"He is forever and ever here in spirit" An adventure. A magic necklace. Brotherhood. Six-year-old Forrest feels lost now that his big brother Kitchi is no longer here. He misses him every day and clings onto a necklace that reminds him of Kitchi. One day, the necklace comes to life. Forrest is taken on a magical adventure, where he meets a colourful cast of characters, including a beautiful, yet mysterious fox, who soon becomes his best friend. www.kitchithespiritfox.com
Arguably, the most eloquent, powerful portrayal of Native Americans are written or narrated by Natives themselves. In Native Hermitage, authentic accounts of Natives voices are bought together, some for the first time, for readers who want an informed, authentic perspective about Native Americans. This work is significant because until recent times the literature has been largely devoid of firsthand perspectives. The need for accurate, authentic materials on native Americans has never been greater.
Disparity and division in religion, technology and ideology have characterized relations between English-Canadian and Indian cultures through-out Canada's history. From the earliest declaration of white territorial ownership to the current debate on aboriginal rights, red man and white man have had opposing principles and perspectives. The most common 'solutions' imposed on these conflicts by white men have relegated the Indian to the fringes of white society and consciousness. This survey of English-Canadian literature is the first comprehensive examination of a tradition in which white writers turn to the Indian and his culture for standards and models by which they can measure their own values and goals; for patterns of cultural destruction, transformation, and survival; and for sources of native heroes and indigenous myths. Leslie Monkman examines images of the Indian as they appear in works raning from Robert Rogers' Ponteach, or The Savages of America (1766) to Robertson Davies' 'Pontiac and the Green Man' (1977), demonstrating how English-Canadian writers have illuminated their own world through reference to Indian culture. The Indian has been seen as an antagonist, as a superior alternative, as a member of a vanishing and lamented race, and as a hero and the source of the new myths. Although white/Indian tension often lies in apparently irreconcilable opposites, Monkman finds in the literature surveyed complementary images reflecting a common humanity. This is an important contribution to a hitherto unexplored area of Canadian literature in English which should give rise to further elaboration of this major theme.
Dispelling myths, answering questions, and stimulating thoughtful avenues for further inquiry, this highly absorbing reference provides a wealth of specific information about over 200 North American Indian groups in Canada and the United States. Readers will easily access important historical and contemporary facts about everything from notable leaders and relations with non-natives to customs, dress, dwellings, weapons, government, and religion. This book is at once exhaustive and captivating, covering myriad aspects of a people spread across a continent. Divided into ten geographic areas for easy reference, this work illustrates each Native American group in careful detail. Listed alphabetically, starting with the tribal name, translation, origin, and definition, each entry includes significant facts about the group's location and population, as well as impressive accounts of the group's history and culture. Bringing entries up-to-date, Barry Pritzker also presents current information on each group's government, economy, legal status, and land holdings. Whether interpreting the term "tribe" (many traditional Native American groups were not tribes at all but more like extended families) or describing how a Shoshone woman served as a guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition, Pritzker always presents the material in a clear and lively manner. In light of past and ongoing injustices and the momentum of Indian and Inuit self-determination movements, an understanding of Native American cultures as well as their contributions to contemporary society becomes increasingly important. A magnificent resource, this book liberally provides the essential information necessary to better grasp the history and cultures of North American Indians.
Arguably, the most eloquent, powerful portrayal of Native Americans are written or narrated by Natives themselves. In Native Hermitage, authentic accounts of Natives voices are bought together, some for the first time, for readers who want an informed, authentic perspective about Native Americans. This work is significant because until recent times the literature has been largely devoid of firsthand perspectives. The need for accurate, authentic materials on native Americans has never been greater.
American Indian business is booming. The number of American Indian– and Alaska Native–owned businesses increased by 15.3 percent from 2007 to 2012—a time when the total number of US businesses increased by just 2 percent—and receipts grew from $34.4 million in 2002 to $8.8 billion in 2012. Despite this impressive growth, there is an absence of small businesses on reservations, and Native Americans own private businesses at the lowest rate per capita for any ethnic or racial group in the United States. Many Indigenous entrepreneurs face unique cultural and practical challenges in starting, locating, and operating a business, from a perceived lack of a culture of entrepreneurship and a suspicion of capitalism to the difficulty of borrowing start-up funds when real estate is held in trust and cannot be used as collateral. This book provides an accessible introduction to American Indian businesses, business practices, and business education. Its chapters cover the history of American Indian business from early trading posts to today’s casino boom; economic sustainability, self-determination, and sovereignty; organization and management; marketing; leadership; human resource management; tribal finance; business strategy and positioning; American Indian business law; tribal gaming operations; the importance of economic development and the challenges of economic leakage; entrepreneurship; technology and data management; business ethics; service management; taxation; accounting; and health-care management. American Indian Business also furthers the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in the study of American business practices in general and demonstrates the significant impact that American Indians have had on business, as well as their cultural contributions to management, leadership, marketing, economic development, and entrepreneurship.
