Até recentemente, o povoamento das Américas era visto como um produto de uma expansão em linhas paralelas do norte para o sul do continente. Sob este cenário, os sítios arqueológicos dos primeiros americanos deveria obedecer um gradiente cronológico seguindo a mesma lógica, independente de sua longitude. Recentemente, no entanto, especialistas começaram a reconhecer que certas características dos diferentes biomas poderiam favorecer diferentes taxas de expansão populacional. Beaton (1991), por exemplo, sugeriu que as expansões humanas em escala continental seriam mais condicionadas às características do ambiente (biomas) de que a distâncias geográficas lineares, ideia esta, também suportada por Dixon (2001). Neste estudo foi testada a hipótese de Beaton e Dixon, aplicada às Américas, investigando se a estrutura genética dos nativos americanos atuais é influenciada pelos biomas que elas ocupam. Para fazer isso, três diferentes tipo de matrizes foram construídas baseadas em dados de DNA mitocondrial e microssatélites de grupos de nativos americanos: uma, formada por distâncias genéticas (Fst) entre as populações, outra formada pelas distâncias geográficas entre as mesmas populações em quilômetros, e uma última formada pelas distâncias fisiográficas. Essas matrizes foram comparadas pela correlação de Pearson seguida de testes de Mantel e parciais de Mantel. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que em geral os diferentes biomas não tiveram um papel significativo na estruturação genética das populações nativas americanas, ao menos como estão distribuídas hoje. / Until recently, the settlement of the Americas was seen as the product of a \"bow wave\" human expansion from north do south. Under this scenario, the archaeological sites of the first americans should obey a chronological gradient following the same logic, independent of their longitude. Recently, however, specialists began to recognize that certain characteristics of different biomes could have favored different rates of demic expansion. Beaton (1991), for instance, suggested that human expansions in continental scales are much more conditioned by the ecological attributes of the macro environmental zones (biomes) involved than by linear geographic distances, an idea also spoused by Dixon (2001). In this study we test Beaton´s and Dixon´s ideas, as applied to the Americas, by investigating if the genetic structure of recent native american populations is influenced by the biomes they occupy. In order to do this, three different kinds of matrices were constructed based on the frequency of mtDNA and microsatelites from native american groups: one formed by the genetic distances (Fst) among the populations, a second one formed by the geographic distances among the same populations in kilometers, and a last one formed by their \"physiographic\" distances. These matrices were compared by Pearson´s correlation followed by Mantel and partial Mantel tests. The results obtained showed that in general the different biomes did not play a significant role in the native american genetic structuring, at least as they are distributed today.

The purpose of this thesis was to draw new insights on Thomas Berger’s classic American novel, Little Big Man, and his representation of fictional violence that is a substantial aspect of any text on the Indian Wars and “Custer’s Last Stand”. History’s major world wars led to shifts in the political climate and a noted change in the way that violence was represented in the arts. Historical, fictional, and cinematic treatments of “Custer’s Last Stand” and violence were each considered in relation to the text. Berger's version of the famed story is a revision of history that shows the protagonist as a dual-member of two violent societies. The thesis concluded that Berger’s updated American legends and unique “white renegade” character led to a representation of violence that spoke to the current state of affairs in 1964 when the world was becoming much more hostile and chaotic place.

With theology grounded in beliefs of human equality and religious toleration, early Quakers discussed religious ideas with Native Americans, but did not conduct the kinds of missionary projects common to other English Protestants in America in their first century there. Instead, they focused on creating good relationships with the native people who lived in the area that became Pennsylvania, as well as with those beyond its borders. Despite this rhetoric, Quakers were inconsistent in enacting their own ideals. After allowing the unfair Walking Purchase of 1737 through poor government oversight, Philadelphia Quakers created a group whose aim was to reestablish peaceful relationships with Native Americans, particularly during the tumultuous Seven Years War. This group had scant success, largely limited to reinvigorating communication between Quakers and Native Americans. By 1795, Philadelphia Quakers determined they were divinely called to assist Native Americans more directly by teaching them skills of Euro-American farming and housekeeping. To that end, they began missions with the Oneida in 1796 and the Seneca in 1798. This study argues that despite Quakers' own conception of themselves as unique from other colonists and thus able to provide a superior education for Native Americans than that provided by other Protestants, Quakers were engaged in the same colonizing project as other missionaries and colonists.

