This study explores the relationships between the Alaska Native leadership, its interests in and impacts on higher education in Alaska, and the ways in which the University of Alaska responded to Alaska Native educational needs and initiatives, especially during the period from 1972 and 1985. The major question explored is why and how the University of Alaska system failed to adequately address the educational needs of Alaska Natives, especially given the level of political acumen of the Alaska Native leadership, their awareness of the importance of higher education as a means to control the land base “acquired” through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the mission statements of the University concerning the education of Alaska Natives, and the abundance of petroleum dollars available to the University during that period. While the Alaska Native leadership was requesting that “appropriate” educational programs be designed and delivered to rural Alaska Native students, the University of Alaska’s response to these requests took the form of structural changes within the institution, rather than substantive change in the content of educational programs. The study demonstrates that the discrepancy between Alaska Native requests for substantive educational change and University of Alaska responses in the form of structural alterations is attributable, in large part, to the opposing world views of the two sets of actors, and thus to different perceptions of the nature and role of education in general. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Administration of nonverbal tests of intelligence to deaf or hard of hearing and Native Indian children has been problematic. Communication difficulties between examiner and examinee have resulted in modifications to the administration of the test. A standard method of test administration has not been reported in the literature. The current study investigated the use of pantomime instruction to administer performance scales of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Third Edition (WISC-IlI) and the Stanford Binet: Fourth Edition (SB:FE). Subjects included a group of otitis prone Native Indian children (n=87) and hearing peers (n=80). Subjects in the hearing peer group were randomly assigned to verbal (n=40) or pantomime instruction (n=40) to compare verbal and pantomime administration of the tests. T-test and ANOVAs were used to investigate comparisons between verbal administration method (hearing peer) and between groups receiving pantomime instruction (otitis prone and hearing peer). Multiple regression analyses were used to determine whether nonverbal tests of intelligence were predictors of academic achievement. Results demonstrated pantomime instruction gave subjects information required to complete test and subtest tasks of the WISC-lll and SB:FE. There was not a significant difference between verbal and pantomime instruction for the hearing peer group. When the otitis prone group and the hearing peer group were compared there was no significant differences between groups for the WISC-lll. Item analysis provided additional support to pantomime instruction giving adequate information to understand tasks. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that nonverbal measures of intelligence should not be used to predict math or reading achievement for this population. Language measures administered yielded very low scores across all three groups. Although this was expected for the otitis prone group, low scores were not expected for the hearing peer group. The short term memory subtests for the SB:FE were also very low indicating another area of weakness for all three groups which was not expected. Results of the present study provides evidence to indicate pantomime instruction is a viable method of administration when used with otitis prone and hearing Native children. Further research is necessary to determine if standard pantomime administration can be utilized to administer nonverbal measures of intelligence to other groups of children with delayed language skills or communication difficulties. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The thesis attempts to fill one of the many gaps in the research of Northwest Coast Indian musics by providing the first study of Bella Coola songs as they have been preserved on tape. The work is based on my own field recordings and notes, the wax cylinder recordings and contextual reconstrucr tions of T.F. Mcllwraith, tapes made by the B.C. Indian Language Project, by Mildred Valley Thornton, by Philip Davis, and by the Bella Coola. themselves. Part One of the study describes the ethnographic context of the songs. A discussion of the situations in which they were used, the performance organization (principal performers, instruments and so on) with which they were associated, and the two types of compositional processes employed to create them is included. Part Two consists of an analysis of the music's structural characteristics. Modal and formal processes, drum rhythms, language-melody interactions, and style change (over a 51 year period) are examined. Dance, language, and histrionics played significant roles in determining certain of the music's attributes. The hierarchy of the music's structural characteristics was found to strongly reflect that of their functional categories. Finally, Part Three provides 73 original transcriptions that encompass a broad spectrum of the Bella Coola ceremonial and non-ceremonial repertoires. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

In the late nineteenth century, middle class Canadian reformers tried to use education to change the values and rhythms of working class, immigrant, and Indian children. They used boarding schools, however, only in the case of Indians. Educators expected boardingsschoolstto give them complete control over the environment of their pupils, thus making it possible to rear a generation of culturally and occupationally assimilated Indians. They did not expect their efforts to be blunted or reshaped by existing Indian rhythms. Because Indians were outnumbered, and because their culture was under attack from many directions, historians too have generally assumed that native rhythms had a negligible impact on residential education. Most accounts of the schools portray them as either assisting or victimizing a decimated and essentially helpless minority. This thesis uses Government reports, school records, correspondence, and oral accounts to investigate the way educators and Indians made attendance decisions. It shows that Indians played a vital role in deciding whether children went to residential school; which children went; at what ages they enrolled; how long they stayed; and how much contact they retained with their families and culture while in attendance. It clarifies some of the emotional, economic, and cultural needs which conditioned Indians' attendance decisions. By examining how existing native patterns of life modified a very determined campaign to control and alter Indian society, the thesis hopefully sheds light as well on the gradual, adaptive, and fluid process of "directed" cultural change. Residential schools were not simply an "imposed" social experience, but a mutual and changing relationship shaped by Indians as well as whites. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

