Indigenous Studies Dissertations and Theses

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  • Publication
    The Bat Creek Stone: The Little Stone With a Big Story
    (University of Kansas, 2017-12-31) Clapsaddle, Ethan
    This paper tells the story of the Bat Creek Stone and its dynamic role in science, Cherokee history and culture, and the exercise of tribal sovereignty. Starting with a historical overview of the BAE archaeological dig on Bat Creek, the thesis analyzes each theory on the stone’s origins, with supporting archaeological, scientific, and historical evidence, and ends with a discussion of the Museum’s role in understanding the stone’ origin through further testing and exhibiting the stone. More than a simple chronology of an interesting and controversial object, this thesis, using the Bat Creek Stone, as a vehicle, analyzes such fundamental questions as to what is scientific proof, how does it relate to tribal histories, culture, and truths, and the means and processes by which tribes can reassert control over the telling of their own histories.
  • Publication
    Trusting the Culture in our Food: Overcoming Barriers for Sustainable Indigenous Foodways
    (University of Kansas, 2014-12-31) Stevens, Lois Lorraine
    In this thesis I delve into the world of traditional, Indigenous agricultural practices. My goal is to examine how these traditional practices of small community-style gardens can help various populations of modern Indigenous people become self-sufficient in today's struggling economy, while at the same time showing how this sustainable food system contributes to the betterment of Mother Earth. Furthermore, this thesis will show the connection these foodways have to the cultural and linguistic practices of Indigenous Peoples and how they can be used to assist preservation of these practices. As a living example, this thesis will explain how the influence of reclamation of their indigenous foods has helped my own tribe, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, revitalize their culture. Finally, I will explore the psychology behind why we are hesitant to change and demonstrate how these traditional practices can create a model for Indigenous populations to overcome these psychological barriers, while fitting contemporary societal settings.
  • Publication
    Who We Were, Is Not Who We Are: Wa.zha.zhe Representations, 1960-2010
    (University of Kansas, 2013-05-31) Smith, Thomas Edward
    My thesis examines whether the over-use of outdated descriptions of Osage Indians contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes through an examination of the relationship between the historical and anthropological texts and museum exhibits produced between 1960 and 2010. Stereotypes about American Indians in general affect tribes in various ways therefore grouping American Indians together is a stereotype in and of itself. By studying how one tribe has been represented to the general public I am able to see more clearly how such stereotypes are formed and why these beliefs last over time. The time period I chose to study includes a period of social change in the way the Osage have been presented in history, anthropology, and museum studies. I will employ content analysis and coding to examine the data collected from books, articles, and museum exhibits. I will separate the descriptions by field of study in order to determine which field or methods produce well rounded descriptions of the Osage People. The time period between first encounters till the end of the Indian Wars make for popular subjects of writing and research of American Indians. As a result, few studies have been conducted that look at the Osage as members of present society or the impact recent historic events have had on them. I will use my study of Osage representations as a case by which to explore this phenomenon and how over use of historical representations contributes to the stereotyping of the Osage and other American Indian Peoples.
  • Publication
    Power in Meaning: Changing Indigenous Museum Collection Narratives
    (University of Kansas, 2012-05-31) Baudino, Patricia
    New Museum Theory is successful not only in creating space for Native voice(s) at the Spencer Museum of Art through the exhibition, Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place, but also in beginning a new chapter for the ethnographic collection at the University of Kansas. In this thesis, I discover the success of the exhibition and the repurposing of the collection through critical analysis of how the collection has been and is now interpreted and managed. This discovery involves conducting a summative evaluation of the exhibit, and exploring the ways in which New Museum Theory affects the collection. The summative evaluation includes an analysis of visitor surveys, interviews with Native American artists, and observations of programming. The summative evaluation and my analysis reveals that New Museum Theory is successful in creating space for Native voice(s) in the museum, as well as changing the narrative of the collection. Broader conclusions can be drawn from these results for the positive effect New Museum Theory may have on the future of indigenous collections across the United States.
