Guest lectures

o Lakota Pine Ridge man

 Song, lecture
CA genocide
 Starvation
:
From 1846 to 1880, California Native American Population went from 150k to about 20k
 State sponsored Homicides (Genocide) -- bounties ($) for killing Native Americans
 Missionary System -- intense labor
 Disease
1948 United Nations Genocide Convention
 Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or
religious group, as such:
o Killing members of the group
o Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
o Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part
o Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
o Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Careful study of the CA genocide allows us to answer many questions

 The trauma that California groups people deal with today
 Trauma’s direct connection to suicide, domestic abuse and substance use
 Because the land had not been patented, the US army decided that soldiers did not have
the right
 Establishment of CA’s militia system correlated to mass murders
o Minimum of 1300 people were killed
o Widely publicized and state endorsement of Indian killings

Sally Bell - recounts a massacre she survived (hiding in bushes holding her little sister’s heart)

o Two Spirit (not tested)

 What does Toelken say about the importance of dance, or concepts of time, or humor,
or healing?


Wasn’t clear who had authority over CA Native Americans.

o Link to book:
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=usupr
ess_pubs
o Link to review of book: http://www.jfr.indiana.edu/review.php?id=125
o Importance of dance
 one may gain valuable insight into underlying cultural patterns and norms
by studying public visual, kinetic, and oral forms
 Traditional dance is “normal human movement made meaningful” (80)
  The cultural values communicated through dance are usually:
 connection with the earth and living world
o In costuming, dancers surround themselves with the
feathers, hide, and other symbols of their plant and animal
relative`es
 relationships between tribes
o Powwows often attempt to balance tribal-specific dances
with those that are known inter-tribally
 balance between cooperation and competition
o Concepts of time (?)
 Time is circular
 Progress is not as valued as in Western culture. Concept of “forward” does
not apply.
o Healing
 Native Americans maintain a belief that the world is interdependent;
therefore, sickness results from an imbalance
 The natural world will provide a way of restoring balance for those
who know where to look
o Humor used to expressed cultural attitudes and worldviews
 Humor and patience of Native artists is vastly underrated and that must be
largely due to the resiliency and dynamism of Native arts
 “Wanna-be Initiation Dance” - a gentle satire of outsiders who appropriate
indigenous cultures (e.g., hippies in beads, tourists with cameras, etc. are
dragged in and taught to stamp their feet in time to the drums, and in turn
they are embarrassed)
 Outsiders believe that Natives don’t have sense of humor, making them
seem less approachable
 Native humor embodying cultural issues
 Today jokes and humorous remarks are among the most common
“tools” Native people use to register their perceptions of cultural
frictions between themselves and other tribes, between Natives and
non-Natives, and between tribes and the U. S. government
 Expresses almost inexpressible dimensions of living among whites
 All this humor suggests superficially that the Indians have been
jolly good sports about everything that has happened in America—
and I do think the Indians have maintained a better sense of humor
about whites than whites have about Indians on the whole. But the
images and styles, the themes, and the nuances of Native
expression show us pretty clearly that—like the humor of most
cultures—what’s being communicated is not pleasure but anxiety.
o All Native folk arts are performances
 Weaving, beadwork, carved wood, dance, song, design and construction of
living spaces, food and humor constitutes the artist’s attempt to employ
communally understood, culturally charged codes to dramatize the group’s
values and elicit recognition from the audience
 What was the Yellowman controversy?
o BACKGROUND: As Native Americans, what do you choose to reveal online as
some aspects of culture are preferred to be kept private
 Some groups don’t want their language out there
 Some Native American films kept private (vs. public)
 Not wanting to reveal stories of Shamanism
o Yellow Man died in his 70s
 Recorded sacred stories, which were in possession of our current book’s
author. He was trying to decide what to do with them (publicize or keep
private to maintain sacred element?)
 Many of these stories were only meant to be performed at certain times of
the year
 He eventually burned them - these were the last versions of these stories
from the Navajo group
 Felt the sacred duty of upholding Yellow Man’s sacred views
 Upset a lot of scholars & Navajos b/c destroying scientific data
o Toelken (angus beef of snails)
 Heard stories from last remaining man, burned to die w yellowman
 Another example of how their property is treated with disregard
 The notion that “I a non indigenous person” thinks I can decide
what happens w NA property
o Or was he respecting Yellow Man’s sacred views?
o Since Toelken recorded them, who does the “property”
belong to? (this is the whole controversy)
 Some don’t agree with what he did (Melson)
 Thinks should be returned to indigenous people
o Like the Harvard totem pole
 The Navajo probably wanted these stories
 Iranian prospector got really sick, Navajo took them im
o The stories from one of the shamans he got close with (oral stories) he burned
 What, exactly are pow-wows?
o Intertribal social dance for the purpose of solidarity, discussion, mechanism to be
able to retain culture, passing knowledge
o The powwow in its current form is an outgrowth of earlier social dances done by
almost all tribes for their friends and allies. The difference today is that these
dances involve members of all tribes, not just allies. That is, they express common
interests now felt by virtually all Indians, many of whom see themselves as
surrounded by a hostile and domineering culture. The intertribal connections
initiated and nurtured by powwow dancing are politically as well as ethnically
important for Native Americans, for powwows often offer a social occasion where
Native Americans can discuss political and legal ways to survive in the modern
world. The value of intertribal shared interests—in contrast to historical tribal
differences that might have divided them—is expressed vividly in the powwow.
But politics can be discussed without dancing, after all. Thus, even though the
political issues discussed at powwows are modern, using the dance to symbolize
 reciprocation and cooperation testifies to the continuing performance of older
modes of expression

 What is TEK?
o Traditional Ecological Knowledge
o Describes how traditional knowledge (a.k.a. Native American customs) can
increase sustainability
o Important because NAs know how to use the land, they have a deeper
understanding of their environment
o Debate over whether Indigenous populations retain an intellectual property right
over traditional knowledge and whether use of this knowledge requires prior
permission and license
 Rooted in animism

