In my master thesis I deal the with specific creation of communities on the Internet. The aim of this essay is to contribute to the debate about the problematics of the Internet and its role in the postmodern society. The basic idea is that the physical and virtual world leads to formation of communities. I believe that association with communities can be considered as a natural human phenomenon. Internet is perceived as a space, which provides the opportunity for its users to organize themselves into virtual communities. The question is if the creation of virtual communities is the goal of postmodern society. On the one hand Internet can be seen as a space of strengthening personal individuality, because of freedom and authonomy it provides. But on the other hand communities could place demands on their members, thereby they represent certain limitation of thein member's individuality. In this thesis I verify the hypothesis that the Internet is a space that leads to formation of virtual communities at the expense of developing one's own individuality.

This project examines marriage and residence patterns on the Grand Ronde Reservation between 1856 and the early 1900s. It demonstrates that indigenous cultural patterns continued despite a colonial imagination that refused to see them. Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde continued to live in family groups much as they had in the pre-reservation era. They continued to exhibit patterns of marriage and kinship that were described in the ethnographies and by the earliest explorers in the Oregon area.

[pt] Neste momento que a humanidade atravessa uma mudança de época, diagnosticada de formas diferentes e até antagônicas, com diferentes cosmovisões que advogam sua verdade muitas vezes de forma absoluta, não raras vezes fundamentalista, as Igrejas Cristãs precisam responder ao desafio de falar de Deus, entendido esse falar de Deus , como anunciar o Deus revelado por Jesus Cristo, para o ser humano que vive em contexto urbano. A Pastoral Urbana é desafiadora na medida em que os agentes pastorais enfrentam uma diversidade cultural aguda. O confuso processo de globalização que procura produzir uma sociedade culturalmente homogênea, contraditoriamente tem produzido identidades múltiplas, com matrizes multiculturais. O horizonte cultural dos receptores da Palavra de Deus em ambiente urbano é cada vez mais complexo, afetado por um multiculturalismo agudo. Neste contexto urbano os agentes pastorais defrontam-se na contemporaneidade com pessoas vinculadas às tribos urbanas de rosto underground. O horizonte cultural destes receptores é a cultura underground. Anunciar a Boa Nova de Jesus Cristo para essas pessoas vinculadas às tribos urbanas de rosto underground implica que os agentes evangelizadores saibam distinguir claramente entre Fé e Cultura buscando discernir entre o que efetivamente pertence ao núcleo da Revelação e o que é marca histórico cultural. Sendo assim a questão de fundo desta tese está relacionada à sua proposta de construção de uma matriz evangelizadora de linha inculturada e a partir da mesma a construção de um projeto evangelístico-missionário para que as Igrejas Cristãs apresentem a Boa Nova de Jesus para a Cultura Underground. É fundamental que as Igrejas Cristãs abandonem a matriz evangelizadora de dominação e exclusão construída ao longo da história do Cristianismo. A organização da tese estruturou-se a partir de três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo, que corresponde ao enfoque sociocultural, propõe uma análise dos referenciais socioculturais com o auxílio multidisciplinar das Ciências Sociais. O segundo capítulo, correspondente ao enfoque teológico, analisa os referenciais teológicos em busca de uma elaboração dos conceitos de evangelização, missão e inculturação voltados para a construção de uma matriz evangelizadora inculturada. O terceiro capítulo refere-se ao enfoque pastoral. Propõe um projeto evangelístico-missionário junto às tribos urbanas de rosto underground. / [en] At the moment that humanity is going through a change of time, diagnosed in different ways and even antagonistic, with different worldviews that advocate its truth often absolutely, not rarely fundamentalist, Christian churches must respond to the challenge of presenting God, revealed by Jesus Christ, to the human being who lives in the urban context. Urban Ministry is challenging because the pastoral workers face an acute cultural diversity. The confusing process of globalization that seeks to produce a culturally homogenous society, paradoxically has produced multiple identities, with multicultural aspects. The cultural horizon of receivers of the Word of God in the urban environment is increasingly complex, affected by a sharp multiculturalism. In this urban context the pastoral workers face in contemporary times with people linked to underground urban tribes. The cultural horizon of these receptors is the underground culture. Announce the Good News of Jesus Christ to those people linked to underground urban tribes implies that pastoral agents know how to distinguish clearly between Faith and Culture seeking to discern between what actually belongs to the core of the Revelation and it s historical cultural brand. So the bottom line of this thesis is related to its propose to construct a inculturated evangelistic matrix and based in this matrix offer an evangelistic project that enable Christian Churches to present the Good News of Jesus to the Underground Culture. It is essential that the Christian churches leave the evangelistic matrix of domination and exclusion built throughout the history of Christianity. The thesis organisation was built around three chapters. The first chapter, nominated as the social-cultural approach, proposes an analysis of the socio-cultural references with the aid of multidisciplinary social sciences. The second chapter, corresponding to the theological approach, analyses the theological references in search of an elaboration of the concepts of evangelism, mission and inculturation meant for the construction of an evangelistic inculturated matrix. The third chapter refers to the pastoral approach. Proposes an evangelistic-missionary project in underground urban environments.

