This dissertation investigates the social and cultural contours of citizenship and nationhood of Kahnawake Mohawks. The central question that I seek to answer is "What other narratives of nationhood and citizenship are there than those of membership in the American or Canadian states?" Mohawks and other Iroquois nations have long asserted their ideological, and in the case of some, economic independence from the governments of Canada and the United States. My multi-sited research illustrates that this historical assertion is more than rhetoric; it is also a practice or " praxis," as Mohawks configure citizenship across the imposed borders that separate their reserves from cities and states from states. This dissertation engages contemporary theories of nationhood, historical and contemporary ethnographic literature on the Iroquois, as well as contemporary literature in political theory and policy to examine the gendered and sometimes racialized contours of Indigenous nationhood and citizenship across borders. Kahnawake Mohawk narratives and the choices that they entail have implications for the way that all "post-colonial" nationals attempt to imagine and construct their place and their membership within and beyond the boundaries of their communities and that of the state.

Climatic oscillation during the Quaternary resulted in fragmentation of once more continuous ancient floras and a series of invasions of different floras into the Pondoland Centre in response to climatic change, with some elements invading more than once. This implies both a temporally complex and a floristically complex origin for the extant flora of the Centre. Data derived from analysis of the melange of extant floristic elements in the Pondoland Centre is presented in support of this hypothesis. A synfloristic comparison of Oribi Gorge (OGNR) and Umtamvuna Nature Reserves (UNR) is the basis for this study. A comparison of the species lists generated for OGNR and UNR reveals that 24% of the 1514 angiosperm species are shared. The familial composition of the reserves is similar, with eight of the ten most diverse families contributing a similar proportion of species to the respective floras, with the exception of Acanthaceae. The ten most diverse families comprise a comparatively small proportion of the respective floras; this is indicative of high diversity over long geological periods, i.e. of refugia. Analysis at the generic level revealed similar consistancy between the two gorge floras. Approximately 4% of the UNR species and 2.3% of OGNR species are Pondoland Centre endemics. Approximately 40% of the endemic species are shared by the gorges. Data reveals that both palaeoendemic (predominantly woody, forest taxa) and neoendemic (predominantly herbaceous or suffrutescent, grassland taxa) species occur. The Pondoland Centre is thus a refugium for species trapped on the Msikaba Group sandstones as a result of climatic oscillation during the Quaternary, and a centre of neoendemism. OGNR and UNR floras include Cape, Afromontane and tropical elements (11.3%, 2.8% and 19.1% respectively for OGNR and 16%,3.4% and 15.3% respectively for UNR). Seventy - two percent of Afromontane species are shared, indicating a relatively recent invasion(s) and lor the relative proximity of the gorges to the Afromontane flora. The lower species overlap in the Cape element (39.2%) of the two gorges implies that the invasion of the element is ancient, with subsequent extinction of many of the taxa from OGNR in response to climatic change. It is also possible that this invasion was initally less successful; fewer species found refuge in OGNR. The tropical element comprises the largest proportion of the flora in both gorges and many (ca. 50%) of the species are shared. The degree of species overlap indicates that the invasive flora was either initially more similar or that it is tess prone to extinction. The level of overlap could also suggest that the invasion was more recent than that of the Cape taxa. The tropical element is larger in OGNR and the Cape element is larger in UNR. This is partly due to the gorges' respective proximities to the tropical and Cape floras. This trend is echoed in the endemic data. iv The conservation status of the endemics and of the Pondoland vegetation types is established and recommendations for further research are made. The data support the establishment of a larger UNR, the maintenance of both Umtamvuna and Oribi Gorge as formal nature reserves and the establishment of a new reserve (or reserves) within the Pondoland Centre. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermarizburg, 1998.

This thesis explores whether reviving pre-reserve Nehiyaw forms of power represents a strategy of self-determination. To start, an understanding of colonialism is advanced based on the idea that colonialism is an intersectional process that involves both the actions perpetrated from a settler society unto Indigenous peoples, and the legacy of dysfunction that is left with Indigenous peoples as a result of colonization. Second, an understanding of pre-reserve Nehiyaw forms of power is developed, with a focus on how the interaction of legitimacy and authority can be used to explain pre-reserve Nehiyaw forms of power. Finally, I examine if reviving pre-reserve Nehiyaw forms of power represents a strategy of self-determination that addresses the intersectional nature of colonialism. I argue that it does, but in order to revive pre-reserve forms of power we must displace band councils as the site where we imagine a revival of pre-reserve Nehiyaw forms of power.

This thesis explores processes of self-representation in Indigenous media by analyzing the work of a weekly newspaper, The Eastern Door, of the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, Quebec (Canada). The thesis examines articulations of power in relations between State and Aboriginal communities, demonstrating the importance of such a medium for the conceptualization of Aboriginal Nation and construction of identity in the contemporary context. The Eastern Door is an important vehicle for communicating Mohawk identity and nationhood, a role it consciously plays, as part of its commitment to political autonomy. Its commitment is shown by its discursive explorations: of avenues, themes chosen, concerns expressed and language used. An element of this commitment is an emphasis on collective and individual behaviour, and on "being" as an expression of Mohawk identity, both of which provide powerful bases of action for the community and in relations with the State. If this thesis underlines that State interest and power are an influence on these processes, it also demonstrates that the Mohawk engagement with cultural politics is influential itself, allowing the Mohawks to develop political strategies vis-a-vis the State, and even to impose political agendas that have to be engaged with by the government.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.