  • Publication
    A Critical History of Colonization and Amerindian Resistance in Trans-Appalachia 1750-1830: The Proclamation Wars
    (University of Kansas, 2010-05-31) Arnold, Richard Keith
    A careful examination of events in Colonial Trans-Appalachia the region geographically encompassed by territories west of the Appalachian Mountain Range and east of the Mississippi River at the time of the French and Indian War facilitates analysis of regime formation amongst Amerindian and European Colonists. This thesis examines the effects of contact on Amerindian and European polities in a form that seeks relevance to contemporary issues. It draws on historical timelines that immediately pre and post-date the French and Indian War. It argues how distinctive decision making structures used by Amerindian and European societies provide preliminary models for understanding how their respective forms of sociopolitical organization conditioned political relationships.
  • Publication
    Constructing Indianness in Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles
    (University of Kansas, 2011-12-31) Burns, Carol A.
    Film critics consistently note two prominent features of The Exiles as its visual style and its drunken Indians. It has been called one of the greatest films ever by or about Native people, even author Sherman Alexie has championed it as a realistic portrayal of urban Indians, yet, Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles profits from the same characterizations that promulgates negative representation of Indians in film and video. Mackenzie had an idea to make documentary that would shed light on the Federal Indian Relocation policy and show the effects of paternalism on relocatees living in the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles but his investigation into the "Indian problem" was topical; Mackenzie had two urban Indian stories available to him, the first being one of self-determination, hard work and perseverance, and the second, a story about self-destruction. Archival documents in the Milestone DVD package and the film itself demonstrate that Mackenzie constructed for his actor-subjects an image of Indianness that little to do with themselves as individual Indian people, and everything to do with Mackenzie's own personal construction of Indianness.
  • Publication
    The Importance of Historical Trauma & Stress as a Factor in Diabetes and Obesity Prevention among American Indian Adolescents
    (University of Kansas, 2012-08-31) Hale, Jason William
    For the last forty years, the federal government and tribal governments have developed and administered programs to lower the obesity and diabetes rates among American Indian populations. Despite these joint efforts, a diabetes epidemic continues to ravage Indian country with rates ranging from 16% to 40% to 70%, depending upon the community, while rates for non-Indians are approximately 8%. This thesis argues that one of the reasons that existing programs have failed to lower diabetes rates is due to their failure to address an unresolved grief labeled historical trauma and socio-political factors that may be even more fundamental to diabetes causation among American Indians. Poverty, suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, microaggressions, violence and traumatic events, exacerbated by historical trauma, contribute to a heightened level of stress among American Indians that is unparalleled. Given that research has linked stress and trauma to the onset of diabetes, exposure to these risk factors for American Indians is an overlooked factor. Health behaviors and trajectories set for a lifetime during adolescence make this an extremely vulnerable period of life for American Indians. The thesis suggests American Indian diabetes prevention programs that target adolescents, explore the impact of colonization and continued oppression of American Indian people on the deterioration of their health, and continue to promote the benefits of healthy diets and exercise may help to slow the prevalence of obesity and diabetes in these communities.
  • Publication
    The Legacy of Unjust and Illegal Treatment of Unangan
    (University of Kansas, 2011-12-31) Arnold, Carlene J.
    This thesis discusses the relocation of Unangan during World War II, and the effect that it had on them. It uses personal interviews and secondary sources to provide the Native American and scientific communities with historical information about the Unangax prior to WWII. I hope to offer the school systems new ideas for educating Unangan and other students about the Unangan past and present. At the same time, telling my story about reconstructing my roots may provide inspiration for others like me to find their roots. In 1942, Japan bombed and invaded the Aleutian Islands in Alaska as a diversionary tactic. After the Japanese took control of Attu and Kiska, they took the people of Attu to Hokkaido, Japan as prisoners. Within days after the invasion, other Unangan were taken from their homes and relocated to canneries, mining camps and a Civilian Conservation Corps site in Southeast Alaska, under the orders of United States government officials. The internment began a story of the Unangan removal and relocation that remains largely unknown to most of the world. This sad incident resulted in the death of approximately ten percent of the Unangan population. The government seems to have ignored the Unangan basic human rights, causing them to suffer from lack of food, heat, plumbing, and medical attention. This multidisciplinary thesis will draw upon official government and military documents, journals, books, documentary films, oral histories, and personal interviews. It will benefit from perspectives offered by the Unangax themselves in the context of accounts by government officials, attorneys, historians, filmmakers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and others. The thesis will address the significance of World War II internment in Unangan history, giving special attention to how it is regarded by the Unangan internees and their descendants today.