Reinterpreting a Native American Identity discusses the ongoing and morphing politics behind the federal government’s denial of full Lumbee tribal recognition. At the core of the Lumbee struggle for federal recognition are issues of cultural authenticity, racism, misrecognition, and assimilation grounded in a longer history of colonialism. Beyond merely describing why denial has continually occurred, this booktakes an American Indian Studies approach through the use of the Peoplehood Model developed by Tom Holm et al as a way of arguing for a better and more consistent recognition process grounded in Indigenous methodology and worldview. The Peoplehood Model is juxtaposed with the Western Colonial Model, the process that describes efforts to assimilate another culture. This bookcenters on the four aspects of Peoplehood—language, sacred history, territory/place, and ceremonial cycle—and shows how these interrelated concepts inform the Lumbee identity and worldview vis-à-vis the federal government’s longstanding refusal to fully recognize the tribe. The government’s arguments, derived from the Western Colonial Model, are countered and challenged by Lumbee-centered knowledge and history regarding identity within a syncretistic system of survival as an Indigenous group. This study illustrates that the tribe’s indigenous language has not been fully lost to assimilation, as the federal government argues, but that Lumbee English is marked by linguistic adaptation, which retains a Native American worldview in use and meaning. It further demonstrates that the Lumbee have maintained a sacred history and revere their homeland as the “promised land,” contrary to the position periodically espoused by the federal government. Lastly, this book argues that the system used to restrict Native American religion harkens back to Roman Law, adopted through the writings of Thomas Aquinas, later synthesized by Dominican theologian Franciscus de Victoria and eventually elevated to papal hierocratic ideology adopted by many colonizing countries. While Lumbee religion is Christian-centric, it is also intertwined with Indigenous spiritual and healing practices which are not subsumed by Christianity but are placed as equally valid within a spiritual system.
This volume offers a stimulating, multidisciplinary set of essays by noted Native and non-Native scholars that explore the problems and prospects of understanding and writing about Native American spirituality in the twenty-first century. Considerable attention is given to the appropriateness and value of different interpretive paradigms for Native religion, including both traditional religion and Native Christianity. The book also investigates the ethics of religious representation, issues of authenticity, the commodification of spirituality, and pedagogical practices. Of special interest is the role of dialogue in expressing and understanding Native American religious beliefs and practices. A final set of essays explores the power of and reactions to Native spirituality from a long-term, historical perspective.
The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature engages the multiple scenes of tension — historical, political, cultural, and aesthetic — that constitutes a problematic legacy in terms of community identity, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, language, and sovereignty in the study of Native American literature. This important and timely addition to the field provides context for issues that enter into Native American literary texts through allusions, references, and language use. The volume presents over forty essays by leading and emerging international scholars and analyses: regional, cultural, racial and sexual identities in Native American literature key historical moments from the earliest period of colonial contact to the present worldviews in relation to issues such as health, spirituality, animals, and physical environments traditions of cultural creation that are key to understanding the styles, allusions, and language of Native American Literature the impact of differing literary forms of Native American literature. This collection provides a map of the critical issues central to the discipline, as well as uncovering new perspectives and new directions for the development of the field. It supports academic study and also assists general readers who require a comprehensive yet manageable introduction to the contexts essential to approaching Native American Literature. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present and future of this literary culture. Contributors: Joseph Bauerkemper, Susan Bernardin, Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Kirby Brown, David J. Carlson, Cari M. Carpenter, Eric Cheyfitz, Tova Cooper, Alicia Cox, Birgit Däwes, Janet Fiskio, Earl E. Fitz, John Gamber, Kathryn N. Gray, Sarah Henzi, Susannah Hopson, Hsinya Huang, Brian K. Hudson, Bruce E. Johansen, Judit Ágnes Kádár, Amelia V. Katanski, Susan Kollin, Chris LaLonde, A. Robert Lee, Iping Liang, Drew Lopenzina, Brandy Nālani McDougall, Deborah Madsen, Diveena Seshetta Marcus, Sabine N. Meyer, Carol Miller, David L. Moore, Birgit Brander Rasmussen, Mark Rifkin, Kenneth M. Roemer, Oliver Scheiding, Lee Schweninger, Stephanie A. Sellers, Kathryn W. Shanley, Leah Sneider, David Stirrup, Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr., Tammy Wahpeconiah
Designed for ease of use with maps, a detailed subject index, an extensive bibliography, and cross references, this book is sure to fascinate anyone interested in Native American culture and heritage.
