A study was conducted to examine the relationship between specific family variables and measures of cognitive abilities for preschool and young school-aged children of an American Indian ancestry. More specifically, the study used two cognitive measures, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and the Embedded Figures Test, and examined the influence that 23 family variables and cultural background (acculturation) had on measures of spatial abilities. Past studies suggested that American Indian children, as a group, perform above the standardization sample on measures of visual-spatial skills, have higher simultaneous processing skills, and are more field independent. It was anticipated that at least 40% of the children tested in this study would have statistically significant discrepancy scores in favor of the Simultaneous Scale and have an effect size of .40 or above on subtests reported to measure visual-spatial skills. It was further hypothesized that the children of this study would be more field independent (reach an effect size of .67 or higher) and that the Embedded Figures Tests would have correlations of r = .50 or above with the total Simultaneous Scale, Magic Windows, Gestalt Closure, Triangles, and Spatial Memory. Results found that 40% of this sample did not obtain significant discrepancy scores, and only Gestalt Closure for the preschool children and Spatial Memory for the school-aged children reached an effect size of .40. In addition, only school-aged children were considered more field independent, and field independence was associated with the total Simultaneous Scale, the Mental processing Composite, the Achievement Scale, and the following subtests: Triangles, Arithmetic, and Reading/Understanding. A principal component analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure of the Acculturation Scale (the Rosebud Personal Opinion Survey). This analysis found that the survey lacked empirical support for the dimensions suggested by the authors and only the first component, Language-Ancestry, was a useful indicator of acculturation. Nine family variables and the Language-Ancestry component were used as independent variables and accounted for or predicted the visual-spatial scores of American Indian children. None of the variables used reached a significance level of p ≤ .0056

This is a creative thesis comprised of three short stories centered on the experiences of three Navajo protagonists living on the Navajo reservation. The short stories fit within the field of Native American Literature and highlight issues of mortality, sexuality, and ceremony. The stories illustrate the experiences of modern-day Navajo youth grappling to understand how to connect traditional knowledge with modernity. The three stories featured within this thesis are offered as a way to understand these challenges. Each protagonist is faced with an issue of morality, sexuality, or ceremony, and each reach differing conclusions about these topics within their lives. This collection is comprised of three short stories entitled “Dormant,” “Under the Porch Way,” and “The Missing Morningstar.” The first story, “Dormant,” is about a young female Navajo protagonist and her budding relationship with her math teacher. She has a pregnancy scare and considers the meaning of motherhood and her sexuality. The second story, “Under the Porch Way,” is about an adolescent Navajo boy who is being haunted by his father’s ghost, and has a traditional ceremony done, but it fails to work. Instead, after attempting to have sex with his girlfriend, Jenni, under the porch, he finds that his father’s ghost has left him. The final story “The Missing Morningstar,” is about a young two-spirit woman whose romantic interest is kidnapped and left for dead in a ditch. The protagonist considers her sexuality and traditional Navajo identity.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Lisa Nelson-Majewski, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education, presented on October 30, 2015, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: THE ASSOCIATION OF RESILIENCE WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AMONG MEMBERS OF THE COWLITZ INDIAN TRIBE MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Dhitinut Ratnapradipa Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and among the American Indian population (AHA, 2012; IHS, 2013). The concept of resilience is receiving increasing attention in chronic conditions. Resilience has been shown to play a protective role in patients with chronic disease conditions including osteoarthritis (Wright, Zautra, & Going, 2008), breast and ovarian cancer (Brix et.al., 2008; Costanzo et. Al., 2009) and diabetes (DeNisco, 2010; Yi, Vataliano, Smith, Yi, & Weinger, 2008; Yi-Frazier et al., 2010). This study follows the paradigm shift from research focusing on risk factors of cardiovascular disease, to explore if resilience is significantly different among study participants of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe without a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease versus tribal participants with heart disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between resilience and cardiovascular health status, as well the relationship between resilience and the top six modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease, within the members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. Method. Following IRB approval, enrolled tribal members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, over the age of 18 years completed two survey tools. The tool utilized measure resilience this study is the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The second survey tool, including demographics and questions to assess cardiovascular risk factors, is the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The cardiovascular risk factor questions include the same BFRSS questions utilized from the 2009-2010 BRFSS tribal questionnaires. Results. Resilience and six selected cardiovascular disease risk factors were surveyed from a total of 201 enrolled members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe after informed consent obtained. Statistical analysis, with an alpha level of .05, revealed statistical difference between resilience and members with CVD versus resilience of members without CVD, (F (1,199) = 16.563, p = .000, ) (Table 5). All constructs of resilience impact overall resilience, while the second construct of resilience (trust in one’s instincts, tolerance of negative affect and strengthening effects of stress, emotional/cognitive control under pressure), had the most impact on overall resilience for those without CVD (r =0.909) (Table 6). HTN and resilience versus no HTN and resilience and resilience scores between those with normal cholesterol versus resilience scores of those with hyperlipidemia were the only two risk factors for CVD significantly impacted by resilience p = .049 and p = .020 respectively (Table 11; Table 13). While there was not a statistically significant difference (t (657) = -0.985) between Cowlitz Indian (N=201) resilience scores and the general population (N=458) (Davidson, 2003) (Table 22). The Cowlitz Indians (N=201) overall resilience score was statistically lower (t(359) = -3.12) than another federally recognized tribe (N = 160) Goins, Gregg, and Fiske (2012) (Table 21). Conclusion. Resilience is significantly different in members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe who have not been diagnosed with CVD versus resilience scores of those self-identified as having CVD. Trust in one’s instincts, tolerance of negative affect and strengthening effects of stress, and emotional/cognitive control under pressure, was the construct of resilience that has the most impact on overall Cowlitz Indian resilience scores. Cowlitz participants with hypertension and hyperlipidemia, two of the six risk CVD factors evaluated, had statistical significance between the resilience scores versus the participants without the presence of these CVD risk factors.

