Thesis--Yale. / Title page includes original imprint: New York, Viking Fund, 1950. Bibliography: p. 109-110.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 68 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-59).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 194-200).

No description available.

This thesis seeks to examine the factors that contributed to the development of Two-Spirit (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other gender/sexuality variant American Indians) communities in urban areas. Secondly, it explores how these communities are reflected in the poetry of American Indian women Paula Gunn Allen and Janice Gould. This paper investigates these questions within the context of two theories on community development and organization, one by Saul Alinsky and the other by Stephen Cornell. Next it discusses gender and sexuality variance in American Indian tribal societies as reflected in studies conducted during the 1910s through the 1950s. Thirdly, it examines the development of community and constituency of the international Two-Spirit community within the framework of Alinsky and Cornell's theories. Lastly, it will look at the role of contemporary American Indian poets, Paula Gunn Allen and Janice Gould, in the shaping and actualization of urban Two-Spirit communities.

The way in which land is understood and perceived among American Indians and non-Indians is the cause for vast cultural misunderstandings and divisions between the two groups. For American Indian communities, attachments to place are at the core of religious practices, therefore intrinsically linking the importance of one to the other. This thesis attempts to better understand the way in which American Indians maintain connections to sacred sites, the challenges of access to those sites, and how their conceptualizations differ from Western models of value. This thesis examines the ability of federal policies, cases, legislative processes, and legal frameworks to protect American Indian sacred sites when the cultural context in which this protection is afforded has undeniable discrepancies to American Indian beliefs.

This thesis will examine the environmental and sociocultural changes that have affected Tohono O'odham basketry and the reasons how these traditions, although altered, persist today. The Tohono O'odham basketweavers responded to drastic environmental and social changes and created opportunity as they adjusted to the loss of their subsistence resources. Tohono O'odham basketry and basketweavers are a testimony of survival and of the determination to preserve their distinct cultures within our contemporary pluralistic society despite numerous hardships. Tohono O'odham basketweaver's capacity to retain their cultural identity, continue their knowledge of basketry technology and plant materials, and express leadership through partnerships, demonstrates their cultural resiliency. This thesis will: (1) Introduce the environmental causes that contributed to the change in Tohono O'odham basketry material in the early 1900s; (2) Present contemporary issues that challenge basket weavers; and (3) Demonstrate the resiliency of Tohono O'odham basket weavers both past and present.

No description available.

No description available.