Reinventing the Warrior: Race, Gender, and Nation in Contemporary Indian Country
Preface...... 1
Acknowledgements...... 1
A Note on Terminology...... 2
Introduction...... 1
Indigenous Warrior Masculinity and Tribal Nationhood...... 1
The State of the Art...... 6
Why This Study?...... 19
Theoretical Framework...... 21
Postcolonial Theory...... 21
Nation, Race, Gender, and Masculinities...... 23
Cultural and Warrior Traditions, Performance Studies, Indigenous Epistemologies, and
Cultural Memory...... 32
Method and Approach...... 38
Chapter Outline...... 43
Part I: Warriors With(out) Weapons: Indigenous Warriors During Pre-Colonial Times and Indigenous Men and Masculinities Under Colonial Rule, 1850s~1970
1. Warriors With Weapons: Tribal Society and Peoplehood, Nationhood, Gender, and Indigenous Warrior Masculinities Among the Lakota, 1800s-1880s...... 45
i Tribal Society and Peoplehood, Nationhood, Gender, and Warrior
Masculinities among the Lakota...... 45
Tribal Society, Nationhood, and Gender Among the Lakota, 1800-1880$...... 47
Lakota Martial Culture, Warriorhood and Warfare, 1800s-1880s...... 51
Setting a Precedent: Martial Service as U.S. Scouts and BIA Policemen...... 60
Turn-of-the-Century Colonial Imaginings of Indigenous Masculinity...... 64
Conclusion...... 65
2. Warriors Without Weapons: Tribal Nationhood and Native Masculinity under U.S. Settler Colonialism, 1880s-1970s...... 67
Indigenous-Settler Colonial Relations...... 67
Indigenous-Settler Colonial Relations: Between Treaty Rights and Civil Rights...... 69
U.S. Settler Colonial Policies, Gender, and Nation...... 74
Masculinity & Nationalism: Gender in the Making and Unmaking of Empire and Nation.74
(En-)Gendering Indigenous Men and Masculinities...... 75
Transforming Indigenous Gender Systems...... 78
Colonizing Indigenous People, Gender and Nation, 1880s-1970s...... 79
U.S. Settler Colonialism and Its Impact on Indigenous Men and Masculinities...... 84
U S. Colonialism as a Tool for Empowerment and Reinventing Indigeneity...... 86
Conclusion...... 89
ll Part II: Warriors in Uniform
3. Warriors in Uniform and the Tribal/American Nation from WWIto Vietnam...... 91
Warriors into Soldiers: Colonial and Indigenous Perspectives...... 91
Colonial Perspectives: The U.S. Military, Martial Race Ideology, and Indigenous
Masculinity...... 93
Indigenous Perspectives: Patriotism, Military Service, and Militarized Masculinities...... 95
Warriors to Soldiers: Between Civil/Treaty Rights and the Tribal/American Nation from
WWI Through Vietnam...... 98
The Indigenous Military Experience from WWI Through Vietnam...... 101
"The White Man's Warrior": Martial Race Ideology and the "Indian Scout Syndrome" from
WWI Through Vietnam...... 101
The Indigenous Military Experience During WWI, WWII, and Korea...... 105
The Indigenous Military Experience During the Vietnam War...... 109
Reinventing Martial Traditions, Warrior Masculinity, and Tribal Community
Through Participation in the U.S. Military From WWI to Vietnam...... Ill
Tribal Community, Warrior Masculinity, and Ceremony...... Ill
Reinventing Martial Traditions, Warrior Masculinity, and Tribal Community From WWI
Through Vietnam...... 113
Distinguished Indigenous Combat Veterans and Competing Concepts of
Martial Manliness, Nationhood, and Martial Valor...... 118
Western Concepts of Military Heroism: The White Warrior Hero, American Nation, and
Martial Valor...... 118
Indigenous Notions of Warriorhood, Tribal Nationhood, and Martial Valor...... 122
Indigenous Patriotism: Recognizing Martial Valor and Honoring Warriors Within Their
Tribal Communities...... 124
III Indigenous Veterans as Political Actors: The Emergence of Pan-Indian
Perspectives from WWI Through the Vietnam War...... 127
Indigenous Veterans and the Emergence of Pan-Indian Perspectives from WWI to the
Korean War...... 127
Indigenous Veterans in Sixties Movements...... 129
Conclusion...... 130
Part III: Modern-Day Warriors in the Red Power Movement, 1968-1973
4. From Emasculation to “Protest MasculinitiesReinventing Indigenous Manliness in the Nascent American Indian Movement, 1968-1972...... 133
The Red Power Movement, the Struggle for Self-Determination, and the
Masculine American Indian Movement, 1968/69-1978...... 133
AIM: Vanguard of Indigenous Masculinized Protest Politics...... 136
Red Power Movement Nationalism...... 138
Red Power Movement Political Nationalism...... 138
Red Power Movement Cultural Nationalism...... 140