  • Publication
    Watershed Restoration through Culture-Based Education and Community Outreach
    (University of Kansas, 2011-12-31) Stevens, Margaret Rose
    In this thesis I will examine the relationship between watershed restoration and my own traditional teachings. One of my goals is to demonstrate how understanding Indigenous ways of knowing can help others understand the importance of watershed restoration, and also how getting local people involved is an essential aspect of effective conservation and restoration. I will use my tribe, Ona=k@= - People of the Standing Stone, otherwise known as the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, as a case study . The Upper Wakarusa watershed in Lawrence, KS will be used to compare how different strategies in watershed restoration are employed in non-Indian community.
  • Publication
    Commemorating Israel, Forgetting Palestine: Representation and Remembering in Dispensational Discourses
    (University of Kansas, 2011-12-31) Duncan, Philip Travis
    In recent decades, significant bodies of research have emerged with regard to understanding (a) Indigenous identities as "glocal" expressions (e.g., Minde 2008; Niezen 2003; Bigenho 2007), (b) Christian Zionism (e.g., Ariel 1991; Spector 2009), and (c) how ideology and power relate to language, society, and cognition (e.g., Van Dijk and Kintsch 1983; Lakoff 1987; Reisigl and Wodak 2001). Yet, research in each area in relation to the others has remained somewhat independent, and the intersection of these themes remains to be fully explored. This work contributes to previous scholarship in these areas by addressing points of contact among these themes with respect to how producers of certain Christian Zionist discourses represent and remember Israel and Palestine. In this thesis I explore the historical, socio-political, and cognitive dynamics of Christian Zionist dispensationalism from a critical discourse analytic perspective. I consider the relationship between dispensational discourses and complex, competing articulations of Indigenous identity by Palestinians and Israelis. I base my analysis on a corpus of 246 dispensational texts that represent various institutions, genres and modalities, and span nearly eight decades (1934-2011). Within the broad field of critical discourse analysis, I utilize methods from the discourse-historical approach (Reisigl and Wodak 2001) and the socio-cognitive approach (Van Dijk 2008b, 2009a) to consider the relationship between rhetorical strategies in dispensational discourses and discursive manipulation through the formation of biased mental models (Van Dijk 2006). By analyzing various texts from these theological - and ideological - paradigms, which themselves realize dispensational discourses, I consider how dispensationalisms discursively represent and remember (or forget) Israel/Israelis and Palestine/Palestinians. With this in mind, I also draw from cultural memory studies, and consider dispensational discourses to be metaphorical "lieux de mémoire" (`sites of memory'; Nora 1989) where commemoration of Israel takes place for nationalistic, ideological, and socio-political purposes. I argue that dispensational discourses reproduce biased mental models of Palestine and Israel through a cultural narrative of commemorating Israel. My analysis suggests that representation and remembering in dispensational discourses relates to a complex framework of othering, which underlies a function of co-articulating Indigenous identity.
  • Publication
    HOME IN THE CHOCTAW DIASPORA: SURVIVAL AND REMEMBRANCE AWAY FROM NANIH WAIYA
    (University of Kansas, 2011-07-31) Lewis, Jason Brightstar
    This thesis analyzes oral histories collected from Choctaw people since their displacement away from Nanih Waiya, to look for an understanding of Home and the formations of Home that have enabled Choctaw identities over time. Oral sources were reviewed from four collections that represent distinct spatial and temporal Choctaw perspectives, located at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma, the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida, and the Center for Oral and Public History at California State University, Fullerton. The Choctaw values of survival and remembrance are so consistent in the analysis, that significant material formations observed in these collections are made meaningful by their relation to these values. Findings have been used to develop a narrative from a diasporic perspective that is rooted in the decolonization project of critically rereading history. Through oral sources and theoretical framing, the voices of Choctaw people contribute to and challenge colonial, postcolonial, and decolonization discourses.
  • Publication
    People of the Sacred Language: Revival of the Hocak Language
    (University of Kansas, 2009-06-12) John, Tashina Marie
    The native language of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is Hocak, today an endangered language. The Hochungra, meaning "People of the Sacred Speech", originally came from present day central Wisconsin. This thesis first identified four factors important in language loss: movement out of environment, external duress, internal duress and loss of critical mass. A qualitative analysis of these factors to Hochunk history revealed that the first two factors most explained the decline in the Hocak language. These same factors, in reverse, also accounted for the Ho-Chunk's ability to better preserve the language.
