Perspective of Traditional Elders on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation

This thesis presents a study of Native American traditional elders perspective of suicide on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Native American elders are viewed as spiritual leaders who have wisdom and knowledge. They are the ones people in the tribe turn to for guidance, healing, and information. This study looked at suicide causes and prevention focusing on a Native American Indian population. The data was gathered using an open-ended questionnaire. The study shows the themes that emerged based on the traditional elders responses. The themes were based on the number of responses to the questionnaire sections. The primary themes for causes of suicide were Bi-Cultural Strain, Addictions, Lack of Religion, and Lack of Family Unity. The primary themes for suicidal prevention were Traditional Teachings, Religion, and Family Communication. The findings generate a better understanding of the suicidal issues that traditional elders feel are affecting younger generations and how to alleviate these causes. This information can be beneficial to all Indian and non-Indian people

The Ethnological Use of a Health Questionnaire

In the summer of 1962 the population of Grand Portage Chippewa Indian Reservation was brought under review to determine the possible utility of the Cornell Medical Index Health Questionnaire (CMI) in the examination of psychosocial patterns. The use of the questionnaire was part of an investigation of the cultural concepts of health and disease in Grand Portage community. The CMI, therefore, was administered in the context of an ethnological study, and it should be considered in this inquiry as an instrument for studying the socio-cultural dimensions of disease rather than as a method of gathering traditional epidemiological data. This paper considers some of the findings and problems which arose during the use of a health questionnaire in Grand Portage reservation. The discussion may be divided into two sections: (1) a description of the instrument, some ethnological applications of the CMI from the literature, Grand Portage as an ethnological unit, results and comments; and (2) the CMI as a general concept of western culture, cross-cultural limitations to its use, and possible cross-cultural applications

Cultural aspects of preschool education: Ojibwa, Odawa and Potawatomi Indian children\u27s \u27\u27ways of knowing and communicating\u27\u27 in early intervention and Head Start programs

This research investigated what Anishinabe cultural values and beliefs are transmitted in the Head Start and Early Head Start oft he Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, and how Anishinabe values and beliefs affect instructional communications, teacher/student relationships, and the learning styles used by Native teachers in the educational process of Anishinabe children in the preschool situation. The study used an ethnographic approach to identify what informants would describe was their culture among the four Inter-Tribal Preschool programs. Observations completed in the classroom, home and community environment sought to discover how parents, teachers, children and staff in the preschool process use the culture. Outreach to interview Elders and grandparents from each of the four communities were an important component of this research in reconstructing the aboriginal culture and Tribal history

Cross-cultural comparison of the development of self-concept in Indian and white children / by Ford R. Cranwell. --

The present research was designed to investigate the differences between Indian and white children on; (A) the dimensions and attributes comprising self-concept; and (B) the developmental changes in self-concept. in this study, 71 Indian and 149 white children between the ages of 8 and 13 years were tested on three measures of self-concept; (1) the "Twenty Statements" Test (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954); (2) Mohr's (1978) transformation tasks; and (3) a modified version of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1969), In this investigation, a distinction was made between two aspects of self-concept; (1) figurative - which referred to the specific dimensions and attributes that comprise self-concept; and (2) operative - which referred to the underlying organization and structure of the dimensions and attributes that are influenced by development. In the present investigation, a number of figurative differences were found between the self-concept of Indian and white children on the modified version of the Piers-Harris, and on the "Twenty Statements" Test. ‘ The self-descriptions of Indian children contained a greater number of references made to; independence; family ties; emotion; sharing; and respect for traditional customs and beliefs, than white children. In addition, Indian children were less positive in their attitude toward formal education than white children. Furthermore, the self-description of Indian males contained fewer references made to possessions, while the self-descriptions of Indian females contained a greater number of references made to their relationship with nature. There were a number of changes with age in the operative aspect of self-concept. First, self-concept was found to become less externally orientated and more internally orientated. This trend was shown for both Indian and white children; however, based on the results from the transformation tasks, the progression from external orientation to internal orientation was developmentally delayed in Indian children. Finally, there was an increased emphasis on group membership for males only

