The Theatre of Historical Revision: An Analysis of the Native American Drama Tradition

We attempt to analyse the form and content of major Native American plays to discuss their relationship with the traditional English drama and its content. By looking at plays of key Native American playwrights, we show that the Native American tradition goes against the English tradition of drama in its form by challenging the unities of time and place and characterization. It also brings in elements of Native American tradition of storytelling such as the blend of the sacred and the profane, the use of humor, the attitude towards facticity, to the tradition of drama to carve out a unique space for itself through which it attempts to challenge the dominant narratives of history, Native American culture, and at the same time highlight the problems the Native American nations face currently.

Contest Powwow: Sport and Native American Culture

The Native American powwow has served to maintain the culture of North America’s Indigenous peoples since before the arrival of European colonialists. In traditional forms of the powwow, competition is not common whereas contest powwows are characterized by the primacy of competition. We assess similarities and differences between the contest powwow and competitive sport found within the broader American society through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 competitive contest powwow dancers. We address a number of questions through the qualitative research process, such as what does the powwow mean to you? What are your primary goals for competing? We analyzed the qualitative data via a three-step coding process (open coding, axial coding, and theme development). We demonstrate that although the participants compete with a high degree of seriousness, they maintain traditional collectivist values and attitudes. Further, we conclude that the contest powwow serves to maintain and reproduce the unique characteristics of traditional Native American culture within the competitive contest powwow environment.

A Qualitative Study of Native American Higher Education and Student Resiliency

This chapter explores the degree to which Native American culture impacts the resiliency of Native American students earning degrees at three tribal colleges in the southwestern part of the United States. This is a qualitative case study that was based on the following research question: “How does Native American culture contribute to the resiliency of Native American students who are earning a degree at a tribal college?” This chapter focuses on the concerns of Native American students, and the cultural events they may have encountered during their educational journey. The research data were collected from interviews of 18 Native American students who were in their last year of college. Themes surrounding culture, resiliency, tribal colleges, academics, and Native American role models were discovered and used to determine the impact Native American culture has on the resiliency of Native American students.

Media, Language and Cultural Transformation in Alexies Flight: A Study of Globalization

Globalization is a multidimensional phenomenon that has reshaped all the spheres of life and culture. This article explores how language and media have been treated in the cultural dimension of globalization that has had a transforming effect on the lives of the masses of a marginalized group of Native Americans in Alexie's Flight that demonstrates the cultural transformation of the Native Americans under white discursive practices. Manfred B. Steger's theorization serves as a basis for this study to find out how Native Americans are culturally transformed under the ever-increasing influence of globalization. In this process, language has lost its value at an official and cultural level. Alexie's Flight demonstrates the cultural transformation in the Native Americans. This text is about the white discursive practices affecting Native American culture.

THE NARRATIVE WORLD OF NATIVE AMERICANS SEEN FROM THE ADAPTATION OF OHIYESA IN BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE

Native American narratives are often presented through media presenting native American figures. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (BMHWK) is a non-fiction history-based film that tells the fate of Native Americans against white colonialism. The key figure in the film, Ohiyesa, is an adaptation of Native American figures from the The Indian Boyhood (TIB) written by Charles Eastman. This article reveals the meaning of the character Ohiyesa in the film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This research used an adaptation approach. Data obtained from the exploration of the figure of Ohiyesa in TIB and BMHWK. Data analysis was performed by conducting a comparative analysis of Ohiyesa at TIB and BMHWK. The results of the analysis show: (1) Ohiyesa character was adapted and dominantly raised by the name of Charles Eastman, (2) this character revealed the memory of deprivation of Native American culture, (3) the character functioned as an assimilation agent, and voiced the concept of cultural assimilation by white Americans. Ohiyesa was made an assimilation agent by the American government. With a strong presentation through his success through his role as a doctor and lobbyist, the American government offers a new life expectancy to American society, which is a cultural assimilation. Ohiyesa has become a symbol of the helplessness and evaluation of the future of Native Americans.Keywords: ohiyesa, native American, narrative, symbol of the helplessness,DUNIA NARATIF PRIBUMI AMERIKA DILIHAT DARI ADAPTASI OHIYESA DALAM BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEEAbstrakNarasi terkait pribumi Amerika sering dimainkan melalui media yang menyuguhkan tokoh pribumi Amerika. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (BMHWK) merupakan film berbasis buku historical non fiction yang menceritakan nasib pribumi Amerika melawan kolonialisasi kulit putih. Tokoh kunci dalam film tersebut, Ohiyesa, merupakan adaptasi tokoh pribumi Amerika dari teks The Indian Boyhood (TIB) karya Charles Eastman. Artikel ini mengungkap pemaknaan terhadap tokoh Ohiyesa dalam film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan adaptasi. Data didapatkan dari eksplorasi tokoh Ohiyesa dalam TIB dan BMHWK. Analisis data dilakukan dengan membandingkan Ohiyesa dalam TIB and BMHWK. Hasil analisis menunjukan bahwa: (1) Karakter Ohiyesa diadaptasi dan secara dominan dimunculkan dengan nama Charles Eastman, (2) Karakter ini mengungkap mengungkap memori perampasan budaya pribumi Amerika, (3) karakter tersebut difungsikan sebagai agen asimilasi, dan menyuarakan konsep asimilasi budaya oleh kulit putih Amerika. Ohiyesa dijadikan agen asimilasi oleh pemerintah Amerika. Dengan pemaparan kuat melalui keberhasilan dia melalui perannya sebagai dokter sekailgus pelobi parlemen, pemerintah Amerika menawarkan harapan hidup baru kepada pribumi Amerika, yaitu sebuah asimilasi budaya. Ohiyesa telah menjadi simbol dari ketakberdayaan dan gambaran masa depan pribumi Amerika.Kata kunci: Ohiyesa, pribumi Amerika, narasi, simbol ketakberdayaan

Can Spiritual Ecograms be Utilized in Mental Health Services to Promote Culturally Appropriate Family and Couples Therapy with Indigenous People?

Research addressing the potential utilization of spiritual ecograms with Indigenous families and children, specified by experienced professional in the field of Native-American psychology, was critiqued and reviewed in order to attend to its influence and applicability regarding the literature of Indigenous family therapy, and how it could be beneficial in therapy with Indigenous families. The literature review presents an effective tool, providing an in-depth exploration of spiritual strengths of the family and or children that incorporates spirituality into techniques commonly used in family therapy practice. Study results (Limb & Hodge, 2011) show that this tool is consistent with Native-American culture (Brucker & Perry, 1998; Green, 2010; Paniagua, 2005; Trujillo, 2000) and highlights many beneficial qualities for its utilization in practice. Limitations and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

Contextualising Queer Theory: Sex and Gender in the American Philosophy of Judith Butler v. Native American Theory and Cultures

As the scholarship and conversation regarding LGBTQ+ issues expand and gain more visibility, there is still one group and one history especially that is left out of this discussion: indigenous cultures. Indeed it is primarily white writers who are credited for opening up the definition of concepts such as gender, and although such writers have without a doubt helped bring the issue into the focus of contemporary society, the views they are representing are not new and certainly do not originate in any white, Western theory. This paper explores Judith Butler’s theorisations surrounding gender and sex from her book, Gender Trouble, in comparison to Native American scholarship and culture. Butler’s writing has transformed the way in which contemporary society views gender and sex by bringing the idea of performativity into mainstream media, but this article aims to show that the ideas and concepts she discusses in her work are not new; many Native American societies have held such views for centuries. Views and concepts discussed in this article include the multifariousness of sex (that is, sex as a spectrum rather than a binary, and sex as being non-definitive of person), and the diversity of gender (specifically gender as a social construct, as independent from sex, derived from character rather than biology, and as variable and fluid). By examining quotes from Butler alongside examples of the existence and indeed prominence of these views in Native American cultures, this article demonstrates that the concepts outlined by Butler can be seen to pre-exist her theorisations by centuries in both Native American culture and Indigenous scholarship.