This is a public history study of statues and monuments, and the stories they commemorate. “Teedyuscung, a Man, a Statue” examines, specifically, Native American statue and monument commemorations. I begin with the Tedyuscung Statue in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley. In examining this statue and story surrounding it, I ask: Who does this statue represent? How does the Tedyuscung Statue affect passerby’s collective memory of Native American cultures and peoples? And how does the Tedyuscung Statue facilitate the creation and construction of an artificial, imagined, and colonized Indigenous space and place in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley? In answering these questions, I examine how and why Teedyuscung, the man, was cast as an actor in the Wissahickon Valley’s history. I transition next into a broad study of Native American commemorative statue and monuments, such as: The Statue of Tamanend, Philadelphia, PA; The Nez Perce 1831 St. Louis Delegation Memorial monument, St. Louis, MO; the Kindred Spirits sculpture, County Cork, Ireland; and the Dignity: Of Earth and Sky sculpture, Chamberlain, SD. Through examining these studies, I answer several questions: How are Native American peoples represented in commemorative statues and monuments today? And further, do all Native American commemorations relay similar forms of Indigenous silence and erasure? This thesis, ultimately, reveals that statues and monuments can reclaim Indigenous space and place, narrating the stories Native Americans seek to tell. And, that statues and monuments can, conversely, create imagined spaces that silence Native Americans stories and histories. / History

This diploma thesis deals with the study of selected principles of the spirituality of North American Indians, which it see as inspiration for the education and personal development. The theoretical part examines the basic aspects of Native American spirituality and lifestyle as part of the phenomenon called Indianism. It also takes into account the issue of the origin and development of the popularity of Indianism in our territory and its practical forms in the Euro- Indian movements. Particular attention is paid to the woodcraft movement and its educational dimension. The practical part contains research on the spiritual and educational practice of Indianism in woodcraft. The research is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with selected woodcrafters who have undergone this education or apply it to the education of new generations. The results of the research confirmed the living practice of Native American spiritual and educational ideas in wodcraft. This reveals the practice of Indianism in our territory, which is devoted by individuals living in the otherwise normal cultural conditions of our world.

