Churchill, Ward (1993). Naming Our Destiny: Toward a Language of American Indian Liberation. This essay provides teachers and others with an awareness of the social and political implications of words used to designate indigenous peoples of North America. How a group is seen by others and how it sees itself in many ways define the conditions under which the group will live, and the options it can exercise to affect these conditions. The distinction between identifying American Indians as members of "peoples" that constitute "nations" in their own right, and casting them as members of groups that comprise something less–a community, a clan, a "minority group," or a "tribe"–incurs a decisive meaning. Words such as "nation" and "tribe" are not interchangeable in either political or legal contexts, all protestations of government officials and "responsible tribal leaders" notwithstanding. Evidence drawn from dictionaries, Native-language terminology, historical documents, treaties, federal legislation, Supreme Court decisions, and international law is used to demonstrate: (1) the inappropriate emphasis on blood lines suggested by "tribe"; (2) the lack of a Native-language equivalent to "tribe"; (3) the animalistic and subordinate connotations of "tribe," as opposed to the strictly human meaning of "people"; (4) the meaning of "nation" and implications for government-to-government relations; and (5) how these words relate to the rhetoric of extermination. Pursuing a language of liberation is the first step in ensuring that indigenous peoples are accorded the inherent rights of self-determination possessed by peoples and nations. Contains 116 endnotes.    [More]  Descriptors: American Indian History, American Indians, Consciousness Raising, Definitions

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC. (1973). Constitutional Status of American Indians. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Staff Memorandum. The paper discusses the legal, political status of American Indian tribes, the relationship of Indians to their tribes and to their States, and the relationship of tribes to the States and to the United States (U.S.) Government. The U.S. Government has excercised plenary power over Indians for approximately 200 years. Indian tribes have traditionally been viewed by Federal courts as dependent or tributary nations possessed of limited elements of sovereignty and requiring Federal protection. Congress has alternatively viewed tribes as sovereign political entities or as anachronisms which must eventually be extinguished. The result has been 2 conflicting Federal policies–separation and assimilation. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 made all Indians born in the U.S. citizens of the U.S. As such, they are also citizens of the State in which they live, even though they may reside on a reservation. Indians are therefore citizens of 3 separate political entities, subject to Federal laws, civil and criminal laws of the tribe when they are on the reservation and within its jurisdiction, and State laws while off the the reservation. This document presents a general study of the constitutional status of Indians, rather than a complete analysis of the unique and complex field of Federal Indian law.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Civics, Civil Rights

Mabery, Marilyne Virginia (1991). Right after Sundown: Teaching Stories of the Navajos. Understanding of the traditional Navajo world view and philosophy is ultimately centered on their origin story of emergence into the present world. All stories stem from this basic one. This collection of 12 Navajo stories includes origin stories, coyote stories, and a fairly recent one that describes a recognizable place. In the Anglo sense, these stories may seem unrelated, but to the Navajos, they are all connected. These stories are not colorful folk tales or a writer's creative imagination, but are, for the Navajos, actual events. In their humor and graphic descriptions, the stories seem to be folk tales. In their supernatural reality, they take on the quality of legend. In their association with the complicated Navajo ceremonies, they explain and justify the moral values and cultural norms of traditional Navajo society. In their moralistic character, they represent the height of parable. Repetition, so customary in American Indian stories, is a reflection of the rhythms of daily life and the power of continuity. Rather than lecturing their young people about right and wrong, the Navajos tell stories such as these to illustrate what they desire to teach, allowing the children to grasp for themselves what is appropriate behavior. This book includes 20 references, a glossary, and a prayer from the Navajo Beauty Way.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian Literature, Cultural Education, Ethical Instruction

McCabe, Carol J.; Lewis, Hester (1975). The Navajo Nation: An American Colony. A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The major portion of this report is devoted to the Anglo and American Indian testimony from the 1973 Commission on Civil Rights Hearings on Navajo economic development, employment, education, and health care. Among the major recommendations cited are those calling for: (1) legal recognition of the Navajo Tribal Council to provide for favorable tax classification and Federal Agency grant and loan qualification; (2) a system by which the Tribal Council could make decisions with greater independence from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); (3) legislation to support program development until tribal revenues are adequate to maintain both infrastructure and development investments; (4) a program to provide superior technical expertise in planning and decision making; (5) a Department of the Interior policy providing for joint enterprises on a 50/50 (tribal and contractor) basis; (6) Federal augmentation of the Navajo Revolving Credit Fund; (7) BIA enforcement of the Navajo preference policy in Federal employment; (8) creation of a tribal agency with jurisdiction over employment discrimination complaints; (9) full Navajo representation in the educational decision making process; (10) curriculum development to include Navajo cultural awareness; (11) elimination of the Navajo teacher shortage; and (12) appropriation of funds for the Indian Health Service to make Navajo health care comparable to that of the U.S. in general.   [More]  Descriptors: Agency Role, American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Civil Rights Legislation

