Mediating Constructions of Identity Through the Illness and Healing Experience of Homeless Native American Men Along the Wasatch Front, Utah
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Refracted Truths: Mediating Constructions of Identity through the Illness and Healing Experience of Homeless Native American Men along the Wasatch Front, Utah. Daniele Stolfi University College London Department of Anthropology Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2015 1 I, Daniele Stolfi, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 ABSTRACT The thesis investigates how homeless Native American men in Salt Lake City, Utah navigate their experience of homelessness, as well as the social suffering it gives rise to, in order to affirm a sense of personhood and personal identity. It examines how this experience is constructed, presented, and mediated through a series of ambivalent spatial and agentic practices that contribute to shaping a contemporary and localized expression of Native American masculine identity. The thesis argues that, for Native Americans, the notions of personhood and identity are deeply rooted in a culturally and spiritually embodied sense of place. When this bond with place is ruptured, it not only complicates our understanding of indigenous homelessness, but the possibility for homeless Native American individuals of living fulfilling lives is fundamentally compromised and can lead to severe and debilitating forms of suffering that are difficult for us to comprehend. Their experience of homelessness also underlines the difficulties many of these individuals encounter in trying to reclaim a meaningful sense of self in order to lead ‘good’ lives. Unfortunately, it also reminds us in many cases of their failure to do so. The thesis presents these themes as multiple representations and suggests that Native American homelessness constitutes a neglected narrative within the Native American identity and healthcare discourse. It also includes an investigation of the efforts to address this complex and problematic reality on the part of the independent agencies that work with homelessness in Salt Lake City and considers possible implications for future research, practice, and advocacy. 3 CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. 3 ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................................... 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1: Introduction. ..................................................................................... 12 1.1: Aim of Research ................................................................................................... 12 1.2: Background. ......................................................................................................... 14 1.3: Conceptual Framework. ...................................................................................... 23 1.4: Methodological Considerations. .......................................................................... 29 1.4.1: Fieldwork Context. .......................................................................................30 1.4.2: Research Design. ..........................................................................................33 1.4.3: Data Collection. ............................................................................................35 1.4.4: Population Sample. ......................................................................................36 1.4.4.1: Primary Informants and Primary Data. .................................................36 1.4.4.2: Secondary Informants and Secondary Data. ........................................39 1.4.5: Participant Observation. ..............................................................................40 1.4.6: Literature Review. ........................................................................................41 1.4.7: Procedure. ...................................................................................................43 1.4.8: Ethical Considerations. ................................................................................45 1.5: Thesis Outline ...................................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER 2: The Presence of Absence. .................................................................. 50 2.1: Introduction. ........................................................................................................ 50 2.2: The NAHOC Memorial Service. ............................................................................ 51 2.2.1: Background. .................................................................................................51 2.2.2: Profile of NAHOC. ........................................................................................53 2.2.3: Preparation for the NAHOC Memorial Service. ...........................................57 2.2.4: A Brief Description of Jordan Park. ..............................................................60 2.2.5: The Memorial Service Programme and Sequence of Events. .....................61 2.3: Theorizing the NAHOC Memorial Service. ........................................................... 66 2.3.1: Public Memorialization Processes. ..............................................................66 2.3.2: ‘Good’ Deaths, ‘Bad’ Deaths. .......................................................................69 2.3.2.1: The sacred good death. .........................................................................71 4 2.3.2.2: The medical good death. ......................................................................71 2.3.2.3: Natural death and the natural good death. ..........................................72 2.3.2.4: The bad death. ......................................................................................74 2.4: Absence and the Mediation of Loss. ................................................................... 75 2.5: Native American Conceptualizations of Death. ................................................... 80 2.6: The Navajo Universe and Conceptualizations of a Good Life and a Good Death. .......................................................................................................................... 83 2.7: Contemporary Mortuary Practices in the Navajo World. ................................... 86 2.8: The NAHOC Memorial Service – Discussion. ....................................................... 94 2.8.1: The NAHOC Memorial Service as Mediating Identity. ................................94 2.8.2: The NAHOC Memorial Service and Formulations of Good and Bad Deaths. ...............................................................................................................................98 2.8.3: The NAHOC Memorial Service and Public Memorialization Processes. ... 103 2.8.4: The NAHOC Memorial Service and ‘Presencing’ Absence and Mediating Loss. ............................................................................................................................ 105 2.9: Conclusion. ......................................................................................................... 106 CHAPTER 3: Refracted Identities: The Boarding School System and U.S. Indigenous Homelessness. .................................................................................................... 108 3.1: Introduction. ...................................................................................................... 108 3.2: The Boarding School System. ............................................................................ 110 3.2.1: Background. .............................................................................................. 110 3.2.2: A Brief History of the BSS. ......................................................................... 111 3.2.3: A Profile of the Intermountain Indian School. .......................................... 116 3.3: Ethnographic presentation. ............................................................................... 119 3.3.1: The IIS School Reunion and Brigham City Museum’s Outside the Homeland: The Intermountain Indian School Exhibition. ..................................................... 119 3.3.2: Encounters with the IIS. ............................................................................ 120 3.3.3: The IIS Site................................................................................................. 122 3.3.4: Benjamin Barney – His Experience as a Student at Intermountain Indian School. ................................................................................................................. 127 3.3.5: Oral Histories. ........................................................................................... 136 3.3.5.1: Themes of identity, personhood, individual agency, adaptation, resilience, cultural strength and cultural growth. .......................................... 139 3.3.5.2: Themes of family, community and tribal integration. ....................... 141 3.4: Discussion. ......................................................................................................... 148 3.5: Conclusion. ......................................................................................................... 153 5 CHAPTER 4: The Urban Indian Healthcare Landscape and Native American Social Suffering. ...........................................................................................................