Remaining 'authentic' in a changing world

Remaining 'authentic' in a changing world

Posted: February 22, 2008 by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today

Authentic Indians'' are for many non-American Indians only those who look and dress like the stereotypical image of a Plains Indian - stoic and vanishing. There is a tendency for the general public - and often sympathetic foreigners - to believe that the only true Indians are those who greeted the Mayflower in 1620, and continue to live in the same way.

Famous anthropologists like Alfred Kroeber, a major researcher of California Indian tribes, and Franz Boas, the father of American anthropology, argued there were no authentic Indians in the United States after 1850. These men did not study the Indian communities they found during their field research, but tried to reconstruct Indian communities as they existed in the past, before significant Western contact. Rather than find examples of living history and continuing customs, they consulted elders who could remember the languages and cultures, the old ways.

There is no doubt that the anthropologists provided great service to tribal communities by preserving cultural knowledge and aspects of languages. But the emphasis on ''salvage'' anthropology, researching to find the last remnants of indigenous communities before they were lost, and the absence of interest in living indigenous communities, did a great disservice to indigenous peoples.

Government programs and definitions of Indians take their lead from the legacy of anthropological interpretations of Indian authenticity. Government policies demand that communities seeking recognition through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement must prove with documentary evidence that they are a distinct Indian community and can trace their history through time. Similarly, for tribal groups who petition for federal recognition by way of the mixed blood community clause in the Indian Reorganization Act must show that the surviving mixed bloods continue to live in the style of Indians. These views do not allow that the world has changed considerably over the past 200 years, and that Indians today do not, and cannot, live like their ancestors. Americans expect authentic Indians to remain unchanging, although no one expects Americans to look and behave like pilgrims.

During the 1970s, Vine Deloria, in his critique of anthropologists and their general lack of interest in contemporary indigenous communities, suggested that anthropologists engage in contemporary Indian life and issues. Until recently, many anthropologists were discouraged by colleagues from working with contemporary tribal communities, because reservation Indian communities to them were not authentic or academically interesting. Anthropologists who worked in tribal communities in the United States often did not receive career rewards and recognition that were garnered by colleagues who conducted research among other indigenous peoples around the world. We commend those scholars and researchers who continued to work and contribute to the well-being of tribal communities. Many communities have enjoyed positive relationships with anthropology scholars and students alike.

The question of authenticity, however, continues to plague contemporary American Indians. Native images and authenticity are frozen in time and are most often defined by non-Native people. The general public receives vast amounts of images from modern media, including movies and television. Most film and television writers of shows depicting Native people and history are often non-Natives with no particular study or first-hand knowledge. American Indians are treated as one-dimensional characters - as noble savages, the unfortunate victims of history, or as bloodthirsty warmongers. Even some American Indians today have adopted a static imagery of authenticity. When Native people are called ''apples,'' white on the inside and ''red'' on the outside, putting aside the racial connotations, the imagery suggests that individuals and communities cannot change, and that being Indian is and always will be a static condition.

Indian people do change. We just may not change in patterns that are recognized or common to Western or American society. Indian people are willing to change and adapt to necessarily uphold their values, cultures and ways of life. The world is changing rapidly, and Indian people must make decisions about how to manage relations with local, state and federal government, while trying to gain economic self-sufficiency and maintain cultural and political autonomy. Changing world conditions require Indian people to meet the new conditions in order to continue as communities or distinct cultures. Since the world is fundamentally different from the past of say, 200 years ago, the ways of meeting the demands of contemporary and future life will also require change. Even more so, the new conditions often require new solutions, sometimes not contained in the traditions. New ways of approaching economic self-sufficiency or cultural expression are found useful. The changing world offers new choices. Native individuals and communities have more choices and ways of finding solutions to issues as they pertain to cultural survival.

There is no stereotypical or authentic path for indigenous peoples, just as there is no such path for American society. Communities and individuals choose who they are and how they want to live in the world. It is probably impossible to stop them, even if one wanted to. Indigenous people respect the choices of individuals and communities, which have the right to seek their own solutions. We might not agree with choices made by individuals or some communities, but we must respect their right to make choices.

American Indians and indigenous people are culturally diverse, and the contemporary world has multiplied the choices available and possible. We can expect even more diverse choices in the future. Fortunately, indigenous people have always been diverse, and as an expression of sovereignty or autonomy we will continue to make diverse individual and community choices that will lead to many new pathways.