midterm definitions

Question 1

Native Americanas/American Indians/First Nations

Answer 1

• different terms for the same groups in different places
• Native Americans/American Indians in the U.S.
• First Nations in Canada

Question 2

Métis

Answer 2

• today they are all over Canada

- however they identify much more closely with French speaking Canadians

Question 3

Inuit

Answer 3

• found in the Northern regions of North America (Canada)
• used to be referred to as Eskimos
• also known as Alaskan Natives

Question 4

Pacific Islanders

Answer 4

• indigenous people throughout the Pacific

- key example in the U.S. is Native Hawaiians

Question 5

Beringia Theory

Answer 5

• a popular theory about the origins of indigenous North Americans
• the argument is that Alaska was somehow connected to Russia before glaciers melted so it was possible to go by land through Northern Russia to Alaska and then down through North America into South America
• most of the migration happened inland
• this happened sometime between 1600 and 1100 years ago

Question 6

Pacific Coast Theory

Answer 6

• another popular theory about the origins of indigenous North Americans that came into being as a result of the problems that the Beringia Theory created
• problems: people were already living in in Chile 1500 years ago; the inland part of the Canadian rockies does not have enough resources for people to live off of since it would have taken them a long time to get through this area
• this theory prophesied that the earliest travelers came along the coast
• also a possibility to travel by boat which would have been easier than through the rockies

Question 7

Settler Colonialism

Answer 7

• the idea that settler societies (ex. Europeans in North America) arrive at a previously all indigenous region and they then engage in various actions which subjugate the indigenous population to try to make them disappear
• the settlers try to set up political and military dominance and they exploit the natural and human resources (ex. buffalo)
• culturally the settler colonial regime would try to stamp out their indigenous culture - settlers argued that indigenous culture was wrong and that they should instead learn from the settlers

Question 8

Lorenzo Veracini

Answer 8

• a major theorist of settler colonialism
• Australian
• wrote the book “Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview”

Question 9

Susan Pederson

Answer 9

• a major theorist of settler colonialism

- a Canadian who migrated South to Columbia University

Question 10

James Belich

Answer 10

• a major theorist of settler colonialism
• from New Zealand
• works in indigenous history

Question 11

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Answer 11

• established in 2000 as a permanent advisory board to the Economic and Social Council of the UN
• they provide expert advice, coordinate UN actions, advocate on behalf of indigenous peoples, hold annual sessions on issues, focus on general policy issues

Question 12

Unrepresented Nations and People Organization

Answer 12

• founded in 1991 in the Netherlands
• not a well studied or well known group
• represents a diverse group of individuals - indigenous peoples, minorities, and not widely recognized nations
• a way to promote interests outside of the UN

Question 13

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

Answer 13

• founded in 1968 by anthropologists working in the Amazon regions in Brazil - now based in Denmark
• focuses on global indigenous rights
• they also document the status of different indigenous regions and produce a sort of report by country

Question 14

International Indian Treaty Council

Answer 14

• founded in 1974 and recognized by the UN in 1977
• focuses primarily on the Western Hemisphere
• continues to work extensively in the UN
• advocates for food sovereignty (having enough food grown to survive on your own), and environmental protection and treaty rights

Question 15

Francisco de Vitoria

Answer 15

• Catholic priest who lived from 1485-1546
• during this time it was the beginning of the Catholic Reformation - he wanted to fix what was wrong in the Catholic Church, have more transparent leadership, and go back to the origins of the Catholic Church
• interested in international law and moral policy in foreign affairs
• studied the rights of indigenous people - not simply an academic question for him, he was Spanish and Spain was taking over large parts of the Western Hemisphere so he was concerned about the morality of the situation
• he gave lectures where his students took lecture notes (called relectiones in Spanish) where we can learn his thoughts on indigenous people
• main points: the land of that of the indigenous people (the discovery of the Americas by the Spanish did not mean that the land was theirs); land could only be annexed by a just war; the only justification for intervention in indigenous affairs was possibly in the case of human sacrifice
• much of this work was put together in 1539 and it might be seen as somewhat condescending today

