Native American communities are continually impacted by Federal Indian policy. Over one-half of all Native American nations function politically under the provisions of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). There are claims that many of these Native American communities experience intra-tribal conflict due to the lack of congruence between the tribal governments formed under the IRA and cultural traditions of governance. This claim was investigated via a comparative trend analysis of the Santa Clara Pueblo, operating politically under the IRA provisions, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, operating under a constitutional form of governance outside of IRA provisions. After an historical analysis, an evaluation of tribal constitutions, and an examination of news media coverage for the period of 1991 – 2000, the project concluded that the legacies of the IRA are not the primary causal agent of intra-tribal conflict. / Master of Arts

This study explores the role of language in constructing identity and promoting belonging for seventeen Fijian college students at one U.S. based university in the Pacific Rim. Focus group interviews were analyzed for how students described the role that language played in constructing student identity and mediating connection. Analysis was grounded in post-structural perspectives of identity alongside vā – the Oceanic notion that encompasses identity and belonging. Students described themes of native language proficiency in reinforcing kinship relationships and in participating in cultural traditions and practices. They also expressed other ways of maintaining vā without proficiency in their native languages. Other students noted the affordances of speaking English to participating in global economies and global cultures, including schooling at the university. Implications highlight the need for educational policies, practices, and pedagogies that empower Fijian students to be successful in academic and public spaces, while helping them maintain connection to their ethnic communities and identities—to promote belonging, and to maintain their positions in the vā.

This report describes the development process of a fullstack application designed to help users study with integrated AI functionalities for the creation of flashcards. Users upload images containing text that are processed by third-party artificial intelligence application programming interfaces to create a data structure of questions and answers based on the text. The application is centered around flashcards but also includes features such as quizzes and the sharing of flashcard collections. To facilitate the use of the application for multiple users, a decision was made to migrate from Swift, a programming language for iOS to JavaScript. By using the React Native framework, an application for cross-platform can be created on a single code base. A scalable backend solution was also developed for the application by integration of a monolithic architecture with Microsoft's cloud service, Azure. The backend consisted of a NodeJS Express server connected to a MySQL database. The application managed to replicate the prototype despite some minor issues. The application's core requirements were successfully implemented with some additional features. / Denna rapport beskriver utvecklingsprocessen av en fullstack applikation, vars användningsområde är att hjälpa användare studera genom integration av AI funktionaliteter för skapandet av flashcards. Användare laddar upp bilder med text som sedan hanteras av en tredjeparts artificiell intelligens applikationsprogrammeringsgränssnitt för att skapa en datastruktur som innehåller frågor och svar baserade på den skannade texten. Applikationen är centrerad kring flashcards men har även funktioner som test samt delandet av flashcard samlingar. För att möjliggöra användandet av applikationen för fler användare så gjordes valet att migrera från Swift, ett programmeringsspråk skapat för iOS, till JavaScript. Genom att använda React Native ramverket, kan en applikation som stödjer flera plattformar skapa en gemensam kodbas. En skalbar backend-lösning utvecklades samtidigt för applikationen genom att integrera en monolitisk arkitektur med Microsofts molntjänst Azure. Backenden bestod av en NodeJS Express server ansluten till en MySQL databas. Applikationen lyckades replikera prototypen med några få hinder. Applikationen uppfyllde kravspecifikationen samt att huvudfunktionerna implementerades med några extra funktioner.

Pollinators provide key ecological services. With one-third of our global food production dependent on pollinators, maintaining healthy pollinator communities is vital. Bees are the most pervasive and effective pollinator species, yet are currently declining worldwide, with the main cause linked to habitat loss. To combat this decline, researchers are turning to suburban landscapes to aid in pollinator conservation. Incorporating native plants into suburban landscapes has been shown to benefit pollinators. However, there is a lack of information on how different landscape designs and growing conditions influence pollinator communities. To better understand whether native plants can effectively improve suburban pollinator habitats, this research asked: 1) how does irrigation and soil composition influence the availability of floral resources, 2) which plants attract the greatest number and diversity of pollinators, and 3) how do native vs non-native landscape designs impact a residential neighborhood’s ability to support pollinator communities? Using 27 different native plant species that were subjected to a combination of irrigation and compost treatments, we examined plant-pollinator interactions in 16 fully replicated and randomized experimental plots. Additionally, we compared the pollinator communities of two newly developed neighborhoods - one using traditional, non-native plants and the other incorporating native plants into their landscape design. Pollinators were sampled during the spring, summer, and fall of 2022-2023 through visual counts of pollinators visiting open flowers. Blooming flowers for each plant species were counted concurrently to determine floral abundance. Compost addition at planting greatly increased both floral and pollinator abundance over two years, but regular irrigation did not have a clear impact. Native-based landscapes had significantly higher pollinator abundance and diversity when compared to traditional landscape designs. The results of this study show the benefits of incorporating native plants into suburban landscapes and their potential for supporting both water conservation and pollinator communities.

