Scholarly Work - Indigenous Research Initiative
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/15852
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Item The Urban Indian community of Minneapolis, Minnesota : an analysis of educational achievements, housing conditions, and health care from the relocation of 1952 to today(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2004) Zimmerman, Leslie Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Alexandra New HolyThis thesis critically evaluates the improvements in educational achievements, housing conditions, and health care needs for the urban Indian population of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I specifically focus on the Relocation Policy and how that Policy, instead of assimilating American Indians into mainstream society, became a vehicle for elevating the population of American Indians in Minneapolis to a level of “visibility.” As well, I discuss how this once “invisible” urban community formed an urban coalition, the American Indian Movement (AIM), to actively seek social justices in education, housing, and health care for the urban Indian population of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The intent of the research is to determine whether the extensive funding and programs directed toward the urban Indian population of Minneapolis throughout the last four decades have brought about significant improvements; to determine the degree of, and changes in educational achievements, housing conditions, and health needs of the urban Indian population of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This project is the first evaluation of whether conditions within the urban Indian community of Minneapolis have improved since Relocation. I think this project was needed to critically evaluate a metro area like Minneapolis that has such an extensive history of programs and funding for the urban Indian population.Item As long as the grass grows and the waters flow : an indigenous perspective of Blackfoot land history(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2003) Crowe, Thedis BerthelsonItem The rainbow across the boundaries : a study of Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2004) Idei, Yasuko Iseri; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter FlemingIn order to fully understand contemporary Native American literature like the works written by Leslie Marmon Silko, one must have a sufficient knowledge of the Native American worldviews expressed in their oral stories that have been handed down for unremembered generations. The study has to include what the oral tradition has meant to the indigenous people and their communities, how it has been kept and passed down, and what it can do to the tribal peoples for securing their identity and power to cope with contemporary issues. Indigenous people have different worldviews from other culture groups; theirs are different in the conception of time and space, the importance of land, of the spirit beings, and the relationships with all the beings in Nature and in the universe. This study examines how Silko weaves tradition of oral storytelling and worldviews in her writing to pass invaluable messages across the boundaries of culture. Silko has a skill and knowledge ingrained in her blood to write from her tradition, and her works are not only compatible with the worldviews of the Native Americans but also she ingeniously expresses her messages in her works, including Ceremony. Silko makes her efforts to convey it to a wider readership. This makes Ceremony one of the most significant novels written in the twentieth century.Item Indian Blood' or lifeblood? : an analysis of the racilization of native North American peoples(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2005) Ferguson, Laura Kathryn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Lisa AldredThe racialization of Native Americans has distorted their individual and collective identities. As a mechanism of Western imperialism, "race" has contributed to their dispossession, disintegration and deculturalization. Racialized oppression continues at federal and tribal levels through the usage of racial terminology and in blood quantum policies, leading to the fragmentation, marginalization, stigmatization and alienation of Native individuals. As such, race and blood quantum pose a threat to the survival of tribes. Tribes have within their means indigenous alternatives to race and blood quantum and will need to revitalize these indigenous practices and principles if they are to safeguard their survival as autonomous cultural and political entities.Item American Indian women in higher education : is Tinto's model applicable?(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2005) Taylor, Franci Lynne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter FlemingHigher education degree completion for American Indians has remained virtually unchanged for the past three decades. American Indians, both female and male, continue to have the lowest percentage of terminal degrees completion of any ethnic population in the United States. Numerous studies have been completed to examine the barriers that prohibit American Indian success at the postsecondary level. However, there remains a lack of critical information concerning the personal experiences of those American Indian females who have persevered and have completed first, an undergraduate degree and then matriculated through the systems to attain a terminal degree. The purpose of this study is to survey a sample of American Indian women who have acquired a terminal degree and elicit their personal perceptions of the process and reasons why they were successful. This study is descriptive in nature and utilizes an analysis of both survey and interview data. A total of 71 women were contacted with 31 survey/interviews being completed for a completion rate of 44%. The battery of questions was divided into two categories. The first category addressed demographic information and academic background, including area of study and dissertation title. The second category assessed personal reflection and their response to various barriers as documented in the Tinto Model, such as investment in traditional American Indian culture, academic, emotional, institutional, economics, committee and other influential people. Conclusions were drawn as to the degree to which these respondents caused a failure to prove the effectiveness of the Tinto Model in predicting success or failure for American Indian women entering the post-secondary system with the desire to attain a terminal degree. The testimony of these successful holders of the terminal degree clearly reveals that many of the barriers identified by Tinto were to their perception strengths that assisted their success.Item The Native Education Equity Project : educating for the future(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2004) Mulvaugh, Lucas Wyman; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Wayne SteinFrom the boarding school era to the current high drop-out rates, western-based education systems have a 50% failure rate in its service to the American Indian students of Montana. This thesis takes a critical look at the historical ramifications of Western based education on the Native Peoples of Montana, and the contemporary response from the state to improve Indian Education. The purpose of this thesis is to research current pedagogies being used within public schools with high Indian student populations, to provide recommendations to improve those pedagogies, and to create professional development strategies for teachers who work with Indian students. This thesis uses a collaborative, action-based research model and will provide solutions to current problems involving public Indian Education within Montana. The implementation of The Native Education Equity Project is just one step towards the further development of Indian Education within Montana.Item Indian Gaming : the Montana