The Effect Of Biculturalism On Self-Esteem In Northern Plains Native American College Students

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of biculturalism on self esteem in a sample of 51 Northern Plains Native American college students (29 females, 22 males). Subjects completed the Northern Plains Biculturalism Inventory (NPB1; Allen & French, 1994) and the Index of Self-Esteem (ISE; Hudson, 1982). Pearson Product- Moment correlations, independent t-tests, a multiple regression analysis, and an one-way analysis-of-variance was performed using the SPSS statistical package to examine, if any, the relationships between the NPBI subscales and the ISE total scores. This design tested the applicability of the Orthogonal Theory of Biculturalism (Oetting & Beauvais, 1990). It was predicted that higher combined scores on the NPBI subscales would predict lower ISE total scores. Results suggested a trend, bordering on statistical significance, indicating the NPBI subscales were weak-to-moderate predictors of self-esteem. The multicollinearity of the NPBI subscales requires caution in interpreting this and any other data which utilizes this scale. Recommendations for future research in Biculturalism Measurement and Native American Mental Health are discussed

Effects of Time of Day on Executive Function in native American Children and Non-Native American Children

Previous research has examined the performance of Native American children on cognitive tasks. The results from these studies indicated that Native American children performed poorer on these tests than Caucasian children, especially on the Verbal IQ scale. Research on cognitive tasks have found that time of day affects performance. One area of cognitive function, not yet examined for susceptibility to circadian influence, is that of executive functioning. The present study examined the effects of time of day on executive functioning in Native American children and Non-Native American children. The study sample consisted of thirty Native American children and fifty-four Caucasian children, between the ages of 7 and 13. The children were administered four different executive measures either at 8am or 3 pm. The results indicated that there were group differences cn the executive functioning tasks, where the Caucasian children performed better than the Native American children. Also, there were time of day differences, where the children tested in the afternoon performed better on the executive function tasks than the children tested in the morning. Future work in this area needs to obtain family social economic status and assess acculturation of the Native American children

Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of Research

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73804/1/j.1741-3737.2000.01070.x.pd

Cross-cultural and tribal-centred politics in American Indian studies: assessing a current split in American Indian literary scholarship and re-interpreting Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony and Louise Erdrich's Tracks

The thesis examines the current split in American Indian literary studies between cross-cultural and tribal-centred schools of criticism through analyses of Arnold Krupat's, Louis Owens's and Gerald Vizenor's scholarship, on one side, and Elizabeth Cook-Lynn's and Craig Womack's critical work, on the other. The conflicting critical positions, despite their growing importance, have not received a consistent analysis in the critical discourse. The implications of this controversy for the future of American Indian studies and for the ways in which American Indian literature may be studied and taught have not been examined in depth. Particularly, there is little recognition of the validity of tribal-centred contributions to the field. The research seeks to address such gaps in the current scholarship: it develops a synoptic discussion of the opposing critical positions, assesses their strengths and drawbacks, and proposes a possible resolution of the controversy. The thesis argues that crosscultural scholarship (in conjunction with postcolonial and postmodern theory) has contributed importantly to the understanding of discursive hybridity as a vital aspect of American Indian existence, writing and anticolonial resistance. Yet, cross-cultural criticism has sidelined questions regarding tribal sovereignty discourse and tribal centred identity politics. Tribal-centred scholarship is making an important, and still ignored and misunderstood contribution to American Indian studies because it assists the understanding of these two important categories in American Indian experience and decolonisation. Assessing contributions and omissions of either critical position, the research posits that the current critical split could and should be negotiated to enable a more accurate and comprehensive reading of the political discourses that shape American Indian experience, anticolonial struggles and writing. The research illustrates the controversy and its potential mediation through a re-interpretation of two "representative" American Indian novels: Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony and Louise Erdrich's Tracks. Part One of the research - chapters one, two and three - analyses the debate, while Part Two - chapters four and five - re-reads Ceremony and Tracks