There are extensive amounts of psychological research that highlight the needs and experiences of racial ethnic minority populations in general and more specifically minority sexual identities and genders, also referred to as non-heteronormative populations (Alexeyeff & Besnier, 2014). However, there continues to be a lack of representation in the research of Polynesians and an even greater lack of representation of non-heteronormative Polynesians and their experiences (Allen et al., 2011). Māhū, a population of native Hawaiians who identify as non-heteronormative or third gender, are almost completely absent from scholarly work. This study examines the experience of self-identified māhū and how mental health professionals can support them. Qualitative interviews of six Native Hawaiians who identify as māhū were completed. Hermeneutic principles guided the interpretation and analysis of the interviews. Analysis of the interviews produced three main themes comprising seven subthemes. Primary themes included (a) the definition of māhū has changed over time and can be dependent on personal views through a cultural lens (b) the Hawaiian culture provides safety and protection for those who identify as māhū and (c) māhū have suggestions regarding the ways in which mental health practitioners (both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian) can serve this population.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Charles W. Sanders / On June 3, 1825, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and eleven representatives of the “Kanzas” nation signed a treaty ceding their lands to the United States. The first to sign was “Nom-pa-wa-rah,” the overall Kansa leader, better known as White Plume. His participation illustrated the racial chasm that had opened between Native- and Anglo- American worlds. The treaty was designed to ease pressures of proximity in Missouri and relocate multiple nations West of the Mississippi, where they believed they would finally be beyond the American lust for land. White Plume knew different. Through experience with U.S. Indian policy, he understood that land cessions only restarted a cycle of events culminating in more land cessions. His identity as a mixed-blood, by virtue of the Indian-white ancestry of many of his family, opened opportunities for that experience. Thus, he attempted in 1825 to use U.S. laws and relationships with officials such as William Clark to protect the future of the Kansa. The treaty was a cession of land to satisfy conflicts, but also a guarantee of reserved land, and significantly, of a “halfbreed” tract for mixed-blood members of the Kansa Nation. Mixed-blood go-betweens stood for a final few moments astride a widening chasm between Anglo-American and native worlds. It was a space that less than a century before offered numerous opportunities for mixed-blood people to thrive as intermediaries, brokers, traders, and diplomats. They appeared, albeit subtly, in interactions wherever white and Native worlds overlapped. As American Indians lost their economic viability and eventually their land, that overlap disappeared. White Plume’s negotiation of a reserve for his descendants is telling of a group left without a place. In bridging the two worlds, mixed-bloods became a group that by the mid-nineteenth century was defined as “other” by Anglo-American and Indians alike. This study is the first to track these evolving racial constructs and roles over both time and place. Previous studies have examined mixed-blood roles, but their identity is portrayed as static. This study contends that their roles changed with the proximity and viability of full-blood communities with which white officials had to negotiate.

Denna uppsats studerar podden Fredagspodden och dess sponsorer genom att göra en kvalitativ textanalys utifrån ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv. I uppsatsen undersöks huruvida det går att utläsa vilket innehåll som är sponsrat i podden. Hur diskuteras andra produkter och följer podden de lagar, regler och etiska riktlinjer som finns? Den kvalitativa textanalysen genomförs utifrån teoretiska perspektiv som dold marknadsföring, misstankens hermeneutik, parasocial interaktion och native advertising. Studiens resultat visar att det går att utläsa vilket innehåll som är sponsrat. Däremot kan detta variera i tydlighet mellan avsnitten och beroende på lyssnarens uppmärksamhet på innehållet. Vidare visar resultatet att programledarna pratar mycket om andra produkter de producerat och även produkter som deras eget produktionsbolag står bakom. I båda dessa fall visar studien att podden följer alla lagar och regler som finns men om detta överensstämmer med de etiska riktlinjerna kan diskuteras. I analysen förs en etisk diskussion som mynnar ut i en rekommendation om att lagstiftningen bör ändras och att det bör tillsättas en myndighet som granskar etiska övertramp i poddar. / This essay studies the podcast Fredagspodden and their sponsors by doing a qualitative text analysis with a hermeneutic perspective. The essay studies if it is possible to distinguish the sponsored content of the podcast, how the hosts discuss other products and if the podcast follow the laws, rules and ethical guidelines that exist. The qualitative text analysis is implemented with the theories stealth marketing, hermeneutic suspicion, parasocial interaction and native advertising. The result of the study shows that it is possible to distinguish the sponsored content of the podcast. However, the clarity varies depending on the episode and the amount of attention of the listener. The result also shows that the hosts often mention other products they have produced and also products that their own production has produced. I both if these cases the podcast follows all laws and rules but concerning whether this is ethically correct could be discussed. In the analysis an ethical discussion will be held which ends with the authors suggesting a change in the laws as well as the implementation of an authority with the mission to control ethical violations in podcasts.

Comanche Boys is a novel that was written and revised during Benjamin Honea’s time at the University of Kentucky. The novel focuses on Brandon, who lives in rural southwest Oklahoma, and how the arrival of two people in his life, one old and one new, changes his future irrevocably. Taking place at the intersections of modern American and Native American life, the narrative explores history, culture, mythology, faith, despair, racism, poverty, vengeance, and justice. The struggles of the past and present, the lost and reclaimed, propel and pervade the lives of the characters.

published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The goal of this research is to shed light on current developments in the field of Aboriginal Theatre Studies. This investigation encourages the reader to look again at the ways in which elements of Aboriginal culture are manifesting in contemporary theatre. Aboriginal theatre is increasingly visible in Canada and its cachet is growing with both artists and audiences. As a result, culturally specific worldviews and traditional practices are being introduced to mainstream Canadian theatre audiences. Through interviews with practicing Aboriginal artists like Floyd Favel, Yvette Nolan and Marie Clements and through an exploration of their individual theatrical processes, this research has attempted to identify how practicing Aboriginal artists consciously privilege Indigenous ways of knowing in their approaches to creating theatre for the contemporary stage.