This dissertation presents the creative life of the Yanktonai Dakota modernist painter and educator Oscar Howe (1915-1983). The biography on Oscar Howe documents a comprehensive timeline of life events and traces the improbable educational odyssey from a shy and isolated boarding school student to emeritus professor with several honorary doctorates."Distinctly Oscar Howe: Life, Art, Stories" revisits and reinforces existing stories, and presents and interprets new stories in the biographical narrative of Howe's life as an influential figure in South Dakota's history as well as the history of American Indian art in the twentieth century. A talented artist uniquely isolated in South Dakota for much of his career, Oscar Howe was a principal figure and innovative artist who had a tremendous impact on the American Indian art world and beyond. Through words and actions, Howe symbolized a revolutionary individual at a time of great change for American Indian artists.Primary documents are the heart of this research. Letters, photographs, and artworks are reproduced to record the artist's relationship to the people, places, and ideas of central distinction to his life story in the twentieth century.This study reveals that Oscar Howe captured the nation's attention at a time in history when elements of his popularity stemmed from the nation's interest in its Indigenous people and pride in the nation's original American artists. Howe's chief importance in the field of American Indian art rests in three significant areas: (1) his role as an outspoken advocate of American Indian modernity, (2) his validation of the role of individualism and self-expression in American Indian art, and (3) the role of the arts within the greater community of people to teach about other cultures.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of using the Calico winter count, a 19th century Teton Lakota winter count, as a basis for reconstructing the history of the winter count-producing group. As emic history-keeping devices, winter counts are a crucial type of indigenous data set whose importance is defined through Lakota social theory, ethnohistory theory, and comparative analysis with other historical and cultural data sets. The results of these studies will reveal that winter counts, despite their peripheral utilization in Lakota historiography, are highly credible historical sources that can play central roles in the construction of tribal histories. Winter counts are able to convey a new dimension of pre-reservation life on the plains for the Lakota people. They can be used to relate the internal reality of tribal life, while providing a more complete ethnographic context for describing the tribe historically and to aid in the creation of a convincing historical narrative. This study has important implications for future historical methodology as well as a significant social value for modern Lakota people.

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.

This research examines the role of traditions in the works of contemporary Navajo artist David K. John and demonstrates that art is used as a modern instrument of storytelling, to pass to the next generations, traditions of Navajo culture. John, a commercially successful artist especially known in the Southwest Native art circles, is continuing a tradition of representation of the Holy People that goes back to sandpainting and weaving. Although not 'original' in terms of subject matters, his works differ from all his predecessors because of the human touch present and clearly visible in them. In John's works, the superhuman becomes human and this is what makes his canvases so unique. This research takes into consideration some of his major works and analyzes them in terms of subjects portrayed and modality of the representation in an attempt to understand the cultural meanings they bear and John's art rationale.

The graduate internship and thesis option in American Indian Studies affords students a unique opportunity to directly apply their academic interests in a manner that address the contemporary needs of a Native nation. By engaging with tribes in this manner, students are assured that their academic efforts actively and positively contribute to ongoing and relevant tribal projects or programs, while the nation is assured that research concerning their community is being informed by a working experience with their community. This thesis documents my internship with the Jicarilla Apache Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Office in which I assisted the office in conducting oral history interviews and compiling a report for their project entitled: Rediscovering Trail Roots and Routes: The Jicarilla Apache and the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.

The Pacific coast of Russia on the Kamchatka peninsula is home to a small indigenous group of traditional fishermen who call themselves Itelmens. The total population of Itelmens is a little over 3,000 people. Over the last three decades Itelmens have been successful in revitalizing their culture and maintaining traditional subsistence activities, cuisine, crafts, and dance. Sadly, this cannot be stated about the Itelmen language- “a severely endangered language-- which has about 5 native speakers left. Despite the language revitalization measures that have been actively undertaken by Itelmen language specialists since the 1980s, Itelmens continue to lose their speakers with no new speakers appearing. This sociolinguistic research aims to analyze the history of language loss, contemporary state of the language, spaces that the language is taught and practiced, and the circumstances that work for or against the active language revitalization among Itelmens. The intellectual merits of this study include gaining a better understanding of the nature of the reversing language shift processes and language vitality that occur in communities with a small number of speakers. The ultimate goal of this community-oriented research was to search for language revitalization initiatives that might work in the Itelmen case under the given social, political, and economic circumstances. Therefore, this study is offering multiple language revitalization initiatives that should be implemented both in rural and urban areas for fruitful development of the Itelmen language. These initiatives include the participation of all generations in the process and the introduction of multi-media and technology.

Targeted U.S. domestic sex trafficking of Native peoples has been documented since the time of Custer (Deer 2010, Smith 2005, Smith 2003). According to a few, geographically specific studies this practice continues today (Juran, et al 2014, Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition 2011, Pierce and Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center 2009). The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), its subsequent reauthorizations and the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) 2013 reauthorization have encouraged activists in Indian Country, defined broadly, to believe that a change is possible within the system if they continue to raise the issue. But what if that strategy is flawed? Despite increasing awareness, it is clear that the United States policy environment has not yet experienced any significant change since the introduction of anti-trafficking law in 2000—especially for Native America. Using a tribal, feminist, critical race perspective alongside Native Nation (re)Building theory and a grounded, interdisciplinary focus, this study explores prominent public policy perceptions about how widespread the targeted domestic sex trafficking of Native peoples is in the United States. The first of its kind, this study reaches across broad geography and perspectives to locate synergies and ruptures that may also present opportunities for Native self-determination in creating effective Indian Country solutions. It also offers United States public policy suggestions helpful in addressing anti-trafficking legislative inefficiencies beyond Indian Country generally.

This research examines the manifold forms of support that shape and influence Post-9/11 Native American Student Veterans to enter, persist, and graduate from a mainstream institution of higher education. Moreover, it is a qualitative assessment that explores how Post-9/11 Native American Student Veterans navigate the collegiate environment and balance their military and indigenous identities within the context of higher education. Through the individual voices of five Post-9/11 Native American Student Veterans, the results of this study illustrate their decision-making processes, weighing of options, and reasons for sacrifice. Each individual had unique experiences, situations, and circumstances to consider before committing and transitioning into higher education. The confluences of situations and circumstances often determine the ability of Native American Student Veterans to engage, persist, and complete their academic endeavors; therefore, support systems are vital in helping them navigate and overcome obstacles. Respectfully, the experiences of Post-9/11 Native American Student Veterans have the power to influence future generations and to clarify their options when transitioning from a military environment to a university environment. Moreover, the findings from these experiences can inform mainstream universities and Student Veteran Centers to strategically respond and develop support systems specifically designed to recruit, retain, and graduate Post-9/11 Native American Student Veterans.