Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-139).

The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 resulted in the deaths of more than 500 Minnesota settlers, the expulsion of the Dakota people from their homeland, and the largest mass execution in U.S. history. For more than a century, white Minnesotans declared themselves innocent victims of Indian brutality and actively remembered this war by erecting monuments, preserving historic landscapes, publishing first-person narratives, and hosting anniversary celebrations. However, as the centennial anniversary approached, new awareness for the sufferings of the Dakota both before and after the war prompted retellings of the traditional story that gave the status of victimhood to the Dakota as well as the white settlers. Despite these changes, the descendents of white settlers persisted in their version of events and resented the implication that the Dakota were justified in starting the war. In 1987, the governor of Minnesota declared “A Year of Reconciliation” to bring cultural awareness of the Dakota, acknowledge their sufferings, and reconcile the continued tense relationship between the state and the Dakota people. These efforts, while successful in now telling the Dakota side of the war at official historic institutions, did not achieve a reconciliation between native and non-native residents of the state. This study of the commemorative history of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 illustrates the impact this single event exhibited for the state of Minnesota and examines the continued tense relations between its native and non-native inhabitants.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2008. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Aug. 7, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-94).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-139).

Thesis--Stockholm. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-181).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Divinity School, June 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Since the recession of 2008, there has been an increased scrutiny of higher education, with little research done on how this affects high school students' college search process. This study seeks to understand how college perceptions are formed and how they affect the college decision process of high school students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In order to gain a holistic perspective of this process, this study utilized a mixed method approach of analyzing public data, conducting interviews with community members and students, conducting a focus group with high school guidance counselors, and administering a survey to high school students. This study found that students in this area form their perceptions of college in three distinct phases and that these phases affect a student's college priorities. Special attention was given to how academics, cost and location contributed to a student's overall college decision. These findings can be used to assist faculty and staff at higher education institutions in creating effective messaging and programming that relate to this group of students.

American Indian author Susan Power’s novel The Grass Dancer is often categorized as magical realism, yet Power has stated the novel is a representation of her reality and that it is not a magical realist text. The term magical realism was first applied to the work of Latin American authors such as Gabriel García Márquez whose writing depicts magical events in a matter-of-fact narrative tone. It has since expanded to include other cultures. The question is whether it is a term that can readily be applied to the literary work of all cultures. The closest Wendy B. Faris, one of the most prominent experts on magical realism, comes to discussing the term in relation to the work of American Indian authors is by simply acknowledging Ojibwe writer Louise Erdrich’s label as a magical realist author. In order to aid Power in her rejection of the association, I delve into both her Dakota heritage and her life through the lens of biographical criticism in order to obtain a working image of her reality. By locating and examining the seeds of truth in her fiction, I explain the magical qualities of her novel in a rational and logical manner.

Historically, research on Aboriginal education issues has ignored the needs of Aboriginal people and disempowered the Aboriginal community. This thesis seeks to offer a corrective to that trend. <p> The intent of the thesis research was to establish a process for conducting educational research with one Aboriginal community - the Dakota People of Wahpeton which would enable this community to have a legitimate voice and control over future research that will be conducted on their behalf. A methodology called community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) was utilized because it provided the means for community input and direction. Through the use of CBPR, collaborative relationships were established with 20 Dakota People of Wahpeton, who were identified as the research participants. The interview was used as the primary research method. <p> The thesis discusses how the conflict between two cultural world views - the Aboriginal view of the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota People, generally referred to as "Sioux", and the contemporary Western view - was resolved within the process of implementing the Community-Based Participatory Research methodology. This resolution of differences was accomplished by bridging, then mirroring, the methodologies and ways of gaining knowledge unique to these two respective cultural world views. Additionally, theoretical and practical suggestions are offered so that the thesis might serve as a model for Dakota-Nakota-Lakota Community-Based Participatory Research in the future. <p> In keeping with Community-Based Participatory Research, the voice of the people will be emphasized in this thesis, through extensive use of quotes. Furthermore, the voice of the researcher will be clearly identified so that he may be held accountable for his input.