This dissertation considers how American women writers responded to the changing perceptions about feminine nature, to an increasingly modern society, and to the shifting religious landscape in nineteenth-century America. The complex relationship between nineteenth-century women and religion is firmly illustrated in the works of three writers who were widely read during their time and yet have a very limited readership today: Mary Hallock Foote, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Gertrude Bonnin, also known as Zitkala-Ša. Each figure held a prominent position in the high-literary establishment of the late nineteenth century, and I show how each experimented with regional and sentimental literary conventions in order to entertain and appeal to a readership largely dominated by urban, upper-middle-class women. I argue that each of these writers constructed shared regional spaces and articulated spiritual values of place in order to dramatize differences between rural and urban cultures, to reflect concerns about America’s increasingly industrial, materialistic, and cosmopolitan mainstream society, and to create an anti-modern argument for a society grounded in Christian beliefs and practices. Despite the variety of their religious backgrounds and experiences, these writers all depict nuanced versions of Protestant tradition that both reflect the malleability of cultural religious constructions and re-assert Christian values of love, equality, family, and community. Moreover, through their descriptions of place—of the beauty, grandeur, isolation, and inherent risk of the natural world—these writers reveal phenomenological experiences and illuminate intricate connections between religion, place, and culture that contemporary scholars of religion and geography have only recently begun to explore.

<p> The use of augmented reality and mobile applications offers a unique and applicable presentation experience for digital historians. This is a case study of such a presentation using Mound 72 at Cahokia Mounds.</p>

This thesis works towards deconstructing stereotypical images of Indigenous women that frequent the pages of popular literature. It calls attention to the ideological foundation of Euro-Canadian literature, which is informed by a White-christian-patriarchy. That literature, as an institution of the Euro-Canadian nation, propagates images of Indigenous women as Indian princesses, squaw drudges, suffering helpless victims, tawny temptresses, and loose squaws. Consequently, Euro-Canadian literature imprisons us in images that foster both racist and sexist stereotypes and that encourage violence against us. Margaret Laurence's short story "The Loons" and William Patrick Kinsella's "Linda Star" provide illuminating examples of some of those images. While these writers do not represent all non-Indigenous people who write about Indigenous women, both of these writers are extremely popular Canadian writers whose stories are often read in elementary schools, high schools, and universities. At the centre of this thesis is Maria Campbell's semi-autobiographical Halfbreed. Campbell's Halfbreed significantly challenges Euro-Canadian literature's White-christian-patriarchal ideology by contextualizing the narrative in an Indigenous-gynocratic ideology. Her book destabilized White-Euro-Canadian liberals' complacency when, as an indigenous woman, Campbell named Euro-Canadians oppressors and identified Euro-Canadian power structures that illegally, unjustly, and intolerably imposed on her people's way of life. This thesis concludes that Campbell's Halfbreed encouraged many Indigenous people to appropriate the White-Euro-Canadian colonizer's English language to write ourselves out of oppression by re-claiming our self--which is ideologically rooted in autochthonous and gynocratic cultures.

<p> This thesis examines resilience among the Point Lay I&ntilde;upiat in the context of climate change. Resilience is manifest in the ability of community members to maintain meaningful subsistence practices and activities despite ongoing changes in weather, ice, and resource conditions. Twenty-one Point Lay I&ntilde;upiat were interviewed for this thesis. Respondents were divided into three cohorts: youths (ages 18-29), adults (ages 30-49), and elders (ages 50-70+). Respondents shared changes in weather, ice, and resource conditions. Respondents also shared community concerns, including concerns not attributable to climate change. Received responses were sorted and compared by cohort to identify trends in weather, ice, and resource conditions, as well as to identify adaptive and maladaptive strategies for coping with climate change and other stressors impacting the community. Whether the community can maintain meaningful subsistence practices and activities if local changes in weather, ice, and resource conditions remain unchanged or intensify is also questioned.</p>