Recent reports indicate that the nutritional status of native Indians is poorer than that of the general population. The culture of native Canadians is currently in a state of transition, with many factors affecting traditional life patterns, producing rapid changes in lifestyles. The present study was undertaken in order to gain fuller understanding of those problems related to food intake and the influence of social and cultural factors. By use of a 24-hour recall, the nutrient content of diets of 144 individuals living at three reserves adjacent to urban centres was compared with diets of 105 individuals at four relatively isolated Indian reserves. Interviews were conducted with 92 women from the seven reserves and information regarding food beliefs, shopping habits, meal planning, food practices, as well as selected socio-economic and family variables, was collected. In addition, data on food prices and foods available in local stores was gathered. Analysis of nutrient intake data showed that low intakes were frequent for calories, calcium, iron and vitamin C. Low caloric intakes were observed for adolescents and most adults, regardless of reserve location. Calcium intakes were lowest on isolated reserves, while iron status was poorest in non-isolated communities. Vitamin C intakes on isolated reserves were considerably lower than on non-isolated reserves. Rank correlation coefficients using Kendall's tau beta demonstrated that several independent variables were related to the dependent variable, food practices of the female household head. These included the location of the reserve, education of respondents, the women's attitudes toward nutrition, household size, and the level reached on the household facilities scale. The most significant factor related to food consumption was isolation (p<.001), with diets in urban areas being more adequate than those in rural areas. Overall food selection was poorest in isolated reserves, notably Babine and Fort Ware. The items most often in short supply were dairy products, fresh meats and fresh fruits and vegetables. Food costs were also highest in the most isolated reserves. It was concluded that food practices of native Indians are poorer at isolated reserves than at those adjacent to urban centres. Indications are that this is a consequence of the interaction of a number of factors: high food prices, poor selection, unemployment, inadequate housing and household facilities, depleting natural food resources, a lack of food/nutrition information, as well as a lack of involvement in health-related programmes. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

At the turn of the 20th century, many American composers became engaged in what is now known as the Indianist Movement. The movement began following published musical transcriptions and cylinder recordings of Native Americans by American ethnologists. Numerous American composers were inspired by the melodic material and composed works such as symphonies, operas, choruses, string quartets, piano solos, and art songs from the Native American melodies. This treatise will provide a background on the Indianist Movement in terms of the chronology of development, the personnel involved, and the means of and reactions to Native American melody harmonization. An in depth study of the text and music from Arthur Farwell's Three Indian Songs, Op. 32, and Charles Wakefield Cadman's Four American Indian Songs, Op. 45, will highlight the compositional style and harmonic approach by two of the highest regarded Indianist Movement composers. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Fall Semester, 2014. / November 1, 2014. / American, Cadman, Farwell, Indian, Native, song / Includes bibliographical references. / Shirley Close, Professor Directing Treatise; Timothy Hoekman, Committee Member; Andre Thomas, Committee Member.

The subject of this paper is an extension of the work done Holmes and Rahe on the development of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale or SRRS and of the study, “Individual Perception of Stressful Life Events: A Comparison of Native Americans, Rural, and Urban Samples,” conducted by Dr. Liberman and Joel Frank. This study will compare those two samples with a sample of a selected Pacific Northwest Indian tribe served by an Indian Health Service facility. “The Stressful Life Events: A Comparative Study of Native American and Urban Samples” study is a singular component of a total effort on the part the Indian Health Service, Portland Area Office, to assess the probability and severity of functional impairment of the Indian people living on the Yakima Indian Reservation in the State of Washington, with the additional intent of facilitating planning and allocation.

The purpose of this practicum is to describe the destructive use of alcohol among Southeastern Idaho Indians. This practicum is based on John and Irma Honigmann's (1) theory of· "loss of stake. " It is John and Irma Honigmann' s contention that whatever may be the social functions of drinking, and whatever the personal reasons, having a stake in society tends to induce people to conform to the norms of society with regard to drinking behavior. The three case histories in this practicum will illustrate more of what is meant by the theory of stake in society.

No description available.