It is easy to identify leaders as those individuals who served as the public face and voice of larger, well-recognized institutions or movements. LaDonna Harris is different. Her name is not as well known as others because she does not fit neatly within the Western conceptualization of leadership, which tends to privilege one person in a…

Of the 300 or so native languages once spoken in North America, only about 150 are still spoken--and the majority of those have just a handful of mostly elderly speakers. For most Native American languages, colleges and universities are their last great hope, if not their final resting place. People at a number of institutions across the country…

This performance guide provides students with an introduction to Lakota Sioux history and culture and to the dances performed by the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre. The Lakota Sioux believe that life is a sacred circle in which all things are connected, and that the circle was broken for them in 1890 by the massacre at Wounded Knee. Only in…

The Michif language, spoken by descendants of French Canadian fur traders and the Cree and Ojibwe Indians of western Canada and the northern United States, is a difficult and unique language because it uses French for nouns and Cree for verbs, therefore comprising two different sets of grammatical rules. This book employs historical research and…

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwas in Minnesota developed casinos and invested the huge revenue in two new schools that teach their language, history, and culture. The article provides a history of the development of the schools and several tribe members' opinions of the casinos and the way the revenue is used. (SM)

Following the passage of the 1972 Indian Self-Determination Act, the volume of tribal government records has exploded. This manual is a guide to establishing a system for the effective organization, maintenance, and disposition of such records. Section A discusses the major goals of a records management program, defines relevant terms, suggests…

Of all the states in the U.S., Maine is the only one that has American Indian tribal rePresentation in its legislature. The earliest records of Maine Indian representation are 1823 (Penobscot) and 1842 (Passamaquoddy), but Massachusetts' records indicate that Indian representation had probably been going on since or before the Revolution. Due to…

This is a report on the motives of North American Indians in holding their athletic games. Data were researched from "Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology" published between 1881 and 1933. Anthropologists, artifact collectors, artist-writers, and historians provided primary evidential sources for athletic game motivation.…

Describing the values and moral orientations associated with the Cannibal Dance Ceremony, this article emphasizes the Kwahiutl's belief in the free will to choose between good or selflessness and evil or selfishness. (JC)

Describing the Iroquoi's Maple Sugar Festival, this article details the symbolism of renewal, becoming, and regeneration celebrated by the Iroquoi as the sap from the maple trees begins to flow each year. The symbolic role of woman, the sweet sap itself, and man's fellow creatures are described. (JC)

Describing the early and late history of the Mandan tribe known as the Nu-Mah-ka-kee people, this article emphasizes the tribe's agricultural resourcefulness in the severe climate of the Dakotas and details survival problems brought on by the Sioux and the white fur traders. (JC)

Addressing the historiography of the removal of the Five Civilized Tribes in the early 1800's, this paper emphasizes the attitudes of both the government (state and Federal) and the American Indians in an effort to offer insights into the problem of causation. (Author/JC)

Captured in extraordinary detail in the early 19th century, when Wichita elders then living on the Red River could remember their birthplace on the Arkansas River, the tale reflects the anguish of a people fleeing for their lives, on foot, down the treeless grasslands of the Great Plains. (Author).