This study is a survey of sixty Native Americans between 12-24 years of age. Thirty were graduates and thirty were non-graduates. The four sets of variables examined were: early pregnancy, drug and alcohol use, cultural values, and mentoring. The reliability of three factors (mentors, substance abuse and cultural factors) were consistent with what might be expected in a random scale of 60 participants with a researcher developed scale. It was, however, the category developed to address having or not having children that proved to be of the most statistical significance.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, Henry M. Goldman School of Graduate Dentistry, [1976], (Dental Public Health) / Bibliography: leaves 21-22. / Until recently, little attention has been directed toward meeting the dental needs of Boston’s Native American community. Through the cooperation and support of Boston University School of Graduate Dentistry and the Boston Indian Council, plans were developed to establish a comprehensive dental program providing continuous dental care and dental health education to the Native American people living in the Boston area. A needs assessment was conducted to gather baseline data on the dental needs of children in the Indian community. Fifty children ranging in age from 2-19 were screened for dental disease and evaluated for oral hygiene. Results of the screening find the Indian children in Boston exhibiting a high number of decayed teeth with little or no previous dental care. In addition, approximately 46% of the children displayed poor oral hygiene. It was agreed by the Boston Indian Council and the Boston University School of Graduate Dentistry that dental services along with dental health education was needed for the population. Staff workshops were conducted to train members of the community to be dental health educators. Plans to educate the children by the trained dental health educators were not implemented at that time due to the community’s desire to obtain needed dental services for the children. It is anticipated that next year the community will be ready for an educational program after witnessing positive results from the dental treatment. The dental school provided therapeutic, preventive and emergency services to insure at least a maintenance level of care. The dental students were sensitized to the special needs of the Indian children before they began treatment. Of the 50 children screened between 10/1975 and 1/1976, 2 of the most severe cases have completed all treatment, 12 are presently receiving treatment and many more are waiting their turn. The community’s response to the dental program has been quite favorable. Parents are calling the dental school requesting appointments for their children to receive dental services. A pragmatic approach to the development of a dental program for an underserved Indian population was undertaken. An available source of dental care is now accessible and affordable to a culturally-precious Indian community.

Background: Although several reports have shown an adverse cardiovascular and metabolic risk profile associated with childhood obesity, few reports have examined the effects of childhood obesity on pulmonary function. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of obesity on pulmonary function in Navajo and Hopi children. Methods: Subjects included 256 (110 males, 16 females) Hopi children 6-12 years of age and 557 (274 males, 283 females) Navajo children 6-12 years of age (N=813). The body mass index was used to classify subjects as normal weight, overweight, or obese on the basis of international reference values. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expired volume in one second (FEVl), FEV1% (FEV1 to FVC ratio; FEV1/FVC), and forced expiratory flow between 25%-75% of vital capacity (FEF25-75) were determined according to the American Thoracic Society recommendations. Results: Approximately 26% of Navajo and Hopi children were defined as overweight (26.0% of boys and 25.6% of girls) and an additional 16% (14.6% of boys and 17.7% of girls) were defined as obese. In general, the patterns showed an increase in pulmonary function between normal weight and over-weight children and a decrease in pulmonary function of obese children. Significant differences among groups existed for FEV1% and FEF25-75 in boys and FVC and FEV1 in girls. Conclusions: The results indicate the pulmonary consequences of obesity in children and provide further evidence of the adverse consequences, of pediatric obesity among Native Americans.

This study includes two papers that aimed to provide insights into the experiences of high-achieving Latinx and Native American college students studying science. We wanted to better understand factors that influence these students’ ability to develop a sense of identity that weaves together their hoped-for careers as scientists as well as their cultural identities. We looked at how they feel about working with mentors in science fields who were like them in a variety of ways. We found that many students (especially those with a stronger sense of cultural identity) valued working with mentors who were similar to them in demographic characteristics; but overall, the whole group of students agreed that the most important areas of similarity in their opinions were their values and thoughts about how to interact with other people. Students who felt they were similar to their mentors on demographic characteristics were also more likely to believe they were similar in values and ways of interacting. We also examined identity development in three different aspects: ethnic identity, scientist identity, and combining the two into one identity that incorporates being a Native American scientist or a Latinx scientist. We found that the students in this study may find it difficult at times to develop a strong sense of their identity that weaves together both parts of themselves without favoring one over the other, and without seeing the two identities as separate or conflicting. At the same time, we found that when mentors do behave in ways that are more similar with students’ ways of interacting, those students develop a stronger sense of themselves as scientists, and when students have a stronger sense of themselves as scientists, they are more likely to commit to their education. We suggest that people working with Native American and Latinx college students studying science should work on understanding those students’ cultural backgrounds and find ways to relate with them, in order to make it more likely that those students will finish school and choose to continue with a career in science.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In the winter of 1832-1833, German scientist and aristocrat Prince Maximilian of Wied spent five months in the Indiana town of New Harmony during a two-year expedition to the interior of North America. Maximilian’s observations of Native Americans west of the Mississippi River have influenced European and white American perceptions of the Indigenous peoples of North America for nearly two centuries, but his time in New Harmony has gone understudied. This article explores his personal journal and his published travelogue to discover what Maximilian’s time in New Harmony reveals about his work. New Harmony exposed him to a wealth of information about Native Americans produced by educated white elites like himself. However, Maximilian missed opportunities to encounter Native Americans first-hand in and around New Harmony, which he wrongly thought required crossing the Mississippi River. Because of the biases and misperceptions caused by Maximilian’s racialized worldview and stereotypical expectations of Native American life, he overlooked the Indigenous communities and individuals living in Indiana.

No description available.