Days, Drew S., III (1980). Standing in Line for Equality. The late fifties and early sixties were periods of great strides for blacks in America. At the same time, Hispanics, American Indians, women, the aged, and the physically and mentally handicapped came forth to meet the challenge of discrimination. This challenge will continue to face the United States. The argument that Americans need time to adjust to changes has resulted in the pitting of minority groups against each other in the battle for equality. The United States cannot afford such confrontations in the eighties. In a "person-centered" society where concerns for a "higher destiny,""compassion," and "humaneness" guide public policy, there is no need to battle one another over who will be next in line to achieve equality.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indians, Blacks, Ethnic Groups, Females

Clough, Josh (2006). A Victim of Its Own Success: The Story of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Fair, 1910-13, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. The Indian fair is that rare example of a government program for Indians gone terribly right. Implemented by the Office of Indian Affairs on reservations in the early 1900s, Indian fairs allowed Native people to exhibit their crops, livestock, and domestic handiwork in competition for prizes much the same way whites did at their numerous county and state fairs. From a single government-sponsored Indian fair on the Crow Reservation in Montana in 1905, Native fairs spread rapidly across the country. Little more than a decade later, fifty-eight reservations and agencies could boast of holding one or more of them on a yearly basis. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma held their first fair in Weatherford, Oklahoma in October of 1910. The popularity of the three-day event prompted its continuation for the next three years, and it was held, alternately, at Weatherford and Watonga, Oklahoma. The event attracted between 2,000 and 2,500 Indians annually and at least as many Anglo spectators. Under Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert G. Valentine's pro-Indian fair administration, the future of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Fair seemed promising, but a change in commissioners in 1913 along with the growing disillusionment of local Cheyenne-Arapaho agents toward the fair led to its closure after the 1913 event. In this article, the author discusses the history of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Fair from 1910 to 1913.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indians, Federal Indian Relationship, Exhibits, American Indian History

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. (1973). Menominee Restoration Act: H.R. 7421–To Repeal the Act Terminating Federal Supervision Over the Property and Members of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin as a Federally Recognized, Sovereign Indian Tribe; and to Restore to the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin Those Federal Services Furnished to American Indians Because of Their Status as American Indians; and for Other Purposes. Hearings Before…, 93d Congress, 1st Session…. Presenting reports, statements, letters, and additional information, these hearings of the Menominee Restoration Act (HR 7421) deal with restoration of Federal services to the Menominee tribe via repeal of the 83d Congress' (1953) termination policy. Testimony includes statements from representatives of the: Federal Government, National Congress of American Indians; Menominee Tribe; Menominee County Highway Department, Drugs and Alcoholism Program, Housing Authority, and Council of Chiefs; Wisconsin Schools; and the like. Some of the additional information presented includes: (1) an employment analysis for December 1967-June 1973; (2) Lake Moshawquit Property Owners Association agreements; (3) Native American Rights Fund's Memorandum re Restoration Act; (4) Menominee County Community Action Program's Impact Study (table); (5) Menominee Enterprises' financial analysis-ratios for March 1973 and summary of forestry and mill operations for 1961-72; (6) profile chart for averages on the Iowa Tests for basic skills; (7) Report 272 of the 87th Congress on lessening the impact of Federal services termination; (8) Bureau of Indian Affairs' report on termination (1965); (9) tables on: population and economic characteristics of tribes; county population and Wisconsin per capita taxable income (1969); and travel distances from community to service center; (10) Wisconsin Assembly bills, amendments, and fiscal notes.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indians, Demography, Economically Disadvantaged, Federal Aid