Question 16

Bartolome de las Casas

Answer 16

• a pro-indigenous rights Dominican priest who lived from 1484-1586
• made it his life’s work to end the slavery of Natives and to treat them with much more respect
• argued that it was wrong for them to be converted to Christianity if it was coercively

Question 17

Wil Kymlicka

Answer 17

• 1962-present
• does a lot of work in political philosophy
• most important book he wrote in called “Multicultural Citizenship”
• this book highlighted the liberal theory of minority rights - aboriginal rights are a subset of minority rights, First Nations should be given special rights because they were present and self governing in Canada long before settlers came in
• also in his book he proposed some examples of group rights - special representation in government (seats set aside for First Nations), a right to self government, special exceptions to general laws (ex. peyote drug is an integral part of their culture and so they have the right to deviate from normal drug laws)

Question 18

Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957

Answer 18

• put together by the International Labor Organization (a part of the UN)
• it was the first cut at a broad international global indigenous rights treaty
• relatively progressive at the time but there were still various problems with it
• the perspective was that indigenous people need to be integrated into larger society and need to abandon their culture and intermix with European society and culture
• the goal was the make Native Americans just another group of European settlers (ex. like Norwegian Americans)
• assimilation by force was not allowed but it was the goal
• indigenous people wanted a much more distinct community

Question 19

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989

Answer 19

• this was a revision of the 1957 convention and a response to indigenous peoples’ opposition
• the goal was to make it less offensive and assimilationist and to promote a broader range of rights and softer rights (such as social, economic, and political sovereignty)
• allowed for self government
• ratified by much of Latin America, Spain and Norway - but most settler societies including the U.S. and Canada did not ratify

Question 20

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007

Answer 20

• much more broad and aspirational, tries to look at long term goals for indigenous rights
• covers cultural rights, anti discrimination, health rights, and rights to land
• not technically legally binding
• 144 countries signed off on it in 2007
• New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. all voted no (all areas with large oppressed indigenous populations)

Question 21

American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2016

Answer 21

• adopted by the legislature of the Organization of American States
• it was under negotiation for the previous 3 decades before eventually being adopted
• focuses on self determination
• indigenous peoples have the right to govern themselves, education, healthcare, their culture, land and natural resources, and gave rights to the victims of internal conflicts and to women and children

Question 22

Fur Trade

Answer 22

• during the 1800s there was lots of money to be made trading the skins of dead animals
• Native Americans were particularly skilled at trapping and capturing animals
• they would often exchange furs for things that would be useful to them - guns, steel tools, metal, industrial products
• Native American culture was changing into the culture of industrial society
• Native Americans became dependent on the colonists and also often created debts when they traded which turned into economic leverage which they often used to swindle land from them

Question 23

French and Indian War

Answer 23

• 1754-1763 in North America
• an extension of the Seven Years’ War in Europe
• the war was rooted in conflict between the English and French over access to furs
• it began when Washington staged a surprise attack on French Canadian soldiers in the wilderness of Pennsylvania, killed 13 soldiers
• eventually the French captured Washington and some of his troops
• both the English and the French tried to get the Iroquois on their side
• during this war there were thousands of Native American deaths on both sides
• the British won the war and the French were forced to give up French Canada - the end of major French colonies in North America
• introduced conflicts among Native Americans and led to the loss of land and power by the indigenous nations who had sided with the French

Question 24

“Manifest Destiny”

Answer 24

• an ideological term that originated in an 1845 article in a New York paper
• the idea is that God ordained the U.S. to spread across America to promote democracy and capitalism
• this concept has been used to rationalize seizing the land of indigenous people, slavery as a sort of missionary mission, continued Western expansion of the settler population (Louisiana Purchase, acquisition of Florida, Texas, Washington/Oregon area)
• led to ethnic cleansing of Native Americans and Spanish speakers
• it made slavery much more of an issue - so it could be said that it increased the likelihood of the Civil War