Avant-propos: La résolution de conflits s’est installée dans les cursus universitaires comme une discipline à part entière sinon comme une orientation au sein de plusieurs sciences sociales. En effet, ce champ d’étude fait de plus en plus l’objet de réflexions en sciences politiques, en sociologie, en anthropologie, etc, et ce, de par l’interdisciplinarité des questionnements qui en relèvent. Toutefois, la dimension religieuse, souvent considérée comme source de conflits, est quasi inexistante lorsqu’il est question d’approches de résolution. Nous nous proposons donc d’examiner la solha, une pratique proche orientale au sein de laquelle le fait religieux est une composante essentielle à la réconciliation escomptée. Note concernant la translittération: Les termes provenant de l’arabe feront l’objet d’une translittération phonétique basée sur le français. Notez que les translittérations en langue française sont différentes de celle en langue anglaise. Par exemple, le terme solha trouvera son équivalent anglais dans le terme sulha (d’où la différence d’orthographe entre le contenu de cette étude et les citations qui proviennent d’articles anglophones). De plus, notez que le genre (féminin, masculin) des termes translittérés reprendra celui de la langue d’origine, l’arabe. Ainsi, solha sera féminin, jaha aussi, etc… Finalement, pour des raisons de clarté, les termes translittérés seront tous en italique dans le texte. / La solha (« réconciliation » en arabe) est une méthode de résolution de conflits millénaire provenant du milieu tribal proche oriental. Bien au delà du simple règlement de litige, cette réconciliation vise à rétablir l’harmonie au sein des tissus sociaux déchirés. Habilitée à traiter toutes sortes de conflits, de la simple forme pénale aux cas criminels les plus complexes (cycles de vengeances et de vendetta), la solha s’est adaptée à des milieux très différents. La cause principale de son efficacité semble être l’universalité de ses principes fondamentaux (le pardon, la nécessité d’une réinsertion sociale du coupable, la satisfaction des victimes, etc.) ainsi que l’adéquation de ses rituels de réconciliation aux mœurs des populations qui la pratiquent. Ce mémoire cherche à approfondir notre compréhension de cette approche traditionnelle afin d’enrichir nos connaissances et moyens en termes de résolution de conflits contemporains. A cette fin, seront isolés les éléments fondamentaux qui font l’efficacité de cette méthode. Ceux-ci constitueront un modèle théorique minimal de la solha qui permettra d’entamer, à ce stade de l’étude, une réflexion quant à la possibilité de transposer de tels acquis à des milieux d’interventions nouveaux. / The sulha (“reconciliation” in Arabic) is a thousand years old conflict resolution method used in the near east tribal world. Far beyond a simple mediation, its objective is a solid reconstruction of the destroyed social network. Habilitated to deal with all kinds of conflicts, from simple penal cases to long lasting vendettas, the sulha process has proven its usefulness in very different social milieu. The most evident reason for this success has been its dual composition: fundamental principles that seem universal (forgiveness, social reinsertion of the guilty, satisfaction of the victims, etc.) and adaptive rituals that fit into people’s customs. This thesis seeks to enrich our knowledge and means in terms of conflict resolution by trying to reveal the mechanisms that make this method so efficient. The main objective is to compose a basic theoretical model of the sulha that would open a reflection about the possibility of transposing this model to new intervention contexts.

The following account is written to give the history of the Indians who have at one time inhabited southeast Texas, and of those who still inhabit it. The account begins with the history of each tribe as far back as any facts can be found concerning them and continues through their stay in Texas.

Key Words Polabian Slavs, Polabian area, Obodrite, Populus, Gens, Nacio, State, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Obotritic confederation tribes Abstract The thesis analyses and interprets the key events in the state-forming process of so-called Obotritic confederation tribes in 789 - 1178. It focuses on the analysis of written sources, which serve as a basis for three models of inter-tribal units in Polabian area. The thesis argues against the traditional evolutionistic point of view, which considers the confederation tribes to be the predecessors of early medieval states. The main focus of the analysis is put on the starting point form which the Obotritic state-forming process originated. The main question is whether the Obodrite, upon their first appearance in written history, were more federation of tribes or one large tribe, whose break-up at the turn of 9th and 10th century started a new phase of the process. For the next period, the thesis introduces unique model of so-called tribal state, created by the combined effects of various factors, such as location, political situation, social changes in 11th and 12th century etc. The inner and outer factors that lead to the break-up of the Obotritic tribe state in 1270s are discussed in the same manner. The last part of the thesis is an analysis of later...

