Ephemeral Encounters

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 28-62
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Bruchac ◽  
Diana E. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Thomas Jefferson ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Native America ◽  
American Philosophical Society ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Colonial Archives ◽  
Indigenous Heritage ◽  
Museum Exhibition

In this “report from the field,” we write from two perspectives, as a curator and as an advisor, on the process of interpreting Native American documents in the 2016 American Philosophical Society Museum exhibition, “Gathering Voices: Thomas Jefferson and Native America.” We share insights into our curatorial and representational goals, and reflect on the challenges of interpreting Indigenous heritage and traditional knowledges in materials that have been captured in colonial collections. We show how archival documents tend to silence as much as showcase ephemeral encounters, and how power in museum environments often remains embedded within the routine structures of colonial settler institutions and practices. We critique our own exhibition by noting how, despite our best efforts, inherent tensions among Indigenous histories, decolonizing ideals, and colonial archives shaped the process and resulted in irreconcilable omissions. Yet, we argue that cross-cultural collaboration is essential when working in colonial archives. Only by inviting Indigenous people into the process can we make progress toward restoring living relationships among past voices and contemporary communities. In concluding, we offer advice on practical approaches to working with Indigenous collaborators and advisors.

Juan Gallardo: A Native American Buccaneer

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-256
Author(s):  
Arne Bialuschewski
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
Port Royal ◽  
Spanish Colonies ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract In 1665 a native man named Juan Gallardo joined a raiding gang near Granada, Nicaragua, and remained for the next five years among the most notorious English, Dutch, and French freebooters. He stayed in the raiding bases of Port Royal and Tortuga, he sailed with Henry Morgan and François L'Olonnais, and he took part in a remarkable series of assaults on Spanish targets. Gallardo's life during these five years provides a unique insight into cross-cultural relations involving multinational outlaw gangs at the height of Caribbean raiding. This article shifts the focus from a Eurocentric, often-romanticized image of the age of buccaneers to the contributions of indigenous people, not only as voluntary and forced participants in violent raids but also as defenders of Spanish colonies and, above all, as defenseless victims.

Fostering the Literacy of indigenous Elementary School-Age Children

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Frome Loeb ◽  
Kathy Redbird
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Reading Curriculum ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Elementary School Age ◽  
Values And Beliefs

Abstract Purpose: In this article, we describe the existing literacy research with school-age children who are indigenous. The lack of data for this group of children requires speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to use expert opinion from indigenous and non-indigenous people to develop culturally sensitive methods for fostering literacy skills. Method: We describe two available curricula developed by indigenous people that are available, which use authentic materials and embed indigenous stories into the learning environment: The Indian Reading Series and the Northwest Native American Reading Curriculum. We also discuss the importance of using cooperative learning, multisensory instruction, and increased holistic emphasis to create a more culturally sensitive implementation of services. We provide an example of a literacy-based language facilitation that was developed for an indigenous tribe in Kansas. Conclusion: SLPs can provide services to indigenous children that foster literacy skills through storytelling using authentic materials as well as activities and methods that are consistent with the client's values and beliefs.

scholarly journals Mahmoud Darwish and Joy Harjo: Cosmic Consciousness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adil M. Jamil
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
William James ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Pursuit Of Happiness ◽  
Joy Harjo

This study examines the phases of human consciousness revealed in the poetry of indigenous people in the light of some prominent psychologists and philosophers mainly Bucke, Schleiermacher, William James, Hegel, and Moores. Bucke and Schleiermacher cited three forms of consciousness: Animal or Brutish Self-awareness, Sensual or Self-Consciousness, and Cosmic Consciousness. While examining the poetry of indigenous people, Palestinians and Native Americans, we find out that the majority moves within the confines of the Sensual or Self-Consciousness in their reaction to the brutish consciousness of the oppressors who deny their unalienable rights for life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Unlike others, Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian, and Joy Harjo, the Native American, attempt to transcend the sensual consciousness and adopt a broader universal vision or cosmic consciousness; however, their peaceful vision is often shattered by bitter realities and frustrated by the inhuman conduct of their oppressors. In their verses, the particular or the sensual is not completely overlooked or concealed. It is always there, yet alleviated by a universal vision held by the two poets

Indigenous Studies in the United States and Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Jean Hanson ◽  
Sam McKegney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Indigenous Voices