<p> The enslavement and persecution of African and Native peoples has been occurring in the U.S. since the 1600s. There have been justifications, explanations and excuses offered as to why one race feels superior over another. Slavery, according to the Abolition Project, refers to "a condition in which individuals are owned by others, who control where they live and at what they work" (e2bn.org, 2009). Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Braveheart researched the concept of historical trauma as it relates to American Indians, whereby she found that trauma due to unresolved grief, disenfranchised grief, and unresolved internalized oppression could continue to manifest itself through many generations. This thesis will examine the intergenerational effects of historical trauma as they are depicted in selected African and Native bildungsromans. These specific works were chosen because they allow me to compare and contrast how subsequent generations of these two cultures were still being directly affected by colonialism, especially as it pertains to the loss of their identities. It also allows me to reflect on how each of the main characters, all on the cusp of adulthood, make choices for their respective futures based on events that occurred long before they were born. </p><p> Chapters One and Two highlight specific works from African American authors Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Walker's novel, <i>The Color Purple, </i> depicts the life of an African American girl in the rural South of the 1930s. In this work I will examine how the loss of the male traditional role of provider and protector has affected the family dynamics and led to the male assuming the role of oppressor. In Morrison's <i>Song of Solomon, </i> I will examine the importance of identity and how one man's flight from slavery has affected the family structure of four subsequent generations. Both of the protagonists, Celie and Milkman, were born free, and yet still feel enslaved, just as their ancestors were, by their lack of choices as well as their quest for purpose and personal justice. </p><p> Chapters Three and Four will discuss literary works by Native American authors Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexie, both vocal advocates of educating the lost generations&mdash;those who were forbidden to learn of and practice their language or tribal rituals due to colonialism&mdash;as well as Anglo-Americans on the importance of preserving the culture and heritage of their people. In Erdrich's <i>The Round House,</i> young Joe Coutts' family is tragically ripped apart by a physically violent attack on his mother. In an attempt to discover the truth of what really happened and who harmed her, Joe embarks on a journey in which borders, both literal and figurative, jurisdiction, and justice will be defined. The choices made by Joe, the adolescent, will have a direct impact on the evolution of Joe, the adult. In Alexie's <i> Flight,</i> Zits is a fifteen year old boy who seemingly belongs nowhere and to no one. It is this lack of identity that initially leads him down a path of destruction and on a magical journey of self-discovery where he will learn that he has within himself the ability to overcome his own personal tragedies, define who he is, and find happiness. The final chapter introduces the concept of restorative justice, a legal term that emphasizes repairing the harm done to crime victims through a process of negotiation, mediation, victim empowerment and reparations. I will also briefly discuss how both African and Native people are reclaiming their cultural identities through naming, ceremony, and traditions. I will briefly define a new concept developed by Dr. Joy Deruy Leary, referred to as post traumatic slave syndrome, and will show that like historical response trauma, its symptoms can be traced back generations to the enslavement of African people. I will argue that justice, identity and the lack of choices are major themes identified in each of these works which tie them all together. I will also argue that these themes have a direct correlation to the signs and symptoms of both Historical Response Trauma and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome as defined by Dr. Braveheart and Dr. Leary, and how ultimately each of these protagonists used some means of restorative justice to stop the cycle of trauma and begin the process of healing </p>

The Black Hills of South Dakota, once home to the Lakota Sioux, is a sacred landscape to these people, but is currently threatened by extensive tourism, mining, industrial and logging activity. Within these sacred hills, an enormous carving in stone is slowly being created in the form of a Lakota warrior: the Crazy Horse Memorial. The carving is meant to honour all American Indian people, as well as Crazy Horse’s people, the Lakota; however, the carving is contested by many Lakota people as it clashes with their spiritual beliefs and traditions. In this practicum, the social, environmental and spiritual character of the Black Hills is studied to determine the efficacy of the Crazy Horse Memorial in contemporary Lakota society, and to determine a more appropriate form of memorialization for the Lakota people. Sacred landscapes throughout the Black Hills are evaluated based on their management practices and current environmental and spiritual states; subsequently, a new regional management strategy is introduced in order to protect traditional sacred sites and preserve traditional Lakota landscapes and traditions. In so doing, the involvement of Landscape Architects is presented as a viable strategy in evolving the cultural and physical landscape of the sacred Black Hills.

<p> Researchers have found that minorities suffering from traumatic stress report increased levels of stress in the absence of supportive and committed work environments; however, a paucity of empirical research exists for First Nations Peoples (FNP). The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to examine the nature of the relationship between FNP's associated symptoms of historical loss, assessed by the Historical Loss and Associated Symptoms Scale, and organizational commitment, as measured by the Three Component Employee Commitment Survey. A total of 118 residential school survivors completed surveys. Correlation analysis was used to determine the significance of historical loss in relation to organizational commitment among survivors. Results showed an inverse relationship between affective commitment and associated symptoms of historical loss and between continuance commitment and associated symptoms. No statistically significant correlation was found between normative commitment and historical loss or associated symptoms. Findings can help inform targeted engagement, recruitment, and retention initiatives designed to accommodate FNP perspectives and experiences into organizational culture and systems. Implications for positive social change include better understanding of factors impacting career progression among FNP, such as organizational commitment. Results may also inform culturally safe interventions that help FNP to be successful.</p>