On March 10, 1957, the United States Army Corps of Engineers completed The Dalles Dam and inundated Celilo Falls, the oldest continuously inhabited site in North America and a cultural and economic hub for Indigenous people. In the negotiation of treaties between the United States, nearly one hundred years earlier, Indigenous leaders reserved access to Columbia River fishing sites as they ceded territory and retained smaller reservations. In the years before the dam's completion, leaders, many of who were the descendants of earlier treaty signatories, attempted to stop the dam and protect both fishing sites from the encroachment of state and federal regulations and archaeological sites from destruction. This study traces the work of Wilson Charley, a Native fisherman, a member of the Yakama Nation's Tribal Council, and great-grandson of one of the 1855 treaty signatories. More broadly, this study places Indigenous actors on a twentieth-century Columbia River while demonstrating that they played active roles in the protest and management of areas affected by The Dalles Dam. Using previously untapped archival sources--a substantial cache of letters--my analysis illustrates that Charley articulated multiple strategies to fight The Dalles Dam and regulations to curtail Native's treaty fishing rights. Aiming to protect the 1855 treaty and stop The Dalles Dam, Charley created Native-centered regulatory agencies. He worked directly with politicians and supported political candidates, like Richard Neuberger, that favored Native concerns. He attempted to build partnerships with archaeologists and landscape preservationists concerned about losing the area's rich cultural sites. Even after the dam's completion, he conceptualized multiple tribal economic development plans that would allow for Natives' cultural and economic survival. Given the national rise of technological optimism and the willingness for the federal government to terminate its relationship with federally recognized tribes, Charley realized that taking the 1855 treaty to court was too risky for the political climate of the 1950s. Instead, he framed his strategies in the language of twentieth-century conservation, specifically to garner support from a national audience of non-natives interested in protecting landscapes from industrial development. While many of these non-native partners ultimately failed him, his strategies are noteworthy for three reasons. First, he cast the fight to uphold Native treaty rights in terms that were relevant to non-natives, demonstrating his complex understanding of the times in which he lived. Second, his strategies continued an ongoing struggle for Natives to fish at their treaty-protected sites, thereby documenting an overlooked period between the fishing rights cases of the turn of the twentieth century and the 1960s and 1970s. Charley left a lasting legacy that scholars have not recognized because many of his visionary ideas came to fruition decades later. Finally, my analysis of Charley's letters also documents personal details that afford readers the unique perspective of one Indigenous person navigated through a tumultuous period in the Pacific Northwest and Native American history.

The Kwelth Tahlkie Culture and Heritage Board (KTC&HB) of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) have made it a priority to revitalize one of the languages which historically has been associated with being a Grand Ronde Indian-Chinook Jargon, referred to as činuk wawa 'Chinook talk' or simply činuk. The purpose of the present study was to observe the language planning process as executed by the KTC&HB. Initial guiding questions were: (i) What stages is the KTC&HB going through in the process of planning for činuk revitalization? (ii) How do these efforts compare with theory and actual practice in other settings? (iii) How will the KTC&HB achieve their goals, and how successful will they be? The researcher participated in the language planning process, functioning as a linguistic consultant. From January through May 1998, over 150 hours were spent on location in Grand Ronde, working primarily with the Tribe's language specialist to develop materials on činok. The language planning efforts have resulted in the production of a variety of language materials, which are, at this point, still in draft form. They include an orthography-developed to increase readability and learnability of the language, a grammar—including both syntactic and phonological descriptions, and a dictionary—based on a wide variety of sources on činuk. Participant observation reveals that there is support for the language planning efforts in GR at a number of levels: the Tribal Council, the KTC&HB, and the činuk lu?lu,, a group often to fifteen tribal members committed to learning the language. This group will assist the language specialist in future language planning decisions. The success of the early stages of language planning in this case can be attributed, at least in part, to the Native locus of control, which has been established. Clearly defined and articulated relationships with outside linguists will also contribute to the success of this case. The cinok lu?lu is off to a good start, as well, with highly motivated community members striving to learn the language quickly.