 You should be familiar with the stories in Erdoes and Ortiz, as well as the groups that
tell them.
o Pushing up the Sky 95
 Snohomish (tribe)
 Used to teach what could be accomplished if people work together
 The Creator made the sky too low; tall people kept bumping their heads
against it and some would enter the sky world even though it was
forbidden. The wise men of the Puget Sound area convened and decided
everyone would push the sky up on the signal of “Ya-hoh”. People made
poles from fir trees and they pushed the sky to where it is now. People
who were caught in the sky make the stars we know today.
o Keeping Warmth in a Bag 143
 Slavey (tribe)
 Before there were people, there was an endless winter. All the animals got
together to decide how to end the winter. They went to the sky world
searching for the bears, because the bears were absent from the earth.
They found bags full of rain, wind, fog, and warmth. They tricked the
mother bear into chasing a caribou for dinner and stole the bag of warmth.
They released the warmth into the world, ending the winter. However, the
warmth turned all the snow and ice into water, flooding the earth. A great
fish appeared and drank all the floodwater, becoming a mountain.
o Grandmother Spider Steals The Warmth 154
 Cherokee
 In the beginning there was only darkness, so the people decided that they
needed light. The people on the other side of the world had light but were
to greedy to share it. A few animals tried stealing some light, but they
were caught. The grandmother spider made a clay pot and spun a web to
the other side of the world. She seized the sun and put it in her pot. This is
how she brought sun, fire, and clay pot making to the Cherokee
o Deer Hunter & White Corn Maiden 173
 Tewa
  Deer Hunter and White Corn maiden married and began neglecting their
talents (deer hunting and embroidery, respectively) and traditions. White
Corn Maiden died, leaving Deerhunter in grief. He managed to convince
her spirit to stay on earth with him, but she became noisome and ugly.
Then an imposing figure came to the village and shot Deerhunter and
White Corn Maiden into the sky with arrows, making 2 stars.
o How Mosquitoes Came to Be 192
 Tlingit
 There was a giant that killed humans, ate their flesh, and drank their blood.
One man killed him by stabbing the giant in his left heel, where his heart
was. But the giant vowed that he would still eat humans forever. The man
chopped him into tiny pieces and burned the pieces. He threw the ashes
into the wind and they became mosquitos, eating people and sucking
blood.
o Iktome Sleeps with his Wife By Mistake 372
 Brule Sioux
 Iktome’s wife has become old and he does not want to make love to her
anymore. He goes looking for a pretty, young winchinchala. He finds one
and says he will sneak into her tipi at night, to which she laughs. Iktome’s
wife sees the entire exchange and tells the girl she will switch places with
her. He sneaks in to make love to her and says lots of demeaning things
about his wife (her breasts sag, her mouth isn’t fresh, etc) during the
lovemaking. The next day, Iktome’s wife punches him and reveals that it
was her last night, not the young girl. He crawls out of the tipi, then comes
back with sweet talk, saying “Old Woman, you’re still the prettiest. Be
peaceful. Didn’t I give you a good time last night? What’s for breakfast?”
o Coyote, Iktome, and the Rock 337
 White River Sioux
 Coyote gave his thick blanket to a rock named Iya because it looked like it
had power. It started raining and Coyote wanted to have his blanket back
but the rock refused, repeating “what is given is given”. Coyote took it off
of the rock and the rock came thundering after him, chasing Coyote until
he flattened him. The rock took his blanket back and a rancher used
flattened Coyote as a rug. Moral: “always be generous in heart. If you
have something to give, give it forever.”
o What's This? My Balls for Your Dinner? 339
 White River Sioux
 Iktome invited Coyote to dinner at his lodge. He gave his wife 2 buffalo
livers to cook for him and Coyote and went out to try to catch a duck.
Iktome’s wife never got to eat the meat, so she ate both livers while he
was out. Coyote came over before Iktome was back and he and Iktome’s
wife fooled around. She then tells him that the meat that she will cook for
dinner are his balls. Coyote runs out of the house in fear. Iktome’s wife
tells Iktome that Coyote took both buffalo livers and ran away. Iktome
shouts to him “Leave me one! For your old friend Iktome!” and Coyote,
 thinking Iktome is talking about his balls, shouts back “Cousin, if you
catch me, you can have both of them!”
o When Grizzlies Walked Upright 85
 Modoc
 The daughter of the sky spirit was blown down from her lodge on Mount
Shasta. She grew up and lived with the grizzly bears that she met there.
She had children with the eldest son of the grizzlies and these children
were Native Americans. When the sky spirit found out where his daughter
was, he cursed grizzly bears so they had to walk on all fours.
o The Foolish Girls 158
 Ojibway
 There were two foolish, boy-crazy girls. They slept with stars, but the stars
wore them out and they wanted to return home. They made a rope to get
down from the sky, but the rope was only long enough to get them to the
top of the tallest tree. They were stuck, but the ugliest man in the world,
the wolverine, helped them in return for sex. The girls escaped by finding
a wolverine woman who was the perfect mate for the wolverine.
o The Theft of Light 169
 Tsimshian
 The giant in raven skin brought food and fish to the world, but the world
was dark. In order to bring sun to the world, giant went to the house of the
chief of heaven. He turned himself into a leaf and was swallowed by the
chief’s daughter. The giant became a baby and played with the box, called
ma, where daylight was kept until the chief became used to the games.
Finally, giant stole the box, put on his raven skin and released daylight
into the world.