stalemate(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2009) Wingo, Rebecca Shirley; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kristin T. RuppelIn 1988, a series of lawsuits between the tribes and the states culminated in the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in Congress. The law divides gambling into three classes: Class I games consist of traditional Indian games. Class II consists of games such as bingo and card games not played against the house. Class III games are the typical Vegas-style games, including slots, roulette, craps, and blackjack. Only Class III gaming requires that the tribes to enter into a compact with the state. Indian gaming in Montana is currently at a stalemate. The state is unwilling to allow tribes to expand their casinos to include Class III, Vegas-style gaming which would provide funding for basic tribal programs as well as supplement existing programs. According IGRA, tribes must either make a compact with the state or be content with Class II games only. IGRA states that should the state fail to negotiate their Class III compacts in good faith, the tribes have the right to sue the state. The state, however, is able to assert their Eleventh Amendment right of sovereign immunity and stop the lawsuit. The controversy over Indian gaming and the law has played out in the court system, the media, and state courts. Through interviews with tribal councilmen and attorneys across the reservations in Montana, I have concluded that Montana has not negotiated in good faith and has ignored tribal sovereign rights. As sovereign nations, the tribes should not have to negotiate with the state. Montana Indian reservations should join forces to bring a case before the state and federal government and sue for fairer Class III gaming compacts for each reservation.Item Words, wounds, chiasms : Native American health care encounters(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2005) Lande, Nancy Carol; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Lisa AldredMy research explores the theme of the production and reception of intercultural mis/communications between Indians and non-Indians as expressed through linguistic narratives in the material setting of health care facilities on Indian reservations in Montana. My thesis focuses on how the βobjectifyingγ discourse of Western practices of biomedicine are taken for granted and impede doctorsα abilities to actually communicate with Native American patients about their health care by exploring sociolinguistic disparities that are revealed through personal interviews. Since the doctor-patient relationship is always contextualized by problematics of social differences, I elaborate on the personal and social effects of cross-cultural linguistic communication. I have isolated several culturally specific aspects of sociolinguistic miscommunications resulting from intercultural differences in speech assumptions and perceptions that interfere with achieving higher levels of Native American health care. Given the recent emphasis on training doctors to be more proficient in communicating, it is critical to determine whether these strategies are relevant to communicating with Native Americans. I examine how differences in the legitimated linguistic abilities and etiquettes that people possess shape ongoing negotiations of high stakes health situations in order to determine how these differences can be bridged.Item Postmodernism, Native American literature and issues of sovereignty(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2009) Gorelova, Olena; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Matthew HermanCriticism of Native American literature is barely two centuries old, while criticism of Western literature boasts a history that is quite a bit longer. The questions on how to read and interpret tribal narrative and modern American Indian fiction are still urgent topics that trigger numerous debates among literary scholars. What theories to employ and what approaches to use to dispel misinterpretations of the literature are still matters open to suggestion. Postmodernism, the new world trend, has influenced all spheres of life, not excluding literature. Although it does seem to better account for American Indian voices as it shifts attention to local narratives and re-evaluation of history, the issue of whether it is applicable and favorable to Native American literature and its cause is a debatable one. Postmodern theory claims to liberate the suppressed voices including those of Native Americans, but at the same time presents the danger of limiting Native American literature to another set of frames while denying it its purpose, i.e. achievement of the establishment of Native American national literature. Many American Indian scholars insist that American Indian literature should not be interpreted using mainstream approaches, such as postmodernism, since they have already done enough damage, but implementing American Indian philosophies instead, such as nationalism. It also seems premature to apply postmodern theory since it deconstructs history and identity, which are still to be constructed in Native American literature. Tribal literature and tribal realities are closely connected and, therefore, the fight for Native American literature and how to interpret it appears to be a part of a bigger fight, the one for sovereignty, both national and intellectual. The "post" of postmodernism, as well as the "post" of post-colonialism, might simply not be present for Native American literature yet and, therefore, theories offered by nationalism can at the given moment be more promising to American Indian literature and its purposes.Item Tonto and Tonto speak : an indigenous based film theory(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2006) Miller, Heather Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Lisa AldredAlthough there are works on Indian stereotypes in Hollywood films, there has been no work critiquing these misrepresentations from an indigenous based perspective and theory. Moreover there is almost no significant work on films written, directed and produced by Native Americans. I fill this void by constructing a Native American film theory that addresses the issues raised in American Indian film from an Indian perspective. The main inspiration for this project stems from Native American literature. After reading Native American literary theory and taking a Native American literature class, I found many similarities between literature and film. However, unlike literature, Hollywood film is lacking in critique and discussion. One can find various sources that discuss issues raised by Indian film; however, no real theories have been developed by these projects, much less a critical film theory from an indigenous perspective. My methods are drawn from Native American literary theory. Craig Womack in his book Red on Red, creates an Indian literary theory from his own tribal stories and heritage. It is impossible for me to write a film theory focusing on a Wyandotte perspective simply due to the lack of Wyandotte films. I rely upon Creation Stories from several Indian tribes to illustrate elements of community, American Indian thought, Indian semiotics and history and politics as they relate to my theory. It might be noted that there has been a recent turn toward indigenous based theory in Native American studies; many of these theories are more pan-Indian, rather than tribally specific. However, none have addressed Native American identity issues in film. This study is designed to start a new dialogue within the field of Native American Studies as well as other disciplines such as film. Hollywood has silenced Indians for a long period of time. As shown by Native produced, directed and acted films, Indians are yearning to have their voices heard. This research acknowledges and applauds these individuals. This research being unique to the field will also inspire others to explore this topic and continue the discussion of the issues presented in the research.