AIS 120: INDIANS OF THE AMERICAS

III. Case Studies

    A. Native American Studies and Research

As already pointed out, Europeans were quite baffled by the existence of the 'New World' and its strange new people. Early descriptions of Native American cultures were often done by 'armchair' writers, who never stepped foot in America or beyond the coastal cities and were based on pure speculation. Later, travel logs and missionary accounts added more information, but were highly biased to justify conquest. Some missionary groups, like the Jesuits, tended (although stilled biased) to be fairly accurate. The Jesuits reported on many Native American groups in a massive document called the "Jesuit Relations". In the late 19th century anthropology became an academic field in Europe and then in America. In the United States anthropology started under Franz Boas at Columbia University. Boas encouraged his students to conduct field studies using participant observation techniques using unbiased observation. This approach was referred to as 'cultural relativism' and ideally resulted in objective studies more from the point of view of each particular culture. This data produced knowledge about the many cultures that were becoming extinct and is referred to as ethnology. However, some anthropologists did not share their information, used unscrupulous methods, or unreliable informants. In some cases Native Americans conducted ethnography on their own culture. Generally, these studies tried to produce a baseline of what traditional Native American cultures were like at the time of contact. After World War II, studies about culture change became more popular in anthropological literature, but these were often done for unethical reasons, usually for political or military goals. Anthropological research also included linguistics, biological studies and archaeological research. Archaeological research is designed to study ancient cultures for a more complete picture of origins, change and  traditional culture at the time of contact. Archaeology is dependent on mostly material culture data and so it is difficult to extrapolate much about subjective things like religion. Also, archaeology gets into ethical hot water when collecting sensitive cultural objects like funerary artifacts and human remains.

          2. Indigenous Knowledge

Many Native Americans have strived to protect, preserve and transmit traditional knowledge on their own terms. At times this has been difficult and wrought with controversy for those involved. Academics tend to scoff at the value of traditional knowledge, especially if it does not agree with their own current  theories. Since the 1970s the pursuit of indigenous knowledge has been part of cultural revivals, identity and sovereignty for Native American people and indigenous people throughout the world. Language recovery, traditional literature and art all contribute to the restoration of ceremonial traditions that are perceived as crucial to maintaining individual and group spiritual integrity. Some Native Americans feel that it is appropriate to educate non-Indians and share traditional indigenous knowledge. It is also felt that traditional knowledge may help humankind in general and benefit of others. Some of this has recently become available on Native American tribal websites.

         3. Place In History

 Classical  Western history tended to emphasize male European American leaders and 'winners'. Native Americans were not well served in American history, especially historical treatments for schools. The American pageant of history in the US and other countries wrote left Native Americans out partly to avoid uncomfortable truths, such as genocide, racism, and many injustices. The view that all Indians are dead and gone, makes the deeds invisible as well as the survivors. Western culture has also insisted that its traditions are superior to all others. In recent years many players in human history have gotten their due in what is referred to as social history or ethno-history. However, the educators and their textbooks are very slow to incorporate a more balanced view. It must be still too uncomfortable or they are just lazy. Our textbook, Indian Givers, tries to overcome some of these misconceptions that give Native Americans a more prominent place in history, but will find some reviews scoffing at Weatherford's conclusions. It was probably too much too fast.

    B. Case Study

        1. Outline

A case study of a Native American culture is meant to give a complete assessment of that culture over time. This can be overwhelming and require a lot of information and many references using various outlines to organize the information. Generally, a chronological sequence is used:

  2. References and Sources of Information

There a number of specific references that  provide advanced encyclopedic summaries using the outline components above. These include the Handbook of North American Indians (Sturtevant) 20 vols.; Handbook of Middle America  (Vogt & Vogt) 9 vols.; Handbook of South American Indians ( Steward) 11 vols. There are occasional bibliographies on major tribes in libraries and online. There are general ethnographies and books on one specific cultural element. There are contact ethnohistories written about  a specific group. Tribal/ nation web sites have some traditional culture information, indigenous knowledge and contact history.

    C. Case Studies For the Course

       1. North America : Choctaw

         2. Meso- America: Zapotec

         3. South America: Inca (Quechua)

Go To: IV. Invasion, Conquest, Rebellion