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. (1977). Meetings of the American Indian Policy Review Commission (Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon, June 4, August 10, and September 25, 1976). Volume 3. The purpose of the American Indian Policy Review Commission hearing on June 4, 1976, was to give the Commissioners an opportunity to hear each task force restate and clarify relevant issues and preliminary recommendations. Two points that emerged from the session were: the need for a specific process whereby the Federal Government recognizes tribes and the noninvolvement of the Federal Government in defining who is and is not an Indian (this should be left up to the tribes). One major objective of Task Force No. 2 was to define clearly the relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes, including the political status of Indian tribal governments commensurate with the views of Indian people across the country. One spokesman reviewed the main obstacles of economic development; an example is when reservation resources are developed by others the proceeds are then siphoned off by state taxation. The meeting held in Portland, Oregon, covered the controversy of hunting and fishing rights and several court cases concerned with the controversy.   [More]  Descriptors: Agency Role, American Indian Education, American Indians, Change Strategies

Nicholas, George P. (2006). Decolonizing the Archaeological Landscape: The Practice and Politics of Archaeology in British Columbia, American Indian Quarterly. In British Columbia, Canada, the practice of archaeology has been strongly influenced by issues of First Nations rights and the ways government and industry have chosen to address them. In turn, this situation has affected academic (i.e., research-based) and consulting (i.e., cultural resource management) archaeology, which have had to respond to changes in the provincial Heritage Conservation Act (HCA) and to the implementation of archaeological overview assessments (AOAS) and traditional-use studies (TUSS). In this article, the author explores the situation of British Columbia, where First Nations' contribution to AOAS, TUSS, and the archaeological permitting process have influenced the development of predictive and explanatory models. There, as elsewhere, the increasing role of descendant communities in participating in or directing landscape-oriented studies–in a sense, decolonizing the archaeological process–clearly will influence how archaeologists need to perceive past cultural landscapes in the future. The author presented this article in three sections. First, he examines the nature of archaeological landscapes and their importance in organizing and interpreting evidence of past human behavior. Second, he examines the historical context of archaeology in British Columbia over the past century and discusses how it has contributed to the colonization of First Nations through heritage legislation, archaeological resource management strategies, and the very limited ways in which traditional perspectives of the cultural landscape have been incorporated. In the final section, he outlines four ways First Nations are seeking to decolonize the archaeological landscape, which include educational initiatives and the development of alternative resource management strategies.   [More]  Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Archaeology, Indigenous Populations, Indigenous Knowledge

Shaw, Dagmar Thorpe (1979). Why America Should Support Native Rights, American Indian Journal. The essay discusses Indian rights in the light of national and international law and describes the struggle for Indian rights as part of an international struggle for human rights and social justice. Descriptors: American Indians, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC. (1978). Social Indicators of Equality for Minorities and Women. This report presents newly designed statistical measures ("social indicators of equality") which compare the level of well-being of the minority and female populations to that of the majority (white) male population and assess the nation's progress toward achieving equality. Census and Survey of Income and Education statistics from 1960, 1970, and 1976 are the raw data sources used. The indicators cover different aspects of education, employment, income, poverty, and housing for men and women in the following groups: American Indians/Alaskan Natives; blacks; Mexican Americans; Japanese Americans; Chinese Americans; Pilipino Americans; Puerto Ricans; and, for comparative purposes, whites not of Hispanic origin. Despite some inprovement in many areas, the indicators demonstrate, majority males have continued to enjoy broader opportunities and to reap disproportionate benefits while women and minority males have in many instances fallen even further behind.   [More]  Descriptors: Alaska Natives, American Indians, Asian Americans, Blacks

Akins, Andrew; And Others (1974). Federal and State Services and the Maine Indian. A Report of the Maine Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Pursuant to its responsibilities to advise the Commission on Civil Rights, the Maine Advisory Committee's hearings, investigations, and recommendations relative to Federal and State services for American Indians in Maine are detailed in this report. Dealing first with policy and law as manifest in: (1) Self-Determination; (2) Federal Indian Services; (3) State Policy and State Services; (4) Conflict in the State of Maine, This report also presents the committee's recommendations for the following: (1) Economic and Community Development; (2) Housing; (3) Health; (4) Education; (5) Welfare; (6) Foster Care; and (7) Law Enforcement and Public Safety. Major conclusions cited in this report are: (1) Maine Indians are being denied services provided other Native Americans by Federal agencies which is not only discriminatory but is also placing a disproportionate tax burden on Maine taxpayers. (2) Half the Indians in Maine are not receiving State Indian services because they live off-reservation. (3) The State should develop an integrated service program to serve all Maine Indians (Maliseets, Passamaquoddys, Penobscots, and Micmacs) regardless of their residency. (4) Current socioeconomic statistics reveal longstanding discriminatory practices (45 percent substandard housing, 65 percent unemployment, severe health problems, nonexistent bicultural education, and 4 out of 136 Indian foster children in Indian foster homes).   [More]  Descriptors: Advisory Committees, American Indians, Civil Rights, Economic Development