 Also, what about the rise of regional (Amerindian, or "New Worlders") global
concerns, and global indigeneity?
o In the US, the government has used as a justification that you are depending on
NAs to “civilize” or if not they need to leave bc they will impede the global
agenda
o Amerindian: Another term for American Indian, used chiefly in anthropological
and linguistic contexts
o New Worlders: An inhabitant of the New World or the Americas (Western
Hemispherian)
o With the aid of the internet, interconnectedness of regional, national, and global
issues confronting Indigenous communities are becoming more mainstream and
news headlines.
o Indigeneity itself shapes the identities, experience, and life-chances of individuals.
o Native/Indigenous/First Nations people share many of the same challenges - many
inherited as a function of colonization and dispossession.
o Understanding Indigenous issues in a global context, helps to link narratives of
Indigenous people, extend their agency in contexts that still feature hostility and
 barriers to opportunity, and ultimately, broaden the conversations about self-
determination and sovereignty.
o Against all odds, Indigenous people have emerged through generations of
survival, struggle, and renewal, adapted to modernity and increasingly visible as
they move through local, regional, and global networks.
o NA need to either assimilate or be gone or else they will be in the way of
globalization
o They will stagnate and impede the progress of globalization
o What do they mean? *Google
 What was the Daes Report?
o Compiled by the US Government
o Precursor: NAGPRA (1990)
o Declares that a society owns its heritage
o Encourages native peoples to itemize their cultural resources calling inventories
an essential tool in the identification and recovery of culture
o And defines it as everything that belongs to a distinct identity of people and which
is theirs to share with other peoples
o Heritage of indigenous people can be sold
o Recognizes the danger that such a catalogue would encourage non-native people
to think indigenous culture can be sold

 What determines whether one is "officially" Native American? What to make of such
"official identities?" versus Native American culture?
o If you have a BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) identification card
o Native Americans don’t use a card (percentage of NA blood) to determine
whether they are NA or not
o Not all NA tribes are federally recognized
 Problem with California Native Americans who “switched” ethnicities in
order to protect themselves and their families from genocide

 What's the status and role of Native American languages? Spirituality?

o Languages are being lost at a rapid pace
o Though indigenous spirituality is also declining and shifting towards forms of
Christianity, plastic shamans have appropriated and exploited Native spirituality
for profit
o NA spirituality is a commodity now -- people are stealing (plastic shamans, sweat
lodges, names like ‘Thunder Bear’, etc.)

 What is meant by postcolonial?

o After the 13 colonies
o Formally, after the declaration of independence
o You’re no longer being completely colonized
 Doesn’t mean the colonial influence is gone, just lessened
 Hard to build up an identity from post-colonial situations
 What to do after being influenced by it
  How do we get rid of the colonial impacts, and be where we would
have been by now

 Decolonization?
o Decolonization: How do we get rid of the colonial impact? How do we get back
to where we should be (not where we were)? How do we be Native American
through the global community and in the 21st century world. (ex. Two Spirits.)

 What are "plastic shamans" and what does the term imply?
o Not real shamans (white/non-native self-proclaimed shamans)
o Portraying spirituality (Cultural Appropriation)
 Not acknowledging the origins/authorship
 You shouldn’t have to pay for teachings
o If someone claims to be a Shaman, they’re probably not a Shaman
 They often have NA names that evoke strong images (i.e. Strong Horse,
Soaring Eagle etc.)
o People trust them and think they know what they are doing--dangerous because
people invest in them
 Have gotten people hurt or killed

 How are all these impacted by the complex history of Native Americans in American
public life?

Also, be sure that you know the main terms covered in the course, for example,
 What is the "Termination" policy of the early 20th century?
o One of the main ideas was how to get everyone off the reservations
o Precursor: Indian Reorganization Act in 1934
o Indian termination was the policy of the United States from the mid-1940s to
the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and policies with the intent of
assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American society.
 the policy ended the U.S. government's recognition of sovereignty of
tribes, trusteeship over Indian reservations, and exclusion of state law
applicability to native persons
 From the government's perspective Native Americans were to become tax-
paying citizens, subject to state and federal taxes as well as laws, from
which they had previously been exempt
o Nixon ended this policy

 What about the "relocation" policy?

o Indian relocation Act of 1956
 Aka Adult Vocational Training Program
 a United States law intended to encourage Native Americans in the United
States to leave Indian reservations, acquire vocational skills, and
assimilate into the general population
 Part of the Indian termination policy of that era
  Relocated tribe members became isolated from their communities and
faced racial discrimination and segregation. Many found only low-paying
jobs with little advancement potential, and suffered from the lack of
community support, and the higher expenses typical for urban areas. They
could not return to dissolved reservations.
 Children could not join segregated schools
 in 1960, it was reported that in excess of 31,000 people had moved
off the reservation and to urban areas since 1952,

 What was the AIM?

o American Indian Movement
 Took over the BIA building in Washington with rifles
 Took over Alcatraz (eventually kicked out)
 Plymouth rock - climbed aboard ship and kicked people off
 Radical action geared America’s attention toward Native American groups
 Became a powerful movement, effective in getting the issue back in
Native American consciousness
 1960s; started by young guys who grew up in the ghettos (descendants of
the relocation programs)
 Grew up in big cities with other minority groups
 Were coming from a bunch of different tribal groups but were
living alongside each other
 Created a pan-Native American underclass
 They had real issues that resonated with many Native Americans
 Big Names
 Russell Means
o One of two presidential candidates for Libertarian party
o Been in Hollywood movies
o A notable, prominent politician
 Dennis Banks
 Viewed very negatively by the U.S. government
 Commemorated Wounded Knee village by claiming area in a small Native
American village, who welcomed them (said they were going to be
sovereign area)
 American government responded harshly to this with gunfire (2
AIM members were killed)
o Military siege on the small town of Wounded Knee (by
intense means)
o Media was not allowed to cover this
o Several Native Americans killed, who happened to be
living in the village (some were not part of AIM)
 This was a turning point
o After this, most of its leaders were on the most wanted list
o Many AIM leaders were on Most Wanted list and they fled
North, where they were protected by the Sioux
 Leonard Peltier
  Convicted in 1977 for the murder in shooting of FBI agent in
Sioux areas
 Was not likely the person responsible for these murders
 He is still in prison (political prisoner)
 The Sioux have been on the forefront for military protests against the AIM
 Treaties were signed but they were not honored
 AIM connected young urban radicals with traditionalists
 Alcatraz people

 Why did they take over Alcatraz? (WILL BE ON EXAM)

o 89 American Indians boarded boats and made a trip across the SF bay
o Claimed the island Indian land by “right of discovery”
o Demanded US government provide funding to turn it into a Native American
cultural center and university
o Nov 20th 1969
 Ignored, 19 months occupied island in defiance of authorities
o Removed in June of 1971
 Started national conversation about the plight of Native Americans
o Used 1888 treaty
o Viewed the island as a symbol of government indifference to NAs

