Though there is a wealth of theory and research on the relationship between space and identity, few, if any, investigations in geographic literature have examined the relationship between space, identity and education. This research asks the question: In what ways are the spaces of formal education and the spaces of informal education on the Blackfeet reservation similar or different and how does this relationship affect the formation of the identity of the Blackfeet traditional student? For this project, students affiliation with traditional practice is defined by their self-identification and is not connected with their tribal membership status. In interviews, students discuss intersections of education and community and the ways in which the practices and content of learning associated with both spaces affects the learning experience and the self. The research employs a nonessentialist, constitutive phenomenological framework tempered by theories of the productiveness of power, focused on the disidentification of dominant categories through an analysis of: the performativity of agency, the multiple scales of historicity, the situatedness of experience, and the contingent nature of the production of meaning, for the purposes of exploring identity formation, based on the idea that this approach will lead to the elucidation of matters involved in the internalization of the motivation to participate in spaces of learning. The findings show that there is a strong relationship between three elements: spaces of the school that reflect significant aspects of spaces of learning in the community, positive student experiences, and motivation. Also shown, is that the rubric of analysis devised by the researcher, works to break down dominant beliefs regarding the success of traditional Blackfeet students in the school. Finally, a strong case is made for the inclusion of spaces of formal and informal learning in geographic analysis.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 19, 2010). "Program in American Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-109).

In this dissertation, I analyze classroom interactions between a White, nonlocal high school English teacher and American Indian students on the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. I focus on the participants' strategic use of humor and distinctive linguistic features in these interactions, particularly teasing as a cultural activity among the students, the teacher's immersion and adaptation to that culture, and the affective and sociocultural importance of the ethnolinguistic repertoire to the students. I argue that the main functions of the humor and teasing are threefold: (a) to build rapport, (b) to accomplish interactional goals in the classroom, and (c) to negotiate teacher-student power struggles in a socioculturally acceptable way. I show that the students' humor and discourse is constitutive of local culture and often counterhegemonic, implicitly and at times explicitly critiquing mainstream educational practices and the marginalized status of the students. My analysis considers the data from a discourse level as well as examines the indexical and patterned use of microlevel linguistic resources from the student's ethnolinguistic repertoire--specifically, distinctive interjections and scooped-accent intonation. The primary data is naturally occurring classroom discussions, complemented by individual and group interviews and ethnographic observations. This study points to the importance of sociocultural factors in language variation and change in communities undergoing or having undergone radical language shift. It thus adds to the literature that considers how cultural practices are disrupted and may be restructured as the linguistic code changes. This research also contributes to the research that details the difficulties nonmainstream students face in public schools when their home culture and language practices are at odds with those of the school, and it examines humor and teasing as student strategies to navigate these differences. This study aims to help paint a more complete picture of the contemporary social and linguistic contexts in which American Indian speakers live, with a mind toward how this understanding can be applied to the real-world circumstances of these youth. / text