Schreiber, Dorothee (2006). First Nations, Consultation, and the Rule of Law: Salmon Farming and Colonialism in British Columbia, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Many coastal First Nations communities, particularly in British Columbia, see consultation as a positive way of getting around the firmly entrenched position of both provincial and federal governments on fish farming. Even those Native groups such as the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council (MTTC) and the Homalco First Nation, who are adamantly opposed to any open net fish farming in their waters, eagerly engage in consultation. The Native response to unsatisfactory interactions with the provincial ministry and fish-farming companies is most often a call for further consultation or a declaration that exchanges worthy of being called "consultation" have not yet taken place. In this article, the author explores the gap between the promise of consultation and the ways in which consultation serves to entrench rather than overcome the colonial relationships of the past. She points out the possible pitfalls of a cooperative strategy–"consultation"–that appears to have placed the burden of creating consensus between settlers and First Nations squarely on the shoulders of Native peoples and their continued cooperation with the property and productive arrangements of the status quo. She concludes by recognizing that consultation, as a social practice, often works as a tactic of repression rather than as a means of protecting Aboriginal title and rights, but that the government of Canada may be able to transform the practice of consultation and thereby make progress toward a just and long-term resolution of Native peoples' claims.   [More]  Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Animal Husbandry, American Indian Education, Canada Natives

Satz, Ronald N.; And Others (1991). Chippewa Treaty Rights. Classroom Activities. Bulletin No. 92150. In 1989 Wisconsin legislation mandated the integration of American Indian history, culture, and tribal sovereignty into the K-12 social studies curriculum as a component of multicultural education. This document assists teachers to fulfill that mandate, as well as to meet statutory requirements of instruction on the Chippewa Indians' treaty-based, off-reservation rights to hunt, fish, and gather. This guide is divided into self-contained teaching sections: elementary, middle school, and high school. Each section contains nine specific activities. The elementary level builds concepts and competencies for the middle school level, which does the same for the high school level. Each section: (1) presents a brief overview of the Chippewa (Anishinabe) culture, political structure, and relationship to the environment; (2) discusses the nature of the federal-Indian relationship through the treaty-making era; (3) examines the reservations established for Wisconsin's Chippewas in the mid-19th century; (4) discusses infringements on Chippewa treaty rights and acculturation efforts during the late 19th and into the 20th century; (5) outlines federal court decisions upholding reserved rights; and (6) examines the roles played by the six Chippewa bands and the state in protecting northern Wisconsin's natural resources. Each activity contains necessary background information, objectives, concepts, "fundamentals" (chiefly references to primary sources), and procedures. The 35 fundamentals are the basic elemental materials for the activities. These materials have been carefully transcribed from original documents and include letters, drawings and photographs, charts and figures, texts of treaties, and records of court litigation. Also included are a glossary and a selected bibliography of 87 entries. Descriptors: Activity Units, American Indian Culture, American Indian History, American Indian Reservations

Yamauchi, Elyse M. (2010). Counterstories: Uncovering History within the Stories of Faculty of Color, ProQuest LLC. Through counterstorytelling (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002b), the methodological approach that is informed by critical race theory (CRT), an elegant platform and enlightening lens allows for the amplification of the narratives of faculty of color in predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWIs). Eight faculty of color, four women and four men, who identify as Chicano/a, Native American, Asian, and African American, were interviewed. They represented two institutions of higher education in a western state. Five of the counterstorytellers were tenured full professors, and the other three were non-tenured or tenure-track assistant professors. Their counterstories challenge the dominant master narrative that argues that in a post-racial and post-civil rights nation, issues of discrimination, racism, oppression, and White privilege have essentially been neutralized. However, their counterstories revealed painful historical experiences, legal decisions, and laws that have profoundly impacted their lives and scholarly pursuits. Their counterstories spoke to the racism that they have experienced where racism may not have been apparent to their White counterparts. From the powerful counterstories, the faculty of color revealed their perspectives and lived experiences of existing in divergent cultural worlds (Sadao, 2003), the cultures of their ethnic world and of the university. Their counterstories further reveal that faculty of color not only live in the borderlands between cultures, but often they face a separate reality in terms of mentoring, tenure, white privilege, and institutional racism. Finally, master narratives have an extensive and overarching historical and systemic impact upon their experiences at multiple levels.   [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.%5D   [More]  Descriptors: Critical Theory, Race, College Faculty, Minority Group Teachers