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Northridge
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Native American
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- Creator:
- Armstrong, Neda Mae
- Description:
- Theatre practitioner and scholar, Eugenio Barba has spent much of his professional life questioning what is known and asking what is unknown. His instinct to look beyond his cultural norms propelled him and his students to obtain knowledge of other methods and practices; discoveries that would lead to the term, theatre anthropology. Utilizing aspects of Barba's theatre anthropology to examine transculturation of cultural memory in Native American performance, discovery of how performance has changed and evolved among Navajo Indians is analyzed. Barba's research provides a framework that enables analysis of Native American performance, and the effect of transculturation - melding methods and practices not familiar to Native culture. In his book, The Paper Canoe, Barba explains, "Historical understanding of theatre and dance is often blocked or rendered superficial because of neglect of the logic of the creative process, because of misunderstandings of the performer's empirical way of thinking, and because of an inability to overcome the confines established for the spectator" (11). This thesis observes and analyzes performance of cultural memory of primarily Navajo performers. This thesis charts the changing methods and techniques that that have enabled more Navajo individuals to perform their stories, and have enabled spectators - Native and non-Native - to experience the stories, dances, songs, crafts and arts by artists who are expressing their unique selves. In the first chapter, the ritual ceremony, Male Shooting Way, is analyzed; in the second chapter, poet Laura Tohe's writings and performances are analyzed; in the third chapter, inter-tribal events in the Southwest are researched and analyzed through attendance and participation. The journey of this thesis begins with a holy ceremony, expands slightly to an artist's work inside and outside her Native community and concludes with an analysis of Native performance taken to a larger and commercialized scale; a journey from the micro to the macro: starting small and intimate, evolving to connect with others and concluding with a look at today's multi-cultural performance practices that draw spectators and performers of diverse backgrounds and experiences.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- Theatre
- Creator:
- Wolf, Katie
- Description:
- My paper examines John Rollin Ridge's 1854 novel, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, which was the first published novel written by a Native American author. The story details the life of the infamous, fictionalized Mexican-American bandit, Joaquin Murieta, as he travels through California during the Gold Rush and commits crimes. While the focal point of this story is Joaquin's trajectory as a civilian to a criminal, the people he interacts with provide the most context about the discriminatory social institutions that were in place during this time period. Unfortunately, although Ridge is the first Native American writer to have published a novel, rather than challenging many of the Anglo-American ideals, he aligns his work with the dominant perspectives that subjugated a wide range of social groups. Specifically, Ridge's portrayal of minority cultures and women aligns with white patriarchal standards that demonstrate his awareness of his audience and, potentially, the prejudices he also maintained. Because Ridge's Cherokee family was involved in a treaty scandal that initiated Indian removal through the Trail of Tears, his background also contributes to complex questions that speculate about this author's detachment from his Native identity. I therefore examine The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta as a complex text that significantly initiates the category of published, Native American literature-though it is simultaneously problematic for its reliance on popular, sensationalist tropes that contribute to a narrative of marginalization and a conquering of minority characters in California. I also compare Ridge's novel to other interpretations of Joaquin Murietta folklore to explain how portrayals of Native Americans have been rewritten and reproduced in these stories.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Jackson, Credell
- Description:
- Purpose: The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 established certain standards for the placement of Native American/Indian children in foster care and adoptive homes. The goal was to prevent the breakup of Indian families (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services May, 2019.) This research study examined the current state of disproportionality and permanency outcomes for Native American children in Los Angeles county. Permanency in this study refers to a permanent home for a child who has entered the foster care system. Permanency can be achieved through reunification with a parent or parents, adoption, guardianship, or an alternative permanent placement. Hypothesis: Native American children in Los Angeles county achieve permanency at a rate that is disproportionate compared to the overall permanency rate of children in Los Angeles county. Methods: The California Child Welfare Indicators Project (CCWIP) gathers data on Indian/Native children in out of home care in the county of Los Angeles, other counties in California, and California as a whole. The CCWIP is a collaborative venture between the University of California at Berkeley and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and provides a comprehensive source of child welfare administrative data. It serves as a model for open-data and information dissemination because the data is available to the public through the CCWIP website. (University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare, n.d.) Data for this research project was collected from the CCWIP website for the three years of 1998, 2008, and 2018. This project also looked at historical data available to the public from government hearings held in 1977. Results: My research showed there is a lack of historical data available specifically about the experiences of Native American children in Los Angeles county from 1978 when ICWA was passed to 1998 when California began systematically collecting information and entering it into the Child Welfare Services / Case Management System (CMS/CWS) system. Data collected in the past 20 years shows Native American children continue to be placed in foster care at a disproportionate rate. Native American children are more likely to be placed with relatives or in Native American foster homes now compared to when ICWA was passed. Discussion: Social workers in the field of child welfare can use findings from this research to inform themselves about the history of Native American children in foster care and the adversity these children and families have faced in the past. These findings highlight the barriers child welfare social workers will face working with the Native American community due to the history of Native American children being placed in care at disproportionate rates.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- Social Work