<p>This thesis explores the American Civil War in Indian Territory, focusing on how clashing visions of sovereignty within the Five Tribes&mdash;Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole&mdash;led to the one the most violent and relatively unknown chapters of the Civil War. Particular attention is paid to the first two years of the war, highlighting why the Five Tribes allied with Confederacy, and why those alliances failed over time. Chapter One examines Indian Territory as a borderland, unveiling how various actors within that borderland, including missionaries, Indian agents, white neighbors in Arkansas and Texas, and Indians themselves shaped Native American decision-making and convinced acculturated tribal elites to forge alliances with the Confederacy. These alliances, however, did not represent the sentiments of many traditionalist Indians, and anti-Confederate Creeks, Seminoles, and African-Americans gathered under the leadership of dissident Creek chief Opothleyahola. Cultural divisions within the Five Tribes, and differing visions of sovereignty in the future, threatened to undermine Indian-Confederate alliances. Chapter Two investigates the Confederacy&rsquo;s 1861 winter campaign designed to quell Opothleyahola&rsquo;s resistance to Confederate authority. This campaign targeted enemy soldiers and civilians alike, and following a series of three engagements Opothleyahola&rsquo;s forces were decisively defeated in December. During this campaign, however, schisms with the Confederate Cherokees became apparent. In the weeks that followed, Confederate forces pursued the men, women, and children of Opothelyahola&rsquo;s party as they fled north across the frozen landscape for the relative safety of Kansas. The military campaign waged in 1861, and the untold suffering heaped upon thousands of civilians that winter, exposes how a hard, violent war rapidly emerged within the Confederate borderland, complicating historians&rsquo; depiction of a war that instead grew hard over time. </p><p> Chapter Three documents the return of Federal forces to the borderland via the First Indian Expedition of 1862. Although the expedition was a military failure, the sudden presence of Union forces in the region permanently split the Cherokee tribe into warring factions. The Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes spent the next three years fighting their own intra-tribal civil wars. Moreover, the appearance and retreat of Federal forces from Indian Territory created a geopolitical vacuum, which would be filled by guerrilla violence and banditry. The failure of either Confederate or Union forces to permanently secure Indian Territory left Indian homelands ripe for violence and lawlessness. The thesis concludes by evaluating the cost of the conflict. One-third of the Cherokee Nation perished during the war; nearly one-quarter of the Creek population died in the conflict. By war&rsquo;s end, two-thirds of Indian Territory&rsquo;s 1860 population had become refugees. Urged to war by outsiders and riven with their own intra-tribal strife, Native Americans of the Five Tribes suffered immensely during the Civil War, victims of one of the most violent, lethal, and unknown chapters in American history. </p>

This thesis explores how the Canadian colonial practice of systematic separation of Indigenous children from families and communities has affected displaced Indigenous people and how grassroots community efforts may serve to bring home stolen generations, thereby re-asserting Indigenous control over cultural survival. Given that the thousands of Indigenous children currently in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development will grow up disconnected from their communities, this research addresses a dire need amongst Indigenous populations. Through in-depth interviews with displaced individuals, this study seeks to not only illuminate the experiences and needs of displaced people; it also situates this trauma within the context of colonialism. Further, using the Gitdumden (Bear/Wolf) clan of the Wet‟suwet‟en Nation in northern British Columbia as a case study, this research illuminates how a community can strategize solutions for re-integrating displaced community members as a direct response to Canada‟s colonial project. / Graduate

The aim of the study is to illustrate the importance of magic realism in American women's fiction in the late twentieth century. The term magic realism, which has traditionally been associated with Latin American men's writing, has been known by different, and often contradictory, definitions. It may be argued that, properly defined, it can be a valid term to describe a number of characteristics common to a corpus of work, and can be considered as an aesthetic category different from others such as Surrealism or Fantastic literature, with which it has often been compared. Furthermore, magic realism has viability as a contemporary international mode and is particularly suitable to women writers from minority ethnic groups. The present study intends to draw relevant comparative analyses of uses of magic realism that show various formal and thematic interactions between separate literary traditions. The introduction offers an overview of the different conceptions and applications of the term since its origins within the area of painting, and suggests a working definition that can be effective for intensive textual analysis of several novels. In order to offer a new approach which can enable us to move away the paradigm of magic realism from Latin America towards a more multicultural framework, the focus will be on three geographical-cultural areas: African American, Native American and Chicano/Mexican writing. The implementation of magic realist strategies in African American writing will be examined in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon (1977) and Gloria Naylor's Mama Day (1988), with a particular emphasis on the significance of African mythical background and the experience of dispossession and transference of culture. Magic realist elements in the novels Tracks (1988) by Louise Erdrich and Ceremony (1977) by Leslie Marmon Silko will be studied in the context of Native American oral tradition and cosmologies. The practice of magic realism on both sides of the U. S. - Mexico border will be explored in the novels So Far from God (1993), by the Chicana Ana Castillo, and Like Water for Chocolate (1989), by the Mexican Laura Esquivel. A description of the borderland culture in the American Southwest, as well as comparisons between North and Latin American uses of magic realism will be provided. Finally, some connections amongst the discussed literary traditions and further lines of research will be suggested.