1. Native American & Indigenous Studies
English 1302 Research Synthesis Historical Context

2. The Sociological Ladder of Human Access
Key Component: IDENTITY (Language, Culture)
People need an IDENTITY to better access: KNOWLEDGE (Degrees)
Without KNOWLEDGE there is no access to: WEALTH (Degrees)
Without WEALTH there is no access to: POWER
If you have no POWER there is no access to: HISTORY
Without access to one’s own HISTORY:
One cannot WRITE or RE-WRITE their HISTORY -> IDENTITY…

3. What is Ethnic Studies? What is NAIS?
According to the University of California at Berkeley:
Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary enterprise that starts from the assumption that race and racism have been, and continue to be, profoundly powerful social and cultural forces in American society and in modernity at large.
Ethnic Studies includes understanding the previous components of “access” on the ladder, which extends to not only ethnic groups and nationalities but applies to gender as well.
Ethnicity: the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition.
"the interrelationship between gender, ethnicity, and class"

4. Indigenous Nations of the Texas Gulf Coast

5. Karankawa Tribe
Great source: Search for the Karankawa Indians via Texas State Historical Association’s online tshaonline.org
Other tribes from our region included:
Tonkawa
Bidai
Orcoquisiac
Caddo
Coahuiltecan
Apache
Comanche

6. Cultural Traditions
Love for and Spiritual connection to Nature and Wildlife
Farming & Agricultural Technology
Hunting & Gathering
Beadwork
Weaving
Totems
Kachina Dolls
Weaponry
Communication

7. Social Considerations for Native People
Understanding Cultural Genocide and its ties to Identity
American Epidemics are Compounded: think Poverty, Unemployment, Substance Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Suicide/Depression, Obesity/Diabetes
Average Life Span of Native Male in 2015: only 51 years old
History of Removal, Reservation/Boarding School System, Sterilization
Consider in your artist’s work all of these things and the positive and negative outcomes for all in the search for identity.

8. Populations of Indigenous People
“A defining characteristic for an indigenous group is that it has preserved traditional ways of living, such as present or historical reliance upon subsistence- based production (based on pastoral, horticultural and/or hunting and gathering techniques), and a predominantly non-urbanized society. Not all indigenous groups share these characteristics. Indigenous societies may be either settled in a given locale/region or exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory, but are generally historically associated with a specific territory on which they depend. Indigenous societies are found in every inhabited climate zone and continent of the world.[2][4]
Indigenous peoples are increasingly faced with threats to their sovereignty, environment, and access to natural resources. Examples of this can be the deforestation of tropical rainforests where many native tribe's subsistence lifestyles are threatened. Assimilative colonial policies resulted in ongoing issues related to aboriginal child protection.”

9. Groups of Indigenous People
Taureg (Africa)
People of the First Nations: Inuit, Metis (Canada)
American Indians: Dine, Hopi, Seminole, Cherokee… (550+ tribes of U.S.A.)
Andean & Amazonian nations (Bolivia, Peru, Brasil)
Indigenas and Indios (Mexico and Guatemala)
Naga and Scheduled Tribes (Asia and India)
Nenets (Russia), Assyrians (Middle East)
Aboriginals (Australia), Maori (New Zealand)
Sami (Norway), Basque (Spain)
Micronesia & Polynesian tribes, Hawaiians (South Pacific)
And many, many more!

10. Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation is located in the “Four Corners” of the SW U.S.
Tuba City is the capitol of the Navajo Nation
“Navajo” is a Spanish word
Indigenous word is “Dine”
“Dinetah” is their homeland – “Among the People”
“Dine Bahane” is their Creation Story used as an example here.
Navajo culture is known for matriarchy, weaving, storytelling, turquoise, Coyote, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, Fry Bread, among other things…
Navajo taboos include ill-spoken language, snakes, and the role of the hair & fingernails and the placenta at birth
Navajo today are known for their poetry, graffiti (street art), and love of skating, basketball, heavy metal and rock music, including the Dine band “Blackfire”

11. Dine Bahane (part one) The FIRST WORLD: DARKNESS and the NORTH
Sacred space: Hesperus Peak (Colorado)
One island with four seas and four rulers. Bats and Insects exist. Two Coyotes exist.

12. Dine Bahane (part two) SECOND WORLD: BLUE and the WEST
Sacred space: San Francisco Peaks (Arizona)
Grey and Blue-furred mammals, Birds, the Swallow Chief

13. Dine Bahane (part three)
THIRD WORLD: Yellow and the SOUTH
Sacred Space: Mount Taylor (New Mexico)
Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, First Humans, Coyote brings Death with the Rock from Sacred River, Mammals

14. Dine Bahane (part four, present day)
FOURTH WORLD (today): LIGHT and the EAST
Sacred space: Blanca Peak (Colorado)
Hero Twins, Man and Woman, Journey to the Sun

15. Tuba City, Dinetah, Arizona, U.S.A.
Tuba City High School Warriors

16. Navajo Poets Hershman John – “I Swallow Turquoise for Courage”
Esther Belin – “From the Belly of My Beauty”

17. 1302 Research Synthesis Now that you have some context, get started!
Research your poet and their tribe
Use the Research Synthesis prompt to complete the essay
Manage your time and use the writing process
Cite any outside research
Consider your own indigenous spirit, sacred spaces, and identity!
Have a great BUFFALO life.