Folklore serves a fundamental societal function spreading accepted culture from generation to generation. The role of folklore is paramount in social networking and the scope of folklore will be investigated using specific myths from the Great Basin region. The Si-teh-cah as the Paiute referred to them was a mysterious group of purported cannibalistic giants. / The study of this myth helps aid the understanding of the archetypical motifs and their roles in society. The underpinning of this research is to understand the cultural perceptions and perspectives that go into their folklore. From this understanding folklore has applicable functions in its role affecting the understanding of migration trends, societal framework, behavioral functions and the purpose of identity as well as the esoteric and exoteric dynamic of each group with the "Other." The typical "Other" goes through transmutation based on the society discussing the "Other." / This research explores the behavioral patterning of perspective and perception that has developed and shows how this cultural framework alters aspects of myth to put each culture's signature traits into the narrative. From this understanding it also becomes apparent that through folklore we can see elements of how place affects the culture along with how all these aspects are entangled and play roles in migrational trends, social order, identity and aspects of perseverance and warfare. Folklore serves a function of cultural relativism and the dynamic art form of perception and perspective on history. / Folklore can be advantageous in multiple disciplines and shows that even what we purport as factual history in contemporary times is folkloric in the respect that it is history from specific perspectives. This Great Basin research is a dynamic way to understand the universality and the cause of universality while sorting the factual information from the absurdities.

This dissertation is a reference grammar of the Malimiut Coastal dialect of Inupiaq (ISO: ESI, ESK, IPK), an Eskimo-Aleut language of northwestern Alaska spoken by the Inupiat people. It complements existing descriptions of Inupiaq by filling gaps in documentation. With approximately 2000 speakers, mainly above 50 years of age, Inupiaq is endangered. Within the Inupiat community, there is a strong commitment to language documentation and revitalization. The current work aims to provide a comprehensive description of Inupiaq morphosyntax to the Inupiat and academic communities. This dissertation uses the standard Inupiaq writing system and IPA for all examples in the hope that by including both scripts, the work will be maximally useful to the Inupiat community, scholars, and other interested parties. After introducing the language and reviewing previous work, the dissertation describes Malimiut Inupiaq phonetics and phonology, nominal and verbal morphology, syntactic categories, wordhood, constituency, and other syntactic topics. A final chapter draws comparisons between Inupiaq and other Eskimo-Aleut languages/dialects and summarizes major findings. These include a previously undocumented phonological change in progress, the shift of /z/ (Inupiaq 'r') to American English /r/ in younger speakers and heritage learners. Several interrelated variables are involved, including age, Inupiaq literacy, and the influence of English. The dissertation also documents case stacking, such that demonstrsatives can take grammatical case twice, previously undocumented in Eskimo-Aleut. The discovery of case stacking on adverbs (non-arguments) is particularly exciting, challenging current theories that motivate case stacking via argument structure. Although eastern Inuit dialects have been extensively documented, many areas of Inupiaq grammar remain undocumented. This dissertation is the first to discuss a number of morphosyntactic topics specifically for Inupiaq, including argument status, clause-level and sentence-level constituency, types of predication, wordhood (phonological vs. morphological vs. syntactic), and clause combining. A real need to separate morphology and syntax in Inupiaq becomes evident. It is often assumed that because Inuit languages are predominantly suffixing languages---there is virtually no other morphological process-morphology and syntax are one and the same in these languages. However, clause combining and constituency---among other phenomena---demonstrate that purely syntactic phenomena exist in the language.