 What was the impact of the 1960s Civil Rights movement?

o Not huge impact on native americans -- more like a lack of impact
o Calls for legislation existed after/before civil rights movement
o While American Indians did not have a particular period of fighting for their civil
rights like the African American Civil Rights Movement, measures have been
taken to achieve equal rights for American Indians throughout history. As non-
whites, and non-citizen indigenous people, the United States built discriminatory
language into their own laws and took on special colonial projects that denied
basic human rights - particularly in the areas of cultural expression and travel - to
their indigenous non-citizen "wards." With the passage of the Indian Civil Rights
Act (ICRA) in 1968, also called the Indian Bill of Rights, Native Americans were
guaranteed many civil rights they had been fighting for.
o Wanted different rights, not equal rights

 How can one contrast indigeneity and multiculturalism?

o Indigeneity = different rights because we were here first
o Multiculturalism = everyone has same rights

 How are indigenous groups faring in other parts of the Americas?

o In Canada, Justin Trudeau has apologized to indigenous groups and is providing
monetary reparations to tribes and groups
o In countries in South America, there are areas inhabited by indigenous groups that
people do not interfere with because they respect that land as belonging to those
groups
  What to note about the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia, or the Zapatista rebellion in
the Chiapas region of Mexico?
o First indigenous president in the Americas
o He is a socialist, and joined the military
o Elected in 2005, and has been praised for raising literacy in Bolivia and reducing
poverty
o Comes from a family of farmers, joined the military, socialist, head of MAS
o Zapatista rebellion in the Chiapas- was an indigenous uprisings in 1994 Mexican
State of Chiapas. This rebellion was caused due to land claim conflict between the
indigenous people and the Mexican State

Throughout the second half of the course, we've dealt a fair amount with the question,
 "Qui Parles"?
 Who speaks for a group?
o Who is appropriate to speak on behalf of a NA group?
 Is it a majority, tribal leader, the white man?
 Citation??? Census report w year and name (LA has largest amount of
NAs?)

 What is the relationship between media and Native Americans—television? Cinema?

Sports Mascots?
o Offensive mascots (Red Skins, white sox)
o Motion picture studios portray NA as savages and villains
o Seattle named after chief seattle, is it okay to name a town after NA culture,
ideology or fact?
o Native Americans often do not have a say in how they are portrayed in
mainstream media
o In the news, Native American issues are usually ignored and left out

 What's the situation in Canada versus in the US?

o Justin Trudeau: prime minister
 Apologizing and giving out monetary reparations

 What about south of the border?

o Mexico: historic hatred of indigenous people, recent turnaround with 2001
constitutional reform to recognize indigenous rights
o Venezuela: was lagging behind other Latin American countries, declared
indigenous rights in 1999 with constitutional reform; certain territories that are
sacred, people don’t touch

 What about the internet? How does this change things?

o Using platforms to express their concerns and exchange culture
o Easy for minority Native American groups who were shut out of the
vertical model (split between producers of culture and consumers of culture,
making it hard for minority groups to partake in this (getting stuff out in major
publications))
 o Good way to revitalize language and culture // preserve culture
o Able to put out accurate info
o Connect with other groups
 Gradual idea of “Pan Indian”
o Examples of Native American tribal groups utilizing the internet:
 Inuit Broadcasting Corporation - launched a TV station entirely in their
own language, with a focus on kid shows
 Why White People Are Funny - Inuit anthropologist talking about his
interaction with white people
 Maintaining solidarity within their own group due to reminder of
differences
 IsumaTV
 Platforms alike build connections between groups
 Indigenous SciFi (Indians & Aliens)
 Contest ideas that Native Americans are “stuck in the past” -
shows like this prove they can be a part of the future (fighting
stereotypes)

Keystone pipeline -going through tribal territory, leaks from pipeline destroy wildlife and cause
people to be sick

 What do you think about the future for Native Americans?

 Themes of Concern for NA
o Cultural ownership
 What degree is culture to be owned?
o Who owns the sacred land?
 Pollution
 Desecration of land
 Sovernty
 Jurisdiction- law enforcement
o Language
 Dying out
 continue/ revitalization (ex: Navajo)
 Throat singing revitalised/spread through social media
 Lang revitalization works hand and hand with land
ownership/preservation. You need a community to keep language alive.
 Internet helps NA look forward and continue to change
 Video Games- reflects new NA culture
 Native americans take history and modify it into today's world. They are actively
inserting themselves into today's culture and all its aspects.
o Fashion- supposed to change (future focused). Helps project their style
o Basket Weaving- working from tradition but it changes in today's world with
computer editing/designs, men weaving
o NA Music- new genres
 o Video Games- reflects new NA culture

Obviously, this guide is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather an indication of the sorts of
things that may appear in the final exam
Dr. Melson’s Portion of Exam

1. Question
a. Answer
2. In no particular order, here are sever post-midterm terms and topics for questions
3. Bureau of Indian Affairs
. Supposed to be a support system for Native Americans but historically known as the most
corrupt branch of the US government; created during Lincoln’s presidency
4. Pan-Indian
. Pan-Indianism is philosophy and movement promoting unity among different American
Indian groups in the Americas regardless of tribal or local affiliations
5. U.N. Activities for Indigenous Peoples/United Nations Declaration of Rights of
Indigenous People (i.e. UNDRIP)
. 25 years in the making, declares historic indigenous grievances and indigenous rights
a. United Nations Declaration of Rights for Indigenous People, proposed in 1982 -- not
passed until 2007.
6. Spanish Mission System
. Mexican Attempt to use missions as vehicles of change from Native American culture to
Christian Peasantry
a. Spanish missionaries in Mexico, let us have our spanish christian brothers go to the
savages and spread our mission
b. Offer an attempt to civilize these people, get them to become Christian
c. Natives made peasants...farm, beaten, work with tools who are not accustomed to
7. GAMBLING: U.S. Supreme Court 1987 decision to permit Native American gambling.
Since then, gambling has be contentious for many powerful, wealthy Americans (i.e.
Donald Trump who testified in 1993 in opposition of tax law in favor of Native
Americans. Mr. Trump and others have argued that tax benefits for Native Americans are
discriminatory for perspective of non-Native American casino owner). Native
Americans have contended that overregulation of Native American casino industry on
Indian Reservations as compared to counterpart privatized American casino industry.
. Dennis Banks testifying to court about gambling
a. Donald Trump testifying in 1983 about tax inequities