Indigenous literary studies, as a field, is as diverse as Indigenous Peoples. Comprising study of texts by Indigenous authors, as well as literary study using Indigenous interpretive methods, Indigenous literary studies is centered on the significance of stories within Indigenous communities. Embodying continuity with traditional oral stories, expanding rapidly with growth in publishing, and traversing a wild range of generic innovation, Indigenous voices ring out powerfully across the literary landscape. Having always had a central place within Indigenous communities, where they are interwoven with the significance of people’s lives, Indigenous stories also gained more attention among non-Indigenous readers in the United States and Canada as the 20th century rolled into the 21st. As relationships between Indigenous Peoples (Native American, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) and non-Indigenous people continue to be a social, political, and cultural focus in these two nation-states, and as Indigenous Peoples continue to work for self-determination amid colonial systems and structures, literary art plays an important role in representing Indigenous realities and inspiring continuity and change. An educational dimension also exists for Indigenous literatures, in that they offer opportunities for non-Indigenous readerships—and, indeed, for readers from within Indigenous nations—to learn about Indigenous people and perspectives. Texts are crucially tied to contexts; therefore, engaging with Indigenous literatures requires readers to pursue and step into that beauty and complexity. Indigenous literatures are also impressive in their artistry; in conveying the brilliance of Indigenous Peoples; in expressing Indigenous voices and stories; in connecting pasts, presents, and futures; and in imagining better ways to enact relationality with other people and with other-than-human relatives. Indigenous literatures span diverse nations across vast territories and materialize in every genre. While critics new to the field may find it an adjustment to step into the responsibility—for instance, to land, community, and Peoplehood—that these literatures call for, the returns are great, as engaging with Indigenous literatures opens up space for relationship, self-reflexivity, and appreciation for exceptional literary artistry. Indigenous literatures invite readers and critics to center in Indigeneity, to build good relations, to engage beyond the text, and to attend to Indigenous storyways—ways of knowing, being, and doing through story.

Utilizing the Dynamic Role of Objects to Enhance Cross-Cultural Climate Change Collaborations

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott E. Kalafatis ◽  
Julie C. Libarkin ◽  
Kyle Powys Whyte ◽  
Chris Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Native American ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Expert Elicitation ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Cultural Climate

Abstract Engagements between climate scientists and communities feature challenges but are also essential for successfully preparing for climate change. This is particularly true for indigenous peoples who are proactively responding to the threats that climate change poses by engaging in collaborations with climate decision-support organizations. The potential for risks and rewards associated with engagements like these makes developing tools for comprehensively, consistently, and equitably assessing cross-cultural climate collaborations a critical challenge. This paper describes a multicultural team’s efforts to develop a survey that can assess collaborations between Native American tribes in the United States and climate science organizations. In the process, the developing survey’s oscillations between acting as a boundary object and acting as an epistemic object in the project revealed common ground as well as existing differences across the cultural, disciplinary, and professional divides involved. Delphi expert elicitation was shown to be an effective approach for negotiating a cross-cultural research effort like this one because of its ability to establish consensus while delineating gaps. This experience highlights that assessing cross-cultural climate collaborations requires that both researchers and the tools that they use have the capacity to identify both common ground and distinctions between climate scientists and the communities with which they collaborate.

Narrative Competence: Cross-Cultural Comparisons

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera John-Steiner ◽  
Carolyn Panofsky
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Public School ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
School Students ◽  
Public School Students ◽  
Speech Communities ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Cultural Schemas ◽  
American Students

Abstract In a series of cross-cultural studies of narratives by children and adolescents, we examined thematic variations as well as cohesive devices. Our subjects ranged from 5 to 15 years of age. Our initial study included Black, Hispanic, and Native-American participants. We used a story-retelling task for comparative analysis. We found that children between ages 5 and 8 substantively increased the quantity and accuracy of their retold narratives. We also found thematic differ-ences among stories by children from the different speech communities, which suggested coherent cultural schemas specific to each ethnic group. Native-Amer-ican students, who reconstructed stories on the basis of pictorial cues, also revealed strong cultural and tribal variations in their narratives. In follow-up studies, we examined the relationship between narrative compe-tence and narrative cohesion. Our subjects (ranging in age from 8 to 11) were drawn from public school groups of English-speaking American students and Hungarian public school students. In the retold stories of these two groups, we found that the Hungarian students demonstrated a more artful storytelling style, employing a greater variety of cohesive devices and establishing a more coherent narrative experience than did the American students. (Linguistics, Education)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document