Mattanock Town's Restoration Plan is a science-based restoration process that evaluates the site's history, the tribal history, and the most current research to maximize native habitats, enhance coastal resilience, and reconnect the Nansemond people to the local river. Restoration priorities include increasing native plant species, incorporating oyster habitat, and addressing erosion. This plan details how synthesizing existing and new physical, biological, and cultural information can help the Nansemond Indian Nation prioritize projects that benefit their community and the surrounding environment.

Lanier and Huff-Corzine's (2006) article "American Indian Homicide: A County-Level Analysis Utilizing Social Disorganization Theory" has been referred to as a highly influential piece of literature on American Indian homicide. The study looked at American Indian homicide victimization incidents by county between 1986 and 1992 in the continental United States using the framework of social disorganization theory. Despite the violent crime drop in the 1990s, little research exists that examines current dynamics of American Indian homicide. This study provides an updated replication of Lanier and Huff-Corzine (2006) by examining the impact of social disorganization on American Indian homicide victimization between 2006 and 2012. Results differ from Lanier and Huff-Corzine (2006). Reasons for the different outcomes are explored and implications for future research are discussed.

In this mixed-methods community-based participatory research project I examine the ways in which sense of place (or lack thereof) is developed for Native Americans living in the urban Boston area, and the implications this has for physical health and social well-being. Through in-depth interviews, ethnographic data, and community photo-voice, I argue that a triad of Place, Stress, and Identity configure and act upon the bodies of urban Natives in complex ways, creating a paradoxical sense of place in the city. Each analytical chapter examines particular interactions of this triad: place as a physical and socially-experienced phenomenon, the interactions of place and stress, the process of "place-making", and social stress surrounding “urban Native” identity. Developing a framework of “place/body multiple” (Eyles and Williams 2007, Scheper-Hughes and Lock 1987; see background chapter), these chapters build toward the argument that, in contrast to “sense of place” literature that focuses on reservations (see Background Chapter), urban “sense of place” operates within what I term a “landscape of distress.” Forming an urban “sense of place” is beneficial to overall well-being because it leads to support networks and creates a proxy for “home”, building on current literature on social support and anthropological literature on Indigenous place-making. However, it is also detrimental to health because it creates an identity that is inherently separate from tribe and traditional land, creating both social and physiological distress.

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This work investigates the American-Indian policy between 1790 and 1810 through the vehicle of the American government, focusing on the 'white, sincere, religious-minded men who believed intensely in both American expansion and positive relations with the Indians.' While Indian reaction comprises an important piece of the native-white cultural encounter in the West, this study questions if scholars have the ability to address this problem in more than a very general way. In truth, each tribe was unique and different in their reaction to white legislation and settlement. There was no pan-Indian movement against settlement, and for the same reason, there is no pan-Indian history. However, it is possible to write of the white Americans as more of a single entity. They were closely united both in outlook and in goals. They had a single program which they meant to apply to all the Indians. This work will attempt to assess the piece of this policy regarding the fur trade and the Northwest. This study also links the Republican policies of Thomas Jefferson with the platforms of his federalist predecessors. Thorough investigation reveals choices in Western settlement were made by both government officials and settlers. Settlement of the Western frontier did not follow a predetermined path; private settlement and frontier violence were not predestined. Many junctures existed where it could have shifted. Lewis and Clark can be used as a case study with which to assess Jeffersonian policy. First, the men followed direct orders from Jefferson, instructed to act as the 'forward voice' of his anticipated policy. Second, the men recorded almost the entirety of the voyage, and thoroughly captured the initial contact between whites and natives. Moreover, this contact occurred in region without previous contact with whites. As such, the Lewis and Clark expedition affords a unique opportunity to eliminate some of the inherent biases which were amassed during the colonial period of contact, both with the British and the American colonies.