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Negotiating American Indian Identity in the Land of Wahoo

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Negotiating American Indian Identity in the Land of Wahoo NEGOTIATING AMERICAN INDIAN IDENTITY IN THE LAND OF WAHOO A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Michelle R. Jacobs August 2012 Dissertation written by Michelle R. Jacobs B.A., University of Akron, 2002 M.A., Kent State University, 2007 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2012 Approved by ______________________________, Co-Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee (Clare L. Stacey) ______________________________, Co-Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee (Kathryn M. Feltey) ______________________________, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee (James V. Fenelon) ______________________________, (David H. Kaplan) ______________________________, (Tiffany Taylor) Accepted by ______________________________, Chair, Department of Sociology (Richard T. Serpe) ______________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences (John R. D. Stalvey) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 8 Racial Formations ..................................................................................................... 8 Race as an Accomplishment .......................................................................... 10 Identity, Power, and Agency .......................................................................... 11 Macro-Historical Processes and the Construction of American Indian "Race" ....... 13 American Indians in the City ..................................................................................... 21 American Indian Pan-Ethnicity...................................................................... 23 American Indian Ethnic Resurgence ............................................................. 24 Ethnic Options ............................................................................................... 26 Collective Identities, or "Groupness" ............................................................ 27 Controlling Images of Indianness .............................................................................. 29 Invalidated Urban Indian Identities ............................................................... 33 (Non-Native) NE Ohioans' "Indian" Identity ................................................. 35 III. RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................................... 36 Critical Ethnography .................................................................................................. 36 My Social Location ........................................................................................ 38 Could I Be Trusted? ....................................................................................... 40 iii Methods...................................................................................................................... 43 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 43 Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 46 Two Pathways to Urban American Indian Identity ................................................... 47 One Pathway: Native People Reclaiming Indian Identities (NatPride) ........ 48 A Second Pathway: Relocated Indians of Ohio (RelOH) ............................. 49 A Final Reflection ...................................................................................................... 50 IV. BECOMING INDIAN .................................................................................................... 53 Indianness, "In a Nutshell" ........................................................................................ 53 Group Emphasis vs. Individual Emphasis ..................................................... 54 Age vs. Youth ................................................................................................ 57 Spirituality as Way of Life vs. Religion as Segment of Life ......................... 58 Becoming American Indian in NE Ohio .................................................................... 60 Reclaimers: Becoming Indian Is a Struggle.................................................. 60 Reclaimers' Complex Choices ....................................................................... 64 Reclaimers' Experiences of Homecoming ..................................................... 68 Relocators: Indian Is Simply What We Are ................................................. 72 Relocators' Childhood Confusion .................................................................. 75 Increasing Salience of Relocators' Indian Identities ...................................... 77 Summary .................................................................................................................... 81 V. ACCOMPLISHING INDIANNESS ................................................................................ 83 What Does It Take To Be Indian in NE Ohio? .......................................................... 84 Reclaimers and the Importance of Practice ................................................... 84 iv Learning to "Do" Indianness from Indian Mentors ....................................... 86 Indianness as a "Balancing Act" .................................................................... 88 Relocators and "Embedded" Indianness ........................................................ 89 Appreciating the Opportunity to Simply Be .................................................. 90 Young Relocators' Desires to Learn Tribal Traditions .................................. 91 Reflections of Reservation Life ................................................................................. 92 Reclaimers Imagine that Accomplishing Indianness Is Easier on the Rez .... 92 … But They Recognize that Rez Life Isn't Perfect ........................................ 94 What Is Traditional? ...................................................................................... 95 Relocators Do Not Think that Anything Is Easier on the Rez........................ 98 Relocators and Experiences of Discrimination in Reservation Environments ................................................................................................. 100 Northeast Ohio Is Not Perfect, but It Certainly Has Its Perks ....................... 102 Relocators and Experiences of Discrimination in the Urban Environment ................................................................................................... 104 The Troubles with Accomplishing Indianness in NE Ohio ....................................... 106 Stereotypic Images Make It Difficult to Accomplish Indianness in NE Ohio................................................................................................................ 106 Interactional Invalidation of Reclaimers' Indian Identities ............................ 109 Reclaimers' Vulnerability when Indianness Is Denied .................................. 113 Relocators' Experiences of Racial Misclassification ..................................... 118 "Wannabes" Are the Real Problem with Accomplishing Indianness in NE Ohio................................................................................................................ 122 v Will the Real "Wannabes" Please Stand Up? ................................................ 125 Summary .................................................................................................................... 128 VI. INDIAN COMMUNITIES ............................................................................................. 130 Two Pathways / Two Communities ........................................................................... 131 A History of Repression: NatPride Origins .................................................. 131 NatPride Today .............................................................................................. 133 NatPride and the Problem with Affirmative Action ...................................... 134 Reclaimers' Organizational Priorities ............................................................ 139 A History of Community: RelOH and Its Predecessor ................................. 144 Early RelOH Goals: Increasing Cultural Awareness .................................... 147 Relocators' Organizational Priorities ............................................................. 149 "Being," "Feeling," and "Doing" Indianness in NE Ohio .......................................... 155 Indian Politics and Inevitable Boundaries ................................................................. 158 All Are Welcome at NatPride ........................................................................ 158 NatPride Defined in Contrast to RelOH: We're Not Political! ..................... 160 NatPride and the Perils of Expanding the Boundaries of Indianness ............ 163 RelOH and the Perils of Contracting the Boundaries of Indianness .............. 166 Tensions between RelOH and "Another Indian Center" (AIC) ..................... 167 Concerns about the Future of RelOH............................................................. 170 An Exciting and
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