8. Degree(s) to which Mestizos are embraced by Native Americans; the notion of being
‘native’ in Los Angeles
a. Mestizos: Spanish and indigenous
b. Mestizos have a long history with the struggle of being accepted
c. Thought of as a different people, difficult time being accepted
d. “Pure blood?”
9. Oakland’s Intertribal Friendship House
. Oldest urban research organization in the United States created in 1955 by local residents.
10. Colonialism is not necessarily gone, but attenuated in impact
 . Impact lessened, few to no laws on the books that superimpose the sovereignty(their own
identity as tribal governments, in our constitution we recognize them as a separate entity)
a. It exists inherently in our policies
11. Native American Church (NAC)
 A Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American
beliefs and Christianity
 The religion originated in the U.S. State of Oklahoma in the late nineteenth century
 Today it is the most widespread indigenous religion among Native Americans in the
United States, Canada, and Mexico, with an estimated 250,000 adherents as of the late
twentieth century

12. American Indian Freedom of Religions Act (1978)

a. Freedom to practice their religion too
b. This was limited (did not prohibit states from discriminating against religions)
c. Became illegal to own eagle feathers
i.Eagles played huge role in Native American religions
d. A lot of Native Americans have been able to use these acts to accomplish:
.Access to land
1. Many Native Americans don’t own traditional territory
2. For many of them, places for traditional practices were on
government land (that was stolen from them)
13. Contemporary issues facing indian Reservation system
a. High unemployment rate
b. Low life expectancy
c. Higher teen suicide
d. Higher infant mortality rate due to poor living conditions
e. Struggle to retain cultural identity
14. Struggles of Native American living experiences in Los Angeles (quiz question) ?????
15. Internet transformation(s) of Native American culture (quiz question)
a. Possible essay option
b. Allowed NAs to stay in touch w each other, able to track relatives
c. Be connected to languages
i.Youtube, you can learn a NA language online
d. Orphaned NAs can connect with culture
16. Implications of merge of Old World and New World Native Americans (quiz question)
. Old world: still speak language
a. New world: languages being lost, very few people speak native language
b. Artistry and other ways of indigenous life being compromised
c. reservations-> isolation
17. Contemporary issues for Native American artists and designers (quiz question)
. As Native American aesthetics and art have become popular in terms of taste, big
corporations have started manufacturing goods that look Native American. However, the NA
artists and communities responsible for creating these designs do not get credit or monetary
compensation.
Info from midterm

Geography

 North America
 Native Americans are native to all the Americas (Canada to South America)
 Europe
 Europe had many struggles in 1491
 Overcrowdedness, depletion of natural resources, thirst for power expansion
 They hunted for sport at this time
 Alaska
 Was once a part of Russia
 Aleut tribe
 Russia
 Destroyed the Aleut tribe
 New York
 Was one of 13 original colonies
 Home to Iroquois
 Part of our constitution comes from Iroquois
 Northeastern U.S.
 California
 1542, Baytown is oldest city in California
 Only state that skipped process of being a territory before it was a state
 Governor hated Native Americans, was an Asshole (Peter Burnett)
 His policy: kill Native Americans using bounties, deputize citizens for
info and killing of Native Americans
 Some Native Americans would kill members of their own group
 Used all of California’s resources to target this group
 California had a lot of reservations
 Several NA languages spoken
 Lack of warfare
 Nice weather
 Plenty of food
 Spaniards come in with mission system
 
State sponsored genocide

Would claim to be other ethnicity, usually mexican
 New Mexico
 Puebloans
 Tiua and Anastasi tribes
 Retained cultural fabric because they weren’t displaced
 Mastered their environment
 Chaco Canyon was a fortress
 Lived undetected, practicing ways of life surreptitiously
 Left no written account of how they lived
 Anthropologists pieces together their way of life
 Chaco Canyon home to Anastasi
 Most elusive tribe
 No one saw them coming or going
 Very magical and shamanistic
 Geography allowed them to practice secretly
 Oklahoma
 Native Americans were brought to Oklahoma where they would be out of the way
of expansion
 Texas
 3 and a half times the size of California
 Can fit two Texases in Alaska
 Texas rangers hired to kill Native Americans
 Cowboys
 Buffalo Bill
 Comanche tribe most powerful in Texas
 Used horses
 Spain
 Queen Isabella, competing with European powers, dispatched Italian sailor (the
best)
 Spain spearheaded this agenda

