1. Reducing White Bias toward Native Americans in the Midwest
Presented at the Third Social Work Symposium
The University of Memphis
April, 2015
Peter A. Kindle, PhD, CPA, LMSW
The University of South Dakota
Department of Social Work

2. Learning Objectives
To gain an appreciation of the historical injustices against Native Americans.
To understand White bias toward Native Americans from the perspective of social psychology.
To discuss interventions to reduce White bias toward Native Americans

3. Columbian Exchange Smallpox Pigs Horses Potatoes
North American Native American population estimates range as high as 18 million, down to 250,000 by 1890.

4. History of the Lakota People
Subsistence lifestyle due to natural abundance.
Horses introduced by Spanish around and into North America by mid- 17th century. Introduced to Lakota by Cheyenne around 1730.
Geographical fluidity among northern plains tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Migrated west from Ohio River valley.
Lakota “possession” of Black Hills ©
The Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota people were called the Sioux

5. Federal Relationship Warfare: 1851–1890
Treaty of Fort Laramie to Wounded Knee Massacre
Cultural Genocide: 1879–1928
Carlisle Indian Industrial School to Meriam Report
Sterilization:
25%-50% of Native women by IHS physicians
Self-determination: 1970 to today
Restoration of tribal community, self-government, cultural renewal, reservation development, educational control
Black Hills claim (1980)

6. South Dakota In SD Native Americans make up 9% of population
There are nine Native American Reservations in South Dakota; 30% of land
South Dakota has three of the five poorest counties in the US; all of which are home to reservations
Reservations are plagued by a number of Social Problems (addiction, suicide, violence, and poverty)
Over 70% of the children in Foster Care in South Dakota are Native American
Unemployment on the reservations is as high as 80%

7. White Bias Treaty violations Whiteclay, Nebraska Population = 14
3.2 miles from Pine Ridge Reservation
2010 beer sales = 4.9 million

8. Social Psychology Overcoming Bias
Behaviors > Attitudes
Attitudes change after behavior changes
Vicarious Effects of Desegregation
Inevitability of contact generates cognitive dissonance
Equal-Status Contact
Economic competition breeds prejudice
Conclusion: We cannot educate the prejudice out of people, but, this is based on white-black bias studies.

9. 1st Study
Student Researchers: Scot Griffith, Tammi Miles, Kimber Patterson, Jessica Smart, and Alexa Walker
Hypothesis: Explores the relationship, if any, between knowledge of Lakota culture and history and White bias against Native Americans.

10. The Challenge
Absence of instrumentation (Davis & Engel, 2011, Measuring Race and Ethnicity).
Developed Lakota History & Culture Quiz:
20-item, multiple choice
Pilot tested with class
Lakota elder rev
Adapted Bingle’s (1993) Attitudes toward Blacks
20-item 7-point Likert scale
10 items reverse scored

11. Method Online questionnaire
Student recruitment through university
Gift card drawing for participation
Useful responses (N = 102)

12. Student Respondents n % Mean SD Age 102 26.6 9.3 Bio Sex Female 75
73.5
Male 27
26.5
Status
Undergrad 67
65.7
Grad 35
34.3
Race
White 87
85.3
Non-White 15
14.7

13. Instrumentation & Results
Lakota History and Culture Quiz
Mean = 52.5, SD , skew = .267
Attitude toward Native American Scale a = .904
r = .361, p = .000
Higher scores on LHC Quiz were associated with lower bias toward Native Americans.

14. 2nd Study
Student Researchers: Erica Crider, Stacey Langley, Christina Rash, and Nicole Robideau
Hypothesis: To explore the relationship, if any, between exposure to Native Americans and level of White bias toward Native Americans.

15. Method Recruitment through social media (N = 123).
Limited responses to IA and SD residents.
Gift card drawing for participation.

16. Respondents n % Mean SD Age 123 29.7 10.2 Bio Sex Female 91 74.0 Male32
26.0
State IA 47
38.3 76
61.7
Race
White
109
88.6
Non-White 14
11.4

17. Instrumentation & Results
White Attitude toward Native American Scale (a = .891, Mean = 57.7, SD = 18.9, skew = .516)
Exposure to Native American Scale (a = .799, Mean = 25.4, SD = 10.1, skew = .380)
7-items (home, work, school, place of worship, neighborhood, running errands, and extended family)
7-point ranking from daily to almost never
Exposure was indirectly associated with level of bias (r = -.338, p = .001).

18. Implications for Social Work
Weak White stereotyping of Native Americans
Potentially effective interventions
Confirmation of results through longitudinal studies to measure attitudinal shifts over time

19. Implication for Native Americans
The legacy of historical trauma
Transition away from voluntary isolation
Minimize economic competition

20. Limitations Potential sampling bias Relatively small sample sizes
Exploratory factor analysis required