The American Indian Movement in the Twin Cities and the Emergence of a
"Protest Masculinity"...... 142
Cross-Cultural Experiences of Emasculation and Powerlessness and the Founding of the
American Indian Movement...... 142
Indigenous Movement Masculinities and Formative Cross-Cultural Experiences...... 146
The Cumulative Effects of U.S. Settler Colonial Institutions on Indigenous Movement
Masculinities...... 156
The Emergence of an Indigenous "Protest Masculinity"...... 158
Confronting Hegemonic Whiteness, Reinventing Indigeneity...... 163
IV The Takeover of Alcatraz Island and the Resurgence of Indigenous Identity and Culture,
1969-1971 and Beyond...... 163
Indigenous Vietnam Veterans at the Takeover of Alcatraz Island, 1969-1971...... 166
Warrior Imagery in the Nascent Red Power Movement...... 171
Conclusion...... 174
5. “We Became Warriors Again:” Indigenous Remasculinization and the Recasting of Race, Gender and Nation in the American Indian Movement, 1970-1973...... 176
Reinventing a New Type of Warrior Masculinity in the Struggle for Indigenous
Rights, 1972-1973...... 176
Remasculinizing into Warriors for a Nation Through Processes of Re-Traditionalization
and Radicalization...... 178
Nationalist Symbolism and Revolutionary Culture...... 184
Militancy, Armed Self-Defense, and Indigenous Warrior Masculinity...... 190
Performing Indigenous Warriorhood: Between Media Bias, Cultural Re-
Appropriation, and Warrior Identity...... 193
Racial Conflict, Contested Meanings of Manliness, and the Militant Advocacy of Indigenous Civil Rights in Nebraska and South Dakota, 1972-1973...... 199
Indigenous Masculinized Protest Politics in Nebraska Border Towns, 1972...... 199
White Resistance to the Struggle for Indigenous Rights, Gendered Rhetoric, and
Contested Cultural Meanings of Manliness and Nation...... 204
Indigenous Masculinized Protest Politics in South Dakota Border Towns, 1973...... 207
"BIA -1 am not your Indian anymore" - Confronting U.S. Settler Colonialism at the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indigenous Nationalism, Protest, and Warriors for a Nation, 1970-1972...... 213
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Takeover in Washington, D C. and the (Re)Masculinized
Indigenous Nationalist Struggle, 1970-1972...... 213 The Gendered Performance of Indigenous Warriorhood in the Media's Spotlight...... 217
The BIA Takeover, Calls for Self-Determination, and Indigenous Warriorhood...... 222
"Teaching our kids the truth about Indian people" - Recasting Race, Gender and Memory at Survival Schools...... 224
Struggling to Restore Balance:Gender Relations Within the American Indian
Movement...... 227
Conclusion...... 230
6. Warriors and Nation: Contesting U.S. Colonialism & Indigenous Nation-Building at Wounded Knee, 1973 And Beyond...... 233
The Wounded Knee II Standoff: Nationalist Warrior Masculinity in Struggle
With U.S. Colonial Hegemony...... 233
Tribal Governance, Reservation Masculinities, and Intertribal Conflict...... 235
Fighting U.S. Colonialism...... 237
Indigenous and Non-lndigenous Veterans at Wounded Knee...... 237
Nationalist Warrior Masculinity and Conflicting Notions of Warriorhood and Nationalism
at Wounded Knee...... 243
Wounded Knee: Symbolic Site of Wounded Nationhood and Oppressed
Masculinity...... 248
Warriors for a Nation: The American Indian Movement as a Warrior Society for the Independent Oglala Nation (ION) at Wounded Knee II...... 250
The Independent Oglala Nation and AIM as a Warrior Society...... 250
Nationalist Warrior Masculinity and Gendered Nation-Building Processes at the
Independent Oglala Nation...... 256
Indigenous Warriorhood, Bodily Practices, and Remasculinizing for the Independent
Oglala Nation...... 262
VI Indigenous Women Warriors at Wounded Knee...... 264
Performing Warriorhood Between Guerilla Theatre and Guerilla Warfare - The Media's
Warriors at Wounded Knee...... 268
Confronting U.S. Hegemony, National Reclamation, Cultural Revitalization, and
Indigenous Remasculinization...... 274
Conclusion...... 278
Part IV: The Warriors’ Legacy
7. Commemoration, Remembrance, and Legacy of the Warriors for a Nation...... 281
Political Warriors: Transforming Warrior Masculinity in the Nationalist
Struggle for Self-Determination, Sovereignty, and Decolonization in the
Wounded Knee Aftermath...... 281
AIM Warriors in Prison and in Hiding...... 283
AIM as an International Warrior Society, 1974 to the Present...