Legislation

 Homestead Act of 1862

 Encouraged Western Migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land
 In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete
five years continuous residence before receiving ownership of land
 Lincoln was president and presided over mass execution of NAs
 State govs wanted to execute over 300 Native Americans, Abe talked them down
to 39 and pardoned one, 38 overall killed
 Abe wanted to expand
 Incentivizing militia units to come fight for the north, offering them land through
Homestead Act
 Thousands of Homestead claims, filing with state and fed gov’s making claims
for land, “it’s mine, and I’ll pledge loyalty to the union.”
  Even promised land to freed slaves
 Allowed white settlers to encroach upon tribal lands, individual people were
killing NAs
 The land was occupied
 In order to manage process, Bureau of Indian Affairs created (BIA)
 Proclamation of 1763
 Issued by King George III following acquisition of French territory in North
America after end of French and Indian War
 Intended to calm tension between Native Americans and colonials
 George declared all lands west of Appalachian Divide off-limits to colonial
settlers
 Treaties recognizing NA land by British gov
 Building up to war, British promised NAs they could have their land if they sided
with British
 Proclamation stripped newly formed colonies of any land that was promised and
any future land
 French viewed NAs as mystical people to be preserved and cherished
 Conflict between British and French disrupted that and NAs left to deal with the
British
 After George defeated French, Proclamation issued to punish French and anyone
who sided with them
 Took away land promised to NAs?
 Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968
 Makes many of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights applicable within tribes
 Government intrusion
 Protections afforded by the U.S. constitution
 Northwest Ordinance of 1787
 Created northwest territory
 Settling the territory
 Guaranteed tribal land rights
 If Indian wanted to be Native American, there had to be change
 Ideas for boarding school and reservation system arose?
 Indian Removal Act of 1830
 Relocation by President Jackson
 Granted unsettled lands west of Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within
existing state borders
 Many resisted
 Civilization campaign - Native Americans would learn English, give up methods
of hunting, wear white anglo-saxon clothing, stop practicing animism
 If disagreed to these terms, they would be forced to reservations
 Fought back whenever they could
 Dawes Act of 1887
 President could survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments
 Tribal land went to white settlers
 Applied to the Creek (Muskogee) and a few others
 Curtis Act is an expansion of this act
  Aid drive toward Oklahoma statehood and assimilation of its Indian population
 Assimilate them into society
 Curtis Act of 1898
 Weaken and dissolve Indian territory tribal governments by abolishing tribal
courts and subjecting them all to federal law
 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990
 People were grave robbing
 Gov mandated that paraphernalia would be returned to tribes from museums
 Many NAs buried themselves with as much valuable property as possible to
prevent government from taking it
 American Indian Freedom of Religions Act of 1978
 Protect and preserve traditional religious rights and cultural practices of American
Indians, Eskimos, ALeuts, and Native Hawaiians
 Can practice any religion they choose
 Many had already been forcibly indoctrinated into Christianity
 Peyote not allowed even though part of some rituals
 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971
 Nixon
 Resolve long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in ALaska
 Transferring titles to twelve Alaska Native regional corporations
 Corporotized tribes
 Paid about $943 million for their land
 Naing tribal gov’t in Alaska by corporate companies
 Indian Reorganization Act (Wheeler-Howard Act) of 1934
 Indian New Deal
 Reverse goal of NA assimilation into American society
 Preserve tribal traditions
 Manage assets

Empires

 Inca
 Largest in the world
 In the Andes mountains
 Grew potatoes
 Aztec
 Not the largest empire in the world

Colonies
 Disadvantages of colonization
 Settlers arrived homeless, with no knowledge of the land, its environment and its
resources
 Similarities and differences between colonists and Native Americans
 Use of potato and corn and resources
 Exploitation of the land
Religions
 Christianity
 Guiding light for Europeans/settlers from 1491 to early 1900s
 European monotheism
 Belief system of Animism
 Objects, places, and creatures possess a distinct spiritual essence
 All is animated and alive
 Oldest known belief system in the world, predating paganism

Reservations

 Types of reservations
 Dichotomy of types of reservations
 Open air reservation/open air prison
 Can see the sky
 Worst land
 Fenced with military surrounding it
 Split up families
 Reduced homeland
 Stay on land but it is extremely small
 More able to maintain cultural identity
 No tools to survive
 Eventually assimilate into american life
 Half of NAs live on reservations today

Tribes

 Siriono tribe
 Amazon rainforest
 Contacted by Spaniards in 1690s
 Died from diseases introduced by Europeans
 matrilineal
 Seminoles
 From Florida, live in Oklahoma
 Indian Claims Commission to consider compensation for tribes that claimed their
lands were seized by gov
 Awarded $16 million
- Eskimos
 “Eaters of raw flesh”
 No bad connotation
 Navajo (Dine)
 Second largest besides Cherokee
 The Long Walk
 Boarding schools
 5 civilized tribes
  Cherokee
 Chickasaw
 Choctaw
 Creek
 Seminole

Foods

 Corn
 Also allowed civilizations to flourish
 Potatoes
 Grown in Andes
 Incas pioneered it
 Not indigenous to Europe
 Populations could expand
 More food to feed people
 Need able bodied people to produce labor
 If you eat only potatoes and corn, you get scurvy

Historical Events

 Trail of Tears
 Indian Removal Act paved the way
 Cherokee gave up lands east of Mississippi
 Forced relocation to Oklahoma
 Hunger, disease, exhaustion
 On foot
 Over 4,000 deaths
 Told they’d be protected by U.S. army
 Supposedly 16,000 of them died ?
 Pueblo Revolt (Pope’s rebellion)
 1689
 Indigenous Puebloans, broken up into many factions
 This involved Tiua faction
 Uprising against Spanish colonizers in Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico
 Killed 400 Spanish and drove out the remaining 2000 settlers
 Spanish came back with very little opposition
 Puebloans moved themselves into rock formation areas where they lived
underground and in cliff dwellings
 California Gold Rush
 1848 - 1855
 49ers (people from China, Australia, Europe, Latin America)
 California population went from 200 people to 600,000 people
 State constitution written in 1849, become a state in 1850
 Wounded Knee massacre
 Dec. 29, 1890
  Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota
 Largest mass execution
 Sioux in South Dakota
 150 to 300 died
 Medals of honor given to the soldiers, these medals were not rescinded
 Site of massacre designated national landmark
 In 1990, 105 senators expressed deep regret
 Lakota was doing Ghost Dance, US cavalry came and mowed them down with
machine guns
 In 1973, incident in which Lakotas seized area of South Dakota
 WIld West Shows
 Buffalo Bill
 U.S. Revolutionary War

Concepts and Phrases

 Posture and justification of Christians/Colonists towards Native Americans

 Stolen Generation
 Manifest Destiny
 “From sea to shining sea”
 God wanted anglo white men to travel west in his name
 Colonialism
 Shamanism
 Craft within animism
 Mediator between human and spiritual world
 Have drums
 Achieve altered state of consciousness
 Shaman’s soul leaves body and goes to spirit world
 Use drugs to achieve altered state
 Help people interpret dreams and vision quests
 Rid person of negative entities
 Animism
 Europeans didn’t belief animals had souls
 Belief that soul power flowed through material world
 Collects especially in living things but is included in everything
 Human vs. Person
 Hunting is different when you believe animal has soul
 Hunter is more connected to prey, they’re in it together
 Good hunter means you’re a moral person
 If you’re a liar/cheater, you’ll become bad hunter
 Native Americans in America
 “Scientific” Racism
 Empirical evidence to support racial inferiority or superiority
 White people superior due to larger cranial capacity thus large more intelligent
brains
 Representation
  Languages

