Racism In Indian Country

Resource added for the Psychology (includes Sociology) 108091 courses.

This book assesses the controversies over the Washington NFL team name as a window into other recent debates about the use of Native American mascots for professional and college sports teams. Fenelon explores the origin of team names in institutional racism and mainstream society’s denial of the impact of four centuries of colonial conquest. Fenelon’s analysis is supported by his surveys and interviews about the "Redskins" name and Cleveland "Indians" mascot "Chief Wahoo." A majority of Native peoples see these mascots as racist, including the National Congress of American Indians—even though mainstream media and public opinion claim otherwise. Historical analysis divulges these terms as outgrowths of "savage" and "enemy icon" racist depictions of Native nations. The book ties the history of conquest to idealized claims of democracy, freedom, and "honoring" sports teams.

This book seeks to address a significant void in the scholarship on policing Native American communities. It is the first book to explore Native Americans' perspectives on the ways in which Native American communities--especially those in and around reservations--are both over-and underpoliced in ways that perpetuate both the criminalization and the victimization of Native Americans as nations and as individuals. Drawing upon a series of interviews conducted with 278 Native Americans from seven states, Policing Race and Place in Indian Country uncovers patterns of hate crime against Native Americans as well as a general dissatisfaction with the nature of law enforcement in their communities. Participants reported activities ranging from willful blindness to Native American victimization at one extreme, to overt forms of police harassment and violence at the other. What emerges from these descriptions is the recognition that the patterns observed by the participants of the study are an extension of a lengthy history of systemic racism against Native Americans. Policing Race and Place in Indian Country is one of the first books to address the policing of Native American communities. While there are several studies that investigate the racialized nature and context of policing, most only refer to Native Americans in passing. By focusing solely on the Native American community, the book is appealing to scholars writing on race and policing or criminal justice.

The story of American Indians is an arguably sad and tragic tale of the conquest, degradation, oppression and near extermination of the Native peoples of North America, all driven by a virulent and violent racism that courses through U.S. history. From slavery, genocide and removal from their traditional ecologies to incarceration on barren and isolated reservations, cultural annihilation, disease and despair, they have suffered much since the arrival of European colonists. And yet, they have endured and even triumphed, albeit in unexpected and surprising ways. In We Remain: Race, Racism and the Story of the American Indian, Keith Burich meets Native people where they live, sharing their narrative in a profoundly stirring way. An emeritus professor of history at Canisius College, Burich uses his experiences and observations to trace the poverty, deprivation, discrimination and inequities of the present to the racial hatred and violence that invaded North America in 1500. Having spent 25 years in Indian Country, he has seen the worst of the Indians' plight. Injustices notwithstanding, he has likewise witnessed firsthand the beauty, resilience, courage and compassion of America's First People. We Remain is a must-read for anyone who wants to better comprehend the power of the human spirit and the unique and tumultuous history of the United States.

Slavery existed in North America long before the first Africans arrived at Jamestown in 1619. For centuries, from the pre-Columbian era through the 1840s, Native Americans took prisoners of war and killed, adopted, or enslaved them. Christina Snyder's pathbreaking book takes a familiar setting for bondage, the American South, and places Native Americans at the center of her engrossing story. Indian warriors captured a wide range of enemies, including Africans, Europeans, and other Indians. Yet until the late eighteenth century, age and gender more than race affected the fate of captives. As economic and political crises mounted, however, Indians began to racialize slavery and target African Americans. Native people struggling to secure a separate space for themselves in America developed a shared language of race with white settlers. Although the Indians' captivity practices remained fluid long after their neighbors hardened racial lines, the Second Seminole War ultimately tore apart the inclusive communities that Native people had created through centuries of captivity. Snyder's rich and sweeping history of Indian slavery connects figures like Andrew Jackson and Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe with little-known captives like Antonia Bonnelli, a white teenager from Spanish Florida, and David George, a black runaway from Virginia. Placing the experiences of these individuals within a complex system of captivity and Indians' relations with other peoples, Snyder demonstrates the profound role of Native American history in the American past.

"An unforgettable work of art."—The National Post Saul Indian Horse is dying. Tucked away in a hospice high above the clash and clang of a big city, he embarks on a marvellous journey of imagination back through the life he led as a northern Ojibway, with all its sorrows and joys. With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he's sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles obdurate racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement. Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man. Drawing on his great-grandfather's mystical gift of vision, Saul Indian Horse comes to recognize the influence of everyday magic on his own life. In this wise and moving novel, Richard Wagamese shares that gift of magic with readers as well.

The Washington Redskins franchise remains one of the most valuable in professional sports, in part because of its easily recognizable, popular, and profitable brand. And yet “redskins” is a derogatory name for American Indians. The number of grassroots campaigns to change the name has risen in recent years despite the current team owner’s assertion that the team will never do so. Franchise owners counter criticism by arguing that the team name is positive and a term of respect and honor that many American Indians embrace. The NFL, for its part, actively defends the name and supports it in court. Prominent journalists, politicians, and former players have publicly spoken out against the use of “Redskins” as the name of the team. Sportscaster Bob Costas denounced the name as a racial slur during a halftime show in 2013. U.S. Representative Betty McCollum marched outside the stadium with other protesters––among them former Minnesota Vikings player Joey Browner––urging that the name be changed. Redskins: Insult and Brand examines how the ongoing struggle over the team name raises important questions about how white Americans perceive American Indians, about the cultural power of consumer brands, and about continuing obstacles to inclusion and equality. C. Richard King examines the history of the team’s name, the evolution of the term “redskin,” and the various ways in which people both support and oppose its use today. King’s hard-hitting approach to the team’s logo and mascot exposes the disturbing history of a moniker’s association with the NFL—a multibillion-dollar entity that accepts public funds—as well as popular attitudes toward Native Americans today.

"Two hundred and ten years into the constitutional existence of our federal republic, American Indians and non-Indians are still treated as if they were citizens of different countries. Thanks to Federal Indian Policy, the United States is not one country under one law but hundred of nations with a confusing array of laws, many of them based entirely on race. Since the early 1970s, there has been an organized movement to establish 'tribal sovereignty' and 'self-determination' for American Indian tribes. The goal: to distance two million Americans--Native Americans-- from the rest of the population and fragment the country along racial lines. Federal Indian Policy-- and an increasing number of lawsuits--is helping those behind this movement to reach their separatist goal, while activist courts rule in their favor and Congress looks the other way. Will the establishment of this unconstitutional, legalized racism continue unchallenged until it's too late?"--Back cover.