  • Publication
    Water Quality Issues facing Indigenous Peoples in North America and Siberia
    (University of Kansas, 2009-04-29) Mehl, Heidi Elizabeth
    Contaminated water is a problem of global concern that disproportionately affects many Indigenous communities. This study focuses on water-quality issues facing two Indigenous communities - the Altaian people of Central Siberia, and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Northeastern Kansas. Information was collected about each community's water resources and cultural attitudes towards them through a series of interviews and quantitative water-quality tests. Results revealed similar attitudes and reverence for water resources in both communities, and that both communities have defined protocols for their interactions with water resources. Each community is facing threats to their water quality from different sources of pollution, and may benefit from a community-based water-quality monitoring program to better inform them of their water quality.
  • Publication
    EXPANDING TRIBAL CITIZENSHIP USING INTERNATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF SELF-DETERMINATION
    (University of Kansas, 2008-08-20) Warrington, Jancita Coleen
    ABSTRACT Jancita C. Warrington, M.A., Indigenous Nations Studies Center for Indigenous Nations Studies, May 2008 University of Kansas The purpose of this research is to provide Tribal Nations of mid-North America with an alternative approach to revising IRA tribal constitutions. In particular this research focuses on the citizenship and/or membership criteria of Tribal Nations that have blood quantum standards firmly embedded in Tribal law. Blood quantum standards continue to de-humanize the traditional customs and culture of Tribal Nations. Tribal Nations must make a collective move to change their membership standards to reflect traditional tribal standards of collective citizenship based on international principle of self-determination. Chapter one establishes international law as the foundation of United States colonial law. I have included various documents of international law as supporting components to establish the right to a nationality and citizenship are basic rights extended to all peoples of humanity. Chapter two analyzes the United States' influence on the concept of Tribal Nations. Tribal Nations customarily did not define their citizenship affiliated with any kind of race-based component. Colonial laws which established United States as an absolute sovereign continues to severely impair Tribal Nations from exercising true self-determination. Chapter three gives an overview of tribal constitutions from 1934 to the present day. U.S. congressional plenary power has domesticated, assimilated and sometimes even terminated the recognition of Tribal Nations. Tribal Nations fearing the ultimate power of congressional plenary power have established their Tribal governments and citizenship guidelines attempting to fit congressional notions of sovereignty. Chapter four provides an alternative approach to Tribal enrollment by recognizing the need to separate the internal and external citizenship components of Tribal Nations.
  • Publication
    Tribal Nations and Limitary Concepts: Examining the Dimensions and Limitations of Sovereignty and Autonomy
    (University of Kansas, 2008-07-31) Prater, Travis
    As demonstrated by the expansion of Indigenous academic scholarship in the past few decades, Indigenous theorists are evaluating the implementation of sovereignty as an effective process to protect and expand the political and cultural authorities of Tribal Nations. Recently, the concept of autonomy has entered the evaluation. Sovereignty is generally understood as absolute political authority, autonomy as self-government. Depending upon their orientation towards these concepts, this thesis categorizes the works of Indigenous scholars into four schools of thought: the re-conceptualists, rejectionist, rejection-conceptualists, and the revolutionary-conceptualist. Using these categories, this thesis examines the dimensions and limitations of the concepts of sovereignty and autonomy as applied to Tribal Nations. This thesis demonstrates that the practical implications of sovereignty are limited by the dominant colonial discourse and that autonomy is inadequate to provide Tribal Nations with liberation from colonialism. In conclusion, this thesis provides recommendations for Tribal Nations based on the revolutionary-conceptualist thought.
  • Publication
    Indigenous Resource Management and Environmental Contamination
    (University of Kansas, 2008-07-28) Holder, Stanley Richard
    Heavy metals are potential contaminants which can produce negative impacts on human health which vary from metal to metal, and are also dependent upon concentration and duration of exposure to the contaminant. This study lists the human health effects of 5 heavy metals; copper, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, and discusses the need for studies to identify potential exposure pathways that are associated with a Native American / Indigenous Lifeways. Gaps in the data include exposure pathways associated with wild edible / medicinal plants as well as understanding of the pathways through which many culturally relevant plants may uptake and store metals. Native American / Indigenous peoples around the world have developed an extensive amount of knowledge of their surroundings. Knowledge of plants, animals, and ecological processes, combined with a non-destructive philosophy based on understanding relationships between species, continues to enable these Indigenous peoples to interact with their surroundings while at the same time, these ways of living may lead to exposure risks from heavy metals through increased water consumption, dust inhalation, and consumption of meat including organ meats that concentrate contaminants and plants that may uptake contaminants as part of their physiological processes.