People

 Sam Houston
 Secured Texan independence from Mexico
 Fort Houston
 Lamar took over after him (he sucked)
 Lamar undid everything Houston set out to do
 Dropped out of US with Davy Crockett to start Texas because of Trail of Tears
 Married to cherokee woman
 Adopted into Cherokee nation
 Survived Alamo and became president of Texas
 Wanted to set up an Anglo-Native American state for disgruntled americans with
trail of tears
 Davy Crockett
 Denounces american citizenship when AJ goes against court and calls national
guard on NAs
 Went to texas to start his own republic
 Died at Alamo fighting the Mexicans
 Cherokee fighter
 Russell Means
 Lakota activist
 Prominent member of American Indian movement in the late 60s
 Acting career, in Last of the Mohicans
 Sherman Alexie
 Novelist
 Wrote The Lone Ranger
 Jim Thorpe
 Native American olympian
 Took his medal away under suspicion of cheating
 Act of racism against him
 Dennis Banks
 NA leader, teacher, lecturer, activist, author
 Co-founder of American Indian Movement in Minneapolis
 Ensure civil rights of NAs in urban areas
 Principal negotiator and leader of Wounded Knee forces
 Arrested and faced trial
 Andrew Jackson
 Contradictory figure
 Owned over 600 slaves
 Genocide
 Thomas Jefferson
 Believed Native Americans to be a noble race but inferior to Europeans due to
climate and geography
 Still developed plans for Indian Removal that was carried out later by AJ
  Believed assimilating them into american culture would progress them from
savagery to civilization
 Franz Boaz
 Father of modern anthropology
 Pioneered the nexus between scientific method and ethnographic mechanisms
through which anthropologists conduct fieldwork
 N. Scott Momaday
 Wrote House Made of Dawn
 First NA to win the Pulitzer Award
 Major work of Native American Renaissance
 Comes from Pueblo (Kiwi)
 Lewis Henry Morgan
 anthropologist
 Ethnography of the Iroquois
 James Mooney
 Ethnographer living a mong Cherokee/Great Plains Indians
 Study of Ghost Dance after Sitting Bull’s death
 Expert on NA
 Bureau of Ethnology founded by US GOv’t to gain better understanding of NA in
order to control them better
 Daniel Boone
 Discovers Cumberland Gap, opens up rest of country
 Folk hero
 Cherokee killer
 Buffalo Bill
 Buffalo hunter, fight against NA groups
 “Wild West Show”
 Reenact battles in each town he went to
 Imprisoned NAs were actors
 By end of life, was a big advocate of NA and humane treatment
 Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar
 Second president of Texas
 Capital changed from Houston to Austin
 Anti-indian campaign
 Texas rangers to take out indians
 Took out the Comanches

Folklore and Symbolism

 Animal Beliefs
 Astrological Beliefs
 Coyote and Eagle
 Coyote sometimes the hero, sometimes the anti-hero
 trickster
 Kachina Dolls
  To teach new brides about the immortal beings that bring rain and control the
natural world and serve as messengers between human and spirit
 Ghost Dance
 Religious movement
 Reunite spirits of dead
 Associated with end to white expansion
 Contributed to Lakota Resistance to assimilation under the Dawes Act
 Wounded Knee Massacre
 Ghost Dance was given to Jack WIlson, who had a vision that told him to not
fight
 Applies to all NA groups
 Attain bliss
 Militaristic, could drive out white colonists

Other

 Ethnic (shared heritage, common language, faith, ancestry) vs Civic (values of freedom,
tolerance, individual rights) nationalism
 Language families
 Dene
 Alaska to Cali to Mexico
 Apache
 Complex grammatically
 Dying out
 Language family
 Ket
 Mexico to Russia?
 Most NA languages will be extinct in next 30 years
 Boarding Schools 1860s-1870s (stolen generation)
 Many of NA stories weren’t written down or textualized, so they had no “history”
 Columbus
 1492
 95% population decline after arrival of Europeans
 Disease is not as responsible as it is often portrayed, though it certainly took out a
big chunk of people
 Traditional medicines couldn’t cure these diseases
 Spiritual sign that NAs had done something morally wrong
 By 1492 printing press had been around 40 years
 Reformation ---> half of Europe stays Catholic, half splits off
 Spain & Portugal
 Catholic countries reeling from loss of members because of reformation
 Idea was to focus on central and south americas to gain new followers and
reinstate feudal system except with Indian slaves instead of serfs
 England & France
  Europe was split and at war with each other which spilled over into the
Americas
 NAs were not a United front and neither was Europe (complex)
 Europe was 100% Christian with similar cultures, languages, and beliefs
 Iroquois
 System of gov’t based off free man
 Foundation to American democracy
 More influential than Greek democracy
 Only women that were heads of household could vote
 Descartes
 mind/body dualism was backdrop of western medicine
 Placebo effect about thoughts impacting health
 Gender vs Sex
 Berdache/”Two Spirit”: NA who assumed opposite gender or a 3rd gender or
combined aspects of both
 Polygamy and divorce common among NA tribes
 In NA culture, 4 is a sacred number
 4 cardinal directions
 Coyote and raven are trickster characters
 NA culture Matrilineal
 Matriarch is top dog
 Opposite of european system
 Native American Church
 Largest NA church w/ both Christian and NA beliefs
 TIME
 Western cultures, it is linear
 NA cultures, more circular/cyclical
 Influenced by natural world
 Colonial Powers in Early America
 SPANISH/PORTUGUESE
 Remake feudalism
 Extend catholicism
 Sent young soldiers willing to start a new life
 ENGLISH
 Recreate england in new country (Settler Colonialism)
 Puritans left england for THEIR religious freedom but did not believe in
religious freedom
 Marymount was a colony that allowed free trade and intermarriage with
NAs
 Protesting taxation of king
 Moving away from feudal system
 Squatter: settlers could take land for free, if there for 7 years, it legally
becomes your own
 Reason for American Revolution - squatters wanting to extend ownership
of territories while king was fine having treaties with NA
 FRENCH
  Relationship w/ NA was off of trade (fur)
 Some settler colonialism as well
 DUTCH
 Faded out of America quickly
 RUSSIAN
 Trade relationship
 Seal fur
 Took NAs as slaves
 Didn’t control territory, ran trading posts along the coast
 Before settlers, NAs thought of themselves by their individual tribes
 Iroquois League
 Group of five NA tribes that came together
 Parliamentary republic democracy type gov’t
 Cherokee
 Elite
 Kept up with times
 Intermarriage with colonists
 Some went on to own large plantations and become wealthy
 Seminole
 Welcoming nation
 By time of seminole wars, tribe was a third actual seminole, a third african, and a
third european
 War was way to gain honor, less than for killing
 American Revolution
 Europeans traveled to US because potatoes
 Iroquois moved to Canada after invasion
 Seminole fled to Florida
 Cherokee sought path of integration to keep up with european changes
 Successful until Trail of Tears
 Tribes fought each other
 Oklahoma Land rush, Europeans stripped land from NAs and allowed settlers to come in
and take over
 Types of societies
 Agriculture
 Food storage
 Stationary
 Social stratification (commoners, aristocrats, kings, chiefs)
 Inherit land
 Hunting and gathering
 Mobile
 Limited membership
 Lack of social stratification
 Pastoral nomads
 Mobile
 More people
 Social stratification
  Horticulture
 Hybrid of hunting/gathering and agriculture
 Industrial (current)
 Working in offices/factories
 Large population
 Always relies on agricultural
 Food from another place
 Great Plains
 Horse changed lives but was the downfall
 Buffalo (faster than humans)
 Sign language because so many languages spoken in plains
 Greatest threat to colonial expansion
 Hide well
 Gov’t killed buffalo herd
 Post war
 Oklahoma dumping ground

