Essays and Research Papers on Native Indian Studies

A 5 page discussion of the importance of memory to both historic and extant Native American cultures. Includes a technical discussion of the physiology of memory formation and extensive reference to 'Ceremonies of the Damned' by Adrian C. Louis, poetry about the injustices of life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and about the ...

A 5 page overview of the problems which are inherrent in with policies of forced cultural assimilation. The author reviews Doris Goodwin’s “Wait Till Next Year”, Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Killer” and Mary Patillo-Mcoy’s “Black Picket Fences”, to provide a basis for the argument that forced assimilation causes more problems in American society than it ...

8 pages in length. The purpose and importance of the trickster in Thomas King's Green Grass, Running Water is to parody the conventional – and more often than not wholly inaccurate – literary portrayal of Native Americans. That King's approach is saturated with a scathing wittiness alongside a biting reality speaks to the ...

A 4 page analysis of the short story by Sherman Alexie. This story portrays the impacts of white America on Native American welfare through the eyes of a homeless alcoholic Indian living on the streets of Spokane Washington. It details his quest to regain his connection with all that has been taken from ...

A 3 page consideration of how this notable Native American leader affected US Indian Policy. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 4 page analysis of a quote from Hanay Geiogamah’s play “Body Indian.” No additional sources cited.

This 8 page paper consists of a 2 page essay and a 6 page address of 9 specific questions regarding Puritan and Native American relationships. Two primary sources are extensively utilized.

A 4 page consideration of the question of “Who is a Native American?”. Using the book by Betty Reid, Ben Winton, and Gwendolen Gates, the author of this paper emphasizes the importance of land, language, sovereignty, and lineage in defining who is and who is not Native American. No additional sources are listed.

A 5 page review of the Book by author Gregory Evans Dowd. The author of this paper emphasizes the point that while many Native American leaders had hope of effecting a final victory over the whites that had invaded their lands, the "militant nativist" message delivered by prophets like Neolin (mid-eighteenth Century Deleware) and ...

A 3 page review of L.F.S. Upton's 1973 article on Native American policy in Canada. Upton presents the thesis that by 1814 Canada's indigenous peoples were no longer of any particular value to Canada. He then reviews the tactics that were employed to essentially rid the country of a perceived problem. No ...

An 8 page investigation of the problems currently being confronted by Canada's First Peoples. This paper traces those problems to poor relations between those people and the Canadian government. Bibliography lists 10 sources.

(36 pp). Although the motivating question for this discussion was to examine those factors, which motivate minority students, in choosing to look at American Indian students, I was surprised that I could not isolate "motivating factors" for this minority group. It seemed illogical that any given group would be too small for ...

A 4 page review of some of the major premises of this book. Compares the work to that of past and contemporary scholars and contends that this book is one of the few insights into the Iroquois people that is influenced more by fact than by the historical and personal factors confronting authors. ...

This 10 page paper begins with a brief historical overview of Native American Indians and some of the acts of oppression committed against them. Some statistical data are included in the descriptions and discussions of the culture. The types of Native American social issues a social worker might encounter when working with this population ...

This is a 5 page paper discussing the process of healing of the character Tayo in the novel “Ceremony” by Leslie Marmon Silko. Through Tayo’s interactions with three of main characters in the novel, namely Ku’oosh, Montano and Betonie, Tayo is able to understand that not only do the white man medicines not work on ...

An 8 page paper discussing the enduring allure of turquoise. Were we to have a national stone in the US, certainly turquoise would surely be it. It has been used from times of prehistory for trading and as talismans for good health and good fortune; it has fueled the latest craze of all things Southwestern. ...

A 15 page overview of this sacred reflection of Lakota culture. The author points out that the Sun Dance is intertwined with such cultural elements as the Sacred Pipe, Lakota oral history, and even the most simplistic aspects of their ceremonial lives. The Sun Dance, after all is a circular ceremony and one ...

An 11 page review of Polingaysi Qoyawayma’s “No Turning Back: A Hopi Indian Woman's Struggle to Live in Two Worlds”. This paper investigates the life struggle of a Hopi woman who as a child was one of the first Hopi children ever to be educated in white schools and who as an adult had ...

9 pages in length. The French ethnohistorian Nathan Wachtel has spoken of the "Vision of the Vanquished" in context of American Indians and their reaction to outsiders and the European attempt to conquer and control native peoples. The ways in which certain texts engage the question of native response to conquest and colonization ...

10 pages in length. Ever since Nevada's gambling Mecca began to turn a profit, other states have long attempted to gain similar revenues for their own communities. California and the Native American population are no different when it comes to tapping into the very lucrative aspect of casino gambling; however, the two entities have ...

A 10 page overview of the book by Tony Hillerman. Contrasts Hillerman’s style of objective journalism which is found in this book with that of his who-done-it mysteries with which we most often associate him. Weaving his unique blend of humor and objective reporting, in “The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other Indian ...

This is a 7 page paper discussing NAGPRA and the controversy over the Kennewick Man. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed in 1990 which outlined the conditions for the repatriation of Native American remains and artifacts from archeological projects, museums and agencies. Since it was passed, a great deal of ...

a 6 page research paper which examines the role of women in colonial Latin America. The colonial world of Latin America was intrinsically different from that of North America and this difference had a tremendous impact on the women of Latin America at that time. Although North America was rich in natural resources, the natives ...

The underpinnings of the Aztec Empire began with the defeats by the Mexica and the development of the Anahuac Valley, later known as the Valley of Mexico, and the integration of the Toltec people and the Aztecs into an integrated social and community structure. This 6 page paper provides a narrative view of the ...

6 pages in length. The writer discusses similarities and differences as they relate to the developmental trajectories of the basin of Mexico and the Maya Lowlands, as well as addresses Copan involvement in the Mayan collapse. Bibliography lists 2 sources.