American Indian Studies in West Germany

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ED 279 459 RC 016 131 AUTHOR Dartelt, H. Gnillermo TITLE American Indian Studien in West Germany. PUB DATE 86 NOTE 6p. PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) Journal Articles (000) JOURNAL CIT Wm-A) Se Review; v2 n2 p45-49 Fall 1986 EDRS PRICE HF01/PC01 Plus Postage. nESCRIPTORS *Activism; American Indian Culture; American Indian History; American Indians; *American Indian Studies; Case Studies; Cultural Context; *Ethnicity; Ethnic Studien; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Minority Groups; *Perception; *Social Science Research IDENTIFIERS *American Indian Movement; *West Germany ABSTRACT Interest in the American Indian in West Germany is high. Romantic notions, derived from the novels of 19th century German writer Karl May and American westerns shown on German television, combined with a subtle anti-Americanism might be responsible for the American Indian Movement (AIM) support groups that have been forming among students and bringing American Indian issues into tho arena of world affairs. While this enthusiasm for AIM among students has not generally been shared by academicians, recent scholarly interdisciplinary research in American Indian Studies has been conducted by anthropologists associated with the Center for North American Studies (ZENAF) at the University of Frankfurt. The topic of ethnic identity and cultural resistance has produced several case studies on cultural change and has stimulated an evaluation of fiction written by Native Americans in the context of a struggle for ethnic identity. The scholarly evaluation of AIM in the context of the long history of Indian resistance has also begun. Citations for 26 ZENAF publications on American Indian Studies (most written in German) are provided. (NEC)

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CV H. Guillermo Bnrtelt LU

Author'.POW Thil 06414y Ws* wtitton while I weeFulbright Scholar in West Germany I983/86. I wish to uprose my thanks to Dorm! Pow and Poor Bolt for making available to me some of the Gorman work on Americe,n Indian Studies which Is communed on horv. Intemt in the American Indian in West Germany is high, end the book stores respond to the demand by making available a great variety of popular literature, especially in the form of translations of Anglo-American publications. The images which Germans seem to heve of the American Ma ny Gorman, Indian are probably derived from the novels of the 19th Century writer know AmericAn Karl May (1042-1912), who had never set foot on American soil and who Indians onlyAi Nineteent), Century produced most of his works while serving several prison sentences for grand novel Imago. Larceny. His adventure stories portrayed noble savage images set in a world of good and evil, and continue to provide one of the greatest sources which contribute to the interest in Native Americans in Germany today. These romantic notions, reinforced perhaps by the American Westerns shown on Germ in television and combined with a subtle anti-Americenism might be responsible for the great amount of attention that Pan-Indianism seems to have received in West Germany. Especially those individuals who regard the American Indian issue as a show case of the fail= of American "imperialism." Understandably, to many Germans Pan-Indianism seems to be synonymous. with AIM since media coverage of the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties and the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee apparently left the impression that Indians were united In their support for AIM. This idea was probably strengthened by appearances in Germany as well as other European countries by such AIM spokesmen as Clyde Bellecourt and by other AIM activities directed specifically to international publicity and the creation of outside pressure against the American government, such as appearances before the UN in Switzerland. As a result: For many, the AIM **Warrior* personifies ell living Indians a prim- hivistic symbol of tesistance against the system, in this case U.S. caphalitm. Images of Getout= and Sitting Bull were posted up alongside with Che Gue. van and the AIM "Warrior" became their immediate reincamadon. (lleAr. in press.) As early as 1975, an AIM representative office was established in West Berlin, and soon after AIM support groups could be found in many parts of Germany and other German-speaking countries. Among the more persistent of such support groups are theGesellschaft filr Bedrohte Miter(Society 4s. 2 titST COPY AVAILABLE for Endangered People*) am! the Intornehmid Commitvo. for tha Intilons of Th. America), iIncomintBoa ). These) tik %tallOa other windier group* pub. ?OM support group;hilt erveral megetines and pamphlet*, borne regularly, others *poratikally hove forminft Gommtwistiohing distributed primerily among German unisersity atutlento, whoseem to roulade within the chilly exhibit an appeal to the persistent German tradition of fonlantit,nal= tradition of uralkm in regent to Indians, colored by an underlying enti.Amerieani.m, roma will mituriik*Fti which hae a *olid tradition Once the Vietnam Warera. and the '11ti* entleolasm for AIM emong m% derns. lintOier, baitnilt been me .#4 'Twice/I shored by acadamkiaret, euch as cultural anthrop4Aogiste. who have chfs- fodinig shot hat ben the atudy of American Indiane as their eilmographic or archaeological dashriopeol unto she Vietnam Confli ct, specialty. Limiting their scope to conventional anthropological topics (getter. ally ethnology), mon German acadomidans have remained aloof in regard to the welcome mat that has been epread for AIM. Consequently, it bee boon advocated by at least one acadomkian, anthropologist Bernd Payer, that serious academia consideration of the subject is wryly needed because avoiding a scholarly confrontation of the subjett will promote the mystifka. tion of AIM in Germany *ism funher. Peyer hss attempted to clear up *one of the misconceptions prevalent In Germany surrounding Indian activism. Fir*t, he points out that Pan- Indian strategies for resistance are much older than the American Indian Conference held in Chicago in 1961; nevertheless, many works read in Germeny regard that event as the birth of Pan-I ndienisn. Among such older strategies, Payer lista the SDciety of American Indians, which promoted civil rights from 1911 to 1920 and the National Congress of American Indians which was founded in 1944. He points out the participation in political activities, such a* the Trail of Broken Treaties, of several other key omenizations such as the National Indian Brotherhood, the Native American Rights Fund, the National Indian Youth Council and the National Council on Indian Work. howevei, Payer does admit the effectiveness of nate groups halo AIM in eatablishing connections abroad and in bringing Indian issues into brought Arnorican world Wain. Second, Peyer explains that AIM cannot make the claim radian &wet into tit* arena of world of representing all Indians since in some areas of the United State, the affsirs. organization has not been able to get off the ground. "Third. AIM members. cleims Payer, come from many different Indian communitiesboth urban and ruralwith various degrees of acculturation, but all are socialized into a Plaireederived model focusing on the Simla Sun Dance. As a result, other factions among the Sioux have dissociated thennehts from the AIM. dominated Sun Dance and have started alterzative annual events. Finally, Payer emphasizes that tint conceived as a movement, AIM has become identified with cextein personalities often cited by the media in order to satisfy the Euro-American need for the personification of historicalprocesses with mythical leaders. Peyer is one of several antluopologiste atuched to the Zentrum far Nartiamerika Forichung (ZENAFI Merger for North American Studiesl. Though the focus of ZENAF is not necessarily on Indians. a group of schol- ars has cooperated in producing interdisciplinary research on Indian literature, art, education, land and water rights, cultural identity and cultural resistance. The last two topics heve been the subject of a project financed by the Volkswagen Foundation horn 1980 until 1984 entitled "Accuhuration

