Doctoral Dissertation Research: Cultural Revitalization among Diasporic Native American Communities

在当代美国文化中，美洲原住民的代表性是美国意识中越来越明显的问题。社会对当今土著人民的认识已经大大提高，但消极和积极的陈规定型观念继续阻碍联邦承认的部落与全国其他地区之间的文化间对话。与此同时，越来越多的美洲原住民正在参与文化振兴活动，这些活动有助于重申其各自主权国家的文化，并提高当代美洲原住民在公众中的可见度。一个特别受欢迎的振兴途径是通过物质文化，特别是对搬迁的部落来说，这一进程是追踪与祖先土地和价值观的联系的一个重要机制。该项目培训一名研究生掌握科学数据收集和分析的方法，探讨奥奈达人散居社区的种族保护问题，奥奈达人从美国东北部迁移到现在的威斯康星州。该项目与奥奈达社区合作，包括为K-12学生的课程，博物馆展览和社区中心演示做出贡献。该项目使用民族志，民族历史学和考古学方法相结合，以调查物质文化如何表达，受到了威斯康星州奥奈达的接触，以广泛的部落间和国际影响之前和之后，从他们在纽约地区的故土。比较当代作品由威斯康星州奥奈达在他们的祖先的家乡和他们的Haudenosaunee（易洛魁人）联盟的姐妹国家制作提供了洞察力，文化元素已优先在其物质文化，并已改变的方式，反映了他们独特的历史散居和文化互动。通过探讨不同传统的受欢迎程度以及它们从公认的易洛魁形式改变的程度，调查人员可以评论将外部文化影响纳入文化振兴进程的潜在优点和/或缺点。该项目的研究结果将有助于更好地了解散居社区和土著群体如何维持和保护文化特性。此外，为K-12教育工作者开发的课程材料将增加当代美洲原住民观点的可见度。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Representation of Native Americans in contemporary American culture is an increasingly visible issue in the American consciousness. Social awareness of present-day Native peoples has grown considerably, but stereotypes, both negative and positive, continue to impede intercultural dialog between the federally-recognized tribes and the rest of the nation. At the same time, an ever-growing number of Native Americans are participating in acts of cultural revitalization that serve to reaffirm the culture of their respective sovereign nations and increase visibility of contemporary Native Americans to the general public. One particularly popular avenue for revitalization is through material culture, particularly for relocated tribes, where this process serves as a critical mechanism for tracing connections to ancestral lands and values. This project, which trains a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis, explores ethnic preservation among diasporic communities of the Oneida, who migrated from the northeastern United States to present-day sites in Wisconsin. The project engages with Oneida communities, including contributions to curricula for K-12 students, museum exhibits, and community center demonstrations.This project uses a combination of ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological methods to investigate how material culture, as expressed in craftwork, has been impacted by the Wisconsin Oneida’s exposure to a wide range of intertribal and international influences both before and after removal from their native territory in the New York area. Comparing contemporary works produced by Wisconsin Oneida to those crafted in their ancestral homelands and among their sister nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy provides insights into which cultural elements have been prioritized in their material culture and which have been altered in a manner that reflects their unique history of diaspora and cultural interaction. By addressing the popularity of different traditions and the degree to which they have been changed from recognized Iroquoian forms, the investigators can comment on the potential advantages and/or disadvantages of incorporating external cultural influences into the cultural revitalization process. The findings of this project will aid in developing a greater understanding of how cultural identity is maintained and protected by diaspora communities and Indigenous groups. Further, the development of curricular materials for K-12 educators will increase visibility of the perspectives of contemporary Native Americans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.