<p> This dissertation investigates issues of representation surrounding the American Indian (NDN) and the mixedblood. By conflating images of the trickster as described by NDN scholars with the postmodern theories of Donna Haraway, I explore in my dissertation how the trickster provides a way of viewing formerly accepted boundaries of identity from new perspectives. As cyborg, the trickster is in the "system," but it is also enacting change by pushing against those boundaries, exposing them as social fictions. I create a cyborg trickster heuristic, using it as a lens with which to both analyze how NDNs construct online identities and the rhetorical maneuvers they undergo. Moving beyond access issues, I show how NDNs are strengthening their presence through social media. Ultimately, I argue that the cyborg trickster shows how identities (NDN and non-NDN alike) are multiply-created and constantly in flux, transcending the traditional boundaries of self and other, online and offline, space and place, to allow for a new understanding of the individual in society and society within the individual.</p>

<p> The Nahuatl language spoken by Aztec/Mexica continues to be spoken throughout Central Mexico and in the Huasteca region. Variation within the Huasteca has yet to be fully explored, and this study integrates a questionnaire published by Lastra and interviews I conducted with native speakers representing different communities. The data produced from this were used to find features that distinguish different towns and then were analyzed using cladistics, a phylogenetic method used by biologists to propose a hypothesis of the evolutionary relationships among species, and which has also been used by linguists. The output suggests there is a large split between northwest and southeast regions of the Huasteca, and that the northeast villages compose a subregion on their own. One can trace the relationships between communities on the output tree and follow a path backwards towards Central Mexico, suggesting a north-east migration.</p>

<p> The Toltec Mounds site (3LN42) (A.D. 700-1050) in central Arkansas has intrigued archaeologists for decades. Although it dates well within the Woodland Period and has many features characteristic of a Woodland Period site, including grog-tempered pottery and a reliance on hunting and gathering, its mound-and-plaza layout is an architectural design suggestive of the later Mississippi Period (A.D. 1000-1500). This confusion is addressed in this thesis by examining two ceramic assemblages from different building stages of Mound D, the last mound to be altered at the site. The ceramics show an affiliation with northeastern Arkansas that has been underemphasized in the past, and that may provide more information on Toltec's relationships with its neighbors through the end of the Woodland Period.</p>

<p> According to Culturally Appropriate and Valid Psychological Assessments for Ethical Use with American Indians (CVE) as cited on the website of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, 26.6% of the state&rsquo;s Native American population who complete a diagnostic assessment take the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2nd edition (MMPI-2) in any given year. As such, a pertinent question is whether the MMPI-2 is an appropriate tool for assessing personality for this population. Nichols (2011) stated that the practicing clinicians who participated in the study failed to use research on cultural influences that may elevate the clinical and validity scale on the MMPI-2 with a specific ethnic population. In addition, Butcher and Williams (1999) stated that the MMPI-2 did not include an adequate normative representation of Native Americans. Furthermore, Butcher and Williams (1999) also stated that most studies about the MMPI-2 and Native Americans have shown numerous methodological flaws. Despite these flaws, proponents of the MMPI-2 continued to maintain that the use of the instrument is culturally valid, and it continues to be the most used personality assessment instrument with Native Americans (Butcher, 2009; Butcher &amp; Williams, 1999). The focus of this qualitative study was to provide a detailed view of six clinicians&rsquo; experiences in administering the MMPI-2 with Native Americans and their use of cultural information to interpret the profile. Using thematic analysis, the results yielded seven themes that were categorized in three distinct domains: A) trauma informs the responses to MMPI-2, B) awareness of clients&rsquo; cultural belief system by the clinicians, and C) clinicians&rsquo; awareness of their own cultural competence and sensitivity.</p>

<p> This somatic, depth psychological, intuitive inquiry explores the transformative and healing effects of the process of remembrance of blood ancestors in body, heart and mind as the Maya, the researcher&rsquo;s paternal ancestors, understand na&rsquo;b&rsquo;al, blood memory, and the way ancestors are brought into present, living relationship through remembrance of ancestral story, culture, and ceremony. This study, based on personal experience, addresses the current lack of depth psychological research and understanding of the healing process of historical trauma within modern indigenous people who have grown up disconnected from the culture of their heritage. Methods used include data collection through journal entries, data analysis through the summary of somatic, relational, visionary, natural and synchronistic changes, and both intuitive and standard thematic analysis. Findings include changes consistent with a shamanic healing journey resulting in an expanded sense of consciousness, spirit and ancestor communication, and an overall increased sense of purpose, wholeness, and wellness. The study compares and contrasts indigenous with depth psychological understandings of ancestors, spirits, space and time, ceremony, balance, and healing. While many commonalities are found, the study suggests that depth psychological language and theory fall short in their ability to fully explain indigenous spiritual experiences. The study also illuminates the potential dangers of assuming that all cultures are the universal heritage of humanity. Keywords: Maya, Ancestors, Historical Trauma, Native American, Popol Vuh, Depth Psychology, Hero Twins, Lady Blood, Rilaj Mam</p><p>