My dissertation, “Africans, Cherokees, and the ABCFM Missionaries in the Nineteenth Century: An Unusual Story of Redemption,” assesses the experience of American missionaries in the Cherokee nation and in Western Africa during the nineteenth century. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), founded in 1810, was the first successful foreign missionary society in the U.S., and its campaign among the Cherokees served as springboard for its activities in “Western Africa”—Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and South Africa. Although the Cherokees and the West Africans were two different peoples, the ABCFM used the same method to Christianize them: the Lancasterian method with which the missionaries planned to “civilize” the Cherokees and West Africans before Christianizing them. Scholars such as William McLoughlin and Theda Purdue studied the missionary perspective and the Cherokee perspective as separate entities and convincingly maintained that the Cherokees embraced the ABCFM’s civilization and Christianization program partly to relieve the pressures on their lands and partly to adapt to the cultural pressures of their times. However, as my dissertation argues, the conversion story of the Cherokees takes a different turn if told simultaneously from the missionary and the Cherokee perspectives. Regarding the West African experience, authors such as Lamin Sanneh and Richard Gray have recently exposed the missionary and African sides of the stories with new questions that had been waiting to be asked for a long time. My dissertation, taking a unique comparative perspective, reveals first that West Africans did not face the same pressures as those faced by the Cherokees, yet, they still embraced the ABCFM’s civilization and Christianization program, though with a lesser sense of urgency and with more assertiveness than did the Cherokees despite the white missionaries’ racism. More importantly, by way of a method I call parallel agency, my dissertation offers a revisionist interpretation of the history of missions, which has traditionally emphasized the power of the white missionaries by calling into question the very assumption that the white missionaries had significantly more power than did their Cherokee and African converts.

La solha (« réconciliation » en arabe) est une méthode de résolution de conflits millénaire provenant du milieu tribal proche oriental. Bien au delà du simple règlement de litige, cette réconciliation vise à rétablir l’harmonie au sein des tissus sociaux déchirés. Habilitée à traiter toutes sortes de conflits, de la simple forme pénale aux cas criminels les plus complexes (cycles de vengeances et de vendetta), la solha s’est adaptée à des milieux très différents. La cause principale de son efficacité semble être l’universalité de ses principes fondamentaux (le pardon, la nécessité d’une réinsertion sociale du coupable, la satisfaction des victimes, etc.) ainsi que l’adéquation de ses rituels de réconciliation aux mœurs des populations qui la pratiquent. Ce mémoire cherche à approfondir notre compréhension de cette approche traditionnelle afin d’enrichir nos connaissances et moyens en termes de résolution de conflits contemporains. A cette fin, seront isolés les éléments fondamentaux qui font l’efficacité de cette méthode. Ceux-ci constitueront un modèle théorique minimal de la solha qui permettra d’entamer, à ce stade de l’étude, une réflexion quant à la possibilité de transposer de tels acquis à des milieux d’interventions nouveaux. / The sulha (“reconciliation” in Arabic) is a thousand years old conflict resolution method used in the near east tribal world. Far beyond a simple mediation, its objective is a solid reconstruction of the destroyed social network. Habilitated to deal with all kinds of conflicts, from simple penal cases to long lasting vendettas, the sulha process has proven its usefulness in very different social milieu. The most evident reason for this success has been its dual composition: fundamental principles that seem universal (forgiveness, social reinsertion of the guilty, satisfaction of the victims, etc.) and adaptive rituals that fit into people’s customs. This thesis seeks to enrich our knowledge and means in terms of conflict resolution by trying to reveal the mechanisms that make this method so efficient. The main objective is to compose a basic theoretical model of the sulha that would open a reflection about the possibility of transposing this model to new intervention contexts. / Avant-propos: La résolution de conflits s’est installée dans les cursus universitaires comme une discipline à part entière sinon comme une orientation au sein de plusieurs sciences sociales. En effet, ce champ d’étude fait de plus en plus l’objet de réflexions en sciences politiques, en sociologie, en anthropologie, etc, et ce, de par l’interdisciplinarité des questionnements qui en relèvent. Toutefois, la dimension religieuse, souvent considérée comme source de conflits, est quasi inexistante lorsqu’il est question d’approches de résolution. Nous nous proposons donc d’examiner la solha, une pratique proche orientale au sein de laquelle le fait religieux est une composante essentielle à la réconciliation escomptée. Note concernant la translittération: Les termes provenant de l’arabe feront l’objet d’une translittération phonétique basée sur le français. Notez que les translittérations en langue française sont différentes de celle en langue anglaise. Par exemple, le terme solha trouvera son équivalent anglais dans le terme sulha (d’où la différence d’orthographe entre le contenu de cette étude et les citations qui proviennent d’articles anglophones). De plus, notez que le genre (féminin, masculin) des termes translittérés reprendra celui de la langue d’origine, l’arabe. Ainsi, solha sera féminin, jaha aussi, etc… Finalement, pour des raisons de clarté, les termes translittérés seront tous en italique dans le texte.