Question 25

Boarding schools

Question 26

Tribal Colleges

Answer 26

• beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s it became politically and socially feasible for Native American nations to found and control their own secondary schools
• the first indigenous nation to found a tribal college was the Navajo nation in 1968
• currently there are 37 tribal colleges in the U.S.
• usually tribal colleges are 2 years and cover general education requirements
• main problem for tribal colleges is that they lack qualified faculty and most of their professors are not indigenous

Question 27

Matrilineal Structure

Question 28

Pine Ridge Reservation

Answer 28

• located in Oglala Lakota County in South Dakota
• it has the lowest life expectancy of any other county in the U.S.
• currently the county life expectancy is 66.8 and the average for the U.S. is 78.7
• the county is primarily made up of Native Americans due to the reservation

Question 29

Sweat Lodge

Answer 29

• stones are heated on a fire outside the lodge, water is poured over the heated stones to produce steam inside the lodge, then a religious leader leads participants in prayers and songs to communicate with spirits
• the goal is a kind of purging, spiritual healing, prayer and communication with the spirit realm

Question 30

Sun dance

Answer 30

• a spiritual endurance test especially for young men that lasted for days
• those who weren’t dancing prayed and supported the dancers
• sometimes involved elements of self sacrifice such as piercing of the skin and fasting beforehand
• when colonial authorities learned about this, they criminalized it and arrested people who participated in it

Question 31

Native American Church

Answer 31

• the institution of the Native American Church was founded in the late 1800s in Oklahoma
• the Native American Church doesn’t include all forms of Native American spirituality - it is almost a sort of denomination
• beliefs: one god (the great spirit), many believe the Christian bible, peyote plant (which can produce hallucinogenic effects) is a way to communicate with god
• typical ceremonies: prayer meetings where peyote is ingested (they often lasted all night), they prayed and sang, read the bible, prayed the drum, usually held in a teepee and led by a roadman, sometimes a breakfast would be served, they weren’t held weekly

Question 32

Oregon v. Smith (1990)

Answer 32

• a white man was invited to a Native American prayer meeting, he ingested peyote, he went back to work and his boss found out about it and he was fired
• his boss then said to Smith who was Native American that if he were to ingest peyote he would also be fired
• Smith said he was going to continue practicing his religion and the next weekend he ingested peyote at a service and was fired
• he then applied for unemployment in Oregon where he was denied because he was fired for misbehavior
• the case went to the Supreme Court and it was decided that everyone has to obey general laws
• this decision was unpopular and proposed the question of why Congress can’t then ban any use of wine or communication with god in any way
• Oregon later changed their laws to allow an exception for the use of peyote - now this case basically doesn’t exist

Question 33

Richard Twiss, “Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys”

Answer 33

• Twiss argued that Native American spirituality and Christianity converge and that Native American practices are incomplete without Jesus
• for example, he would pray to Jesus during a sweat lodge ceremony or use Native American drums during a worship service
• he argued that white colonial evangelicals need to look at their own practices to eliminate the problematic elements

Question 34

Ralph Glidden

Answer 34

• an anthropologist who went to Catalina Island (an area with a historically large Native American population and a large burial site for Native Americans) and went to a burial site and dug up the remains of bodies of Native Americans and put the bones in an Indian museum on the island as a tourist attraction
• eventually this museum was closed in the 1950s but it took until 2016 to give those bodies a decent reburial

Question 35

James Luna

Answer 35

• an artist who went to a museum in San Diego, got into a glass case wearing only a loincloth, and surrounded himself with his belongings (diploma, divorce papers, record player)
• occasionally he would move and people would touch him
• this was a way for him to protest against the representation of Native Americans in museums

Question 36

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum

Answer 36

• a new Native American museum that is being built in downtown Palm Springs by the Cahuilla Indians
• when it is finished, it will be a large casino with gardens, hot springs, and history of the nation

Question 37

National Congress of American Indians

Answer 37

• a lobbying group representing different indigenous nations
• they started a campaign to end the practice of sports mascots and teams being named after Native Americans