3 and Ethnic Identity: Pealitenee and Self-Deterrninetion Among tho Indiar Minorhioi of North Amerka.*Vorkaus owls of the projeet ero reported in anthropologicaljournals and essey collections; lo addition, a dissertation hy Peter Hole 11946Ireporix on several case studies whkh generf Ily ;attempt to dotermino the patterns of Indian efforts to probers., cultural es-wantons awl to resist Anglo-American presiares, Bolt trace. the historkel development of the Piri0 Klee Sknas !loser, vation cuhure and presente a critkism of the concept of eeculturation at 0 forced adaptetion to Euro-Amerkan civilisation and, therefore. n 11044110 factor In tho cultural development of the Oglala, During several period* of field work in South Dakota. Bola abeerved that people in Pine Ridge seem to be. deliberately *blotting thoso a.poetia of Anglo-Amefieali Viiittift- which they perceive to be of benefit to themsehes. An example of that proce*s. Ac- cording to Bolt, is the Incoming Indian control o tr their own educational systerna. Whereas formal education was once used by Whhei. to alienate the EViicatian was eat. Oglala from their traditional culture, it is now used by Indians themselves 0414 813 alisaat. /ram ;heir as a vehkle for the strenethening and revival of such values. A* 4 slaoweasetradaaat clatur.; of such initiatives, Bolt points out the establishment of the Oglala Letota 0010 ii liftlig at a College, which in its curriculum tries to transmit bktdturalitm snd whkh twhifi le Ilwrit* 40461 seems to enjoy the support of all mervation factions. Among other factors Ottyriphol 14e$, that appear to be strengthening the continuity of traditional values Aft kin- trarlitionJ, ship generosity, the Pow Wow. the Give-a-way, and the revival of tho Sun Dance, according to Bola. The continuity of these values also implies to Bolt an ethnic boundary which makes possible not only further developments in traditional culture but also (adaptations to modern realities. Other research activities in the ZENAF project have concentrated on Indian literature for an analysis of ethnic identits. For example. Peer, since the publication of his dissertation (1979)on fiction and anthropology in the Native American novel, has continued to trace the deNelopment end reception of Indian4uthored fiction. His focus has been on (he role of Hyemeyohsts Storm's Seven Arrows in Native American literature and the controversy surrounding that work. Peyer maintains that fiction can be a legitimate source for ethnographic data since writers such As Grin- nell, LaFarge, and Radin have extensively relkd on ethnography for their works. However, fiction in its freedom to define possible realities, Pryer points out, can be selective about the type and quantity of such data. For that reason, Payer claims, anthropology has largely misunderstood Storm's novel. By excessively scrutinizing ethnographic details, according to Peyer. critics such as the Cheyenne expert John Moore have failed to recoguite the work for what it really is, namely fiction. Peyer interprets the problem in misunderstanding Seven Arrow, in terms of an author trying to shorten the gap between tradition and a contemporary art form. As fer as Peyer is concerned. Storm's motivation was not to disclose or modify the mysteries of the Cheltenne; instead, he merely took some elements from the Plains cultural tradition and reworked them into a contemporary statement on peace and brotherhood. Peyer supporu his perspective whh quotes from such wcli known Indian spokesmen as Vine Deloria: What wit km* bt Sewn Arrows. thettfort. Is a Malmont about the uriverbk wad an iatraw titan to illustrate how that oitatetaeot %Waist,* itA41 In tho

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