set, that is, the social distance that separates "us" from "our enemies." Their words suggest an Indian view of anthropologists as, at best, unrealistic Romanticists to, at worst, exploiters and intellectual imperialists. In no sense do the lyrics concede that anthropologists "do" anything of worth for their American Indian subjects.

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