IMPORTANT DATES

 1680:
 Date of the pueblo revolt
 Movement westward by spanish
 1751:
 Spain pulls back sonora
 With horses NA begin to push back europeans
 1821:
 Mexican independence
 Mexico makes law that there are no such thing as indigenous people
 They are deemed peasants
 1848:
 Mexican american war
 Us gets new mexico, texas and cali
 1849:
 Gold discovered in cali
 1863:
 Homestead act
 Guarantees 160 acres to anyone if they move out west build a house and start a
farm
 Encouraged people to move out and settle the newly acquired lands
 Lasted into early 1900’s

 1865:
 Civil war
 Brought several US forces into the southwest as a result
 Kit Carson:
  pioneer /mountain man, fought for us gov’t, married to a native american
woman
 However he was in charge of the “long walk” for the navajos (basically
their version of the trail of tears)
 Imprisoned them in a fort that couldn’t handle the numbers, thousands of
navajos died
 1868:
 Second Treaty of Fort Laramie
 Set up a treaty that gave sovereignty of their land forever, in exchange for
safe passage for wagons and trains

 1876:
 Custer’s last stand
 General custer’s entire battalion was wiped out
 Last major military victory for the Native Americans
 Sent shockwaves thru america, pissed everyone off more doubled their
anti NA efforts

 1887:
 Dawes Act
 Eviscerated NA land in Oklahoma that was supposed to be protected
guaranteed land from the treaty
 1898:
 Curtis Act
 Abolished all tribal and communal indian lands of the five civilized tribes:
choctaw, chickasaw, muscogee, cherokee, seminole
 1890:
 Oklahoma land rush
 One big rush where people could come out, find a spot, and get free land

Other Again
 A lot of Cherokees moved from Oklahoma to Texas
 3rd Great Awakening
 WWI brings American into global scene
 1924 - Indian Citizenship Act is passed
 Granted citizenship to NAs
 Could vote and represent themselves in court
 Iroquois resisted and in fact remained sovereign until 9/11
 Bureau of Indian Affairs
 Most corrupt bureau in U.S. history
 John Collier argued for better NA treatment
 Good change to narrative but didn’t last long
 Kids books and movies not written by NAs
 History represented by the winners
 Sioux
 Last to be militarily conquered
  Still trying to get land promised to them
 Declined Supreme Court offer to get money instead of land
 Still fighting for land
 Least healthy place to live in US (Pine Ridge Reservation)
 Sovereignty
 NA law doesn’t apply to non-natives even on reservations
 Water rights
 Hegemony
 Leadership or dominance, by one country or social group
 Internet is medium that decentralized this hegemonic power
 Colonialism
 Settler colonialism
 Replaces civilization with conquering group
 Extraction - denying their existence
 Once they marry into groups, no longer NA
 Eventually disappear
 What’s authentic?
 Extractive Colonialism
 Brittain and India


Last lecture notes

Culturally speaking we are all Native Americans- OK, corn, democracy influenced by Iriquois
At the same time we deny their existence.
Problematic ways of being americans

America does not pay to kidnapped NA but they did pay reparations to imprisoned Japanese
prisoners during WW2. Canada does do this.

Everyone in Germany has to talk about the genocide. Here in America we don’t educate peeps.

Appreciate Native American culture. There is a lot of knowledge to be gained by it. Its
FABULOUS (sparkly purple feathers).

When corn and potato went into Europe the population sky rocketed.

American heroes are heroes because they killed NA. Washington burned Iriquois villages and
towns

NA have 500 year plans, 1000 year plans. Do I have any of those? I should make one for my
school.

Half of Native Americans reside in reservations with terrible conditions.

Boarding schools were designed to convert NA erase their religions and languages.
NA women were sterilized to finish this culture

The wall involves illegal invading of Native american land

Pop culture presents NA like they were 200 years ago.

The population of NA has grown over the past 20 years

The constitution says that NA is a a soverign group

There is a stigma around Modern Native Americans. Why are you wearing jeans and carrying an
iPhone?

Very few representations of Native Americans. You can erase their voices by continuing to
represent them without their opinions.

NA are very humorous.

NA spirituality has been appropriated and is advocated by non NAs.

The internet has allowed them to put their voices out there

Cool youtube video about the gathering of indigenous cultures in Brazil indigenous games 2015.