abstract: The growing population of American Indian students who attend off-reservation school has been under researched. This absence in American Indian education research, their unique needs, and their growing numbers warrant more attention. To address this absence in education research literature, this study captures the experiences of American Indian students in an off-reservation high school. Through Social Reproduction Theory and Cultural Capital Theory this qualitative study makes known the varying ways that American Indian students in off-reservation high schools comply and resist formal schooling. Through interviews and observations of these students, in addition their teachers and administrators, I document and interpret their experiences. The data suggest that American Indian students strongly connect to and use their tribal identities to negotiate school. By recognizing the rules of the school, these students employ different forms of cultural and social capital, specifically the importance of space and forms of communication. Even though their high school has a high population of American Indian students, they continue to experience challenges in academic success through stereotypical assumptions, expected roles, and structural barriers. Illustrating student identity as effects of the social reproduction process clearly demonstrates resistance, compliance, and agency of these students in their high school. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

Bill C-31, an Act to Amend the Indian Act, was passed by the Canadian Parliament on June 28, 1985. It was intended to bring the Indian Act into line with the provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in part by allowing the reinstatement of Indian Status to women who had lost it after marrying non-Aboriginal or non-Status men. It followed from the efforts of Native women Jeannette Lavell and Sandra Lovelace in court appeals over sexual discrimination in the Indian Act. Yet there were many negative reactions to the bill. Bill C-31 introduced rules governing who could be registered as "Indian." It also contained new rules with respect to children born on or after April 17, 1985. This paper argues that these rules discriminate against children with one parent who is not recognized as "Indian" under the new rules. The primary purpose of the bill was to allow Aboriginal people to create their own criteria for managing the membership of bands. However, it caused a number of conflicts and failed to produce the results Aboriginal community hoped for. There were concerns about the increase in the Aboriginal population as people returned to reserves and inadequate funding to meet the needs arising from such population growth. Many Native persons viewed the bill as a mechanism for assimilation and argued that they should have sole responsibility over the regulation of their own memberships. Recent research on Bill C-31 is limited, in that many authors ignore the personal experiences of those who helped create and were affected by the legislation. For the most part, the literature tends to stress the growth of the Native population following the bill's implementation. A more thorough analysis would yield a greater understanding of the bill's impact on First Nations rights and self-determination. This thesis will incorporate an array of primary sources, including summary reports, scholarly studies, statistics, interviews and personal commentaries. An analysis of secondary sources will also reveal the current state of research on the topic, and show how this thesis provides a new perspective by considering matrimonial real property, blood quantum, court cases and legal Status.

La présente recherche a pour objectif de retracer l'évolution de la représentation autochtone dans le cinéma documentaire québécois depuis ses débuts, en utilisant pour ce faire l'analyse thématique de contenu. De façon plus spécifique, en comparant deux périodes de l'histoire, (1900-1960 et 1960-2007) ce travail a tenté d'établir que les techniques cinématographiques introduites par le cinéma direct au début des années 60, ont contribué à modifier l'image traditionnelle de l'autochtone telle que véhiculée par le documentaire classique. De plus, nous avons examiné le rôle que jouent les pratiques orales du cinéma (boniment, narration, oralité associée aux techniques du direct) dans cette représentation. Enfin, l'analyse filmique de quatre documents audio-visuels (films) a servi d'outil principal pour démontrer l'influence du cinéma direct sur le traitement du sujet, tant au niveau des techniques utilisées que du courant de pensée associé au cinéma documentaire de cette époque.