  • Publication
    The Hopi and the Black Mesa: An Argument for Protection of Sacred Water Sites
    (University of Kansas, 2008-07-28) Grimes, Tamisha
    Numerous studies have documented the dropping water levels in Hopi sacred springs. From 1966 to 2005, Peabody Coal Mining Company has continually used the water located directly under the Hopi reservation. The use of water for religious and cultural purposes represents more than symbolism, for without water the Hopi cannot perform their rituals to keep the water regenerating. The term "sacred water site" is introduced to capture the essence of the sacred springs and water sources that are central to the Hopi religion. Currently, Peabody Coal has filed for a Life in Mine with the Office of Surface Mining to re-open the use of the N-aquifer. Under current U.S. policy, little to no protection is available for protection of Hopi sacred water sites. Through binding international law and current declarations, an argument will be made for the protection of the Hopi's sacred water sites.
  • Publication
    Protection of Navajo Sacred Objects
    (University of Kansas, 2008-07-31) Yazzie, Elerina
    Navajo cultural items are being misused, lost, stolen, and sold in pawnshops, Indian stores, the internet, and at pow-wows. This thesis argues that tribes should consider enacting tribal legislation to prevent this spiritual loss and provides a model tribal code developed for the Navajo Nation. This study draws from years of personal direct observation, and secondary and primary sources, such as newspaper articles, federal Indian laws, and books. Navajo traditional law and western law visualize "ownership," differently especially the ownership of sacred items. As the two societies interacted, serious problems emerged when western legal concepts were applied to items the Navajo people consider to have spiritual nature. This research finds that current tribal programming is not designed to prevent the sale or pawning of such items. This thesis proposes that the Nation adopt a tribal code that reflects traditional Navajo concepts of ownership to prevent such losses.
  • Publication
    Can Museums Promote Community Healing? A Healing Museum Model for Indigenous Communities
    (University of Kansas, 2008-02-01) Van Noy, Johna Beth
    Since colonization, Indigenous peoples and various ethnic groups have endured exploitation, marginalization, and extreme oppression, often culminating in physical and cultural genocide. Crimes of cultural destruction disrupt the fabric of communities; they create a loss of control, sever ties with the past and future, and create feelings of a loss of identity and connection with the value and meaning of culture. This dismissive and destructive behavior by and attitudes of western society towards Indigenous peoples is also reflected in the history of museums. Traditional western museums have misrepresented, objectified, and acted as the authority over Indigenous culture, and so the relationship between museums and Indigenous peoples has historically been one of tension, mistrust, and conflict. However this is changing as museums evolve into agents of social change. Indigenous communities are creating museums and cultural centers to promote cultural connectedness and reaffirm cultural identity, especially after genocide. This thesis will explore how Indigenous communities the importance of healing and oral traditions within Indigenous communities and how these elements can be incorporated into a museum or cultural centers to acknowledge these acts of cultural destruction and to heal the community. I propose that museums are evolving beyond agents of social change so that Indigenous communities can utilize these institutions to acknowledge acts of cultural destruction committed against the people as means of healing. This new museum model incorporates the critical elements of oral traditions and storytelling.
  • Publication
    Native American Children and Their Reports of Hope: A Factor Analytic Comparison
    (University of Kansas, 2007-12-27) Mashunkashey-Shadlow, Joanna
    The present study investigated the applicability of the Hope Theory (Snyder et al., 1991) among a Native American child population in the Midwest. Dependent variables included (a) the Hope Interview and (b) the Children's Hope Scale. By assessing these variables, this study addressed the following questions: (a) Is the conceptualization of hope that is used predominately with European American samples, similar to the conceptualization of hope among Native American child populations?; and (b) Do Native American children's responses to the Children's Hope scale load on the same two-factor hope model similar to the previous validation study (Snyder, Hoza, et al., 1997)? Results show that scores of Native American children loaded similar to the validation study participants, suggesting the Children's Hope Scale is applicable with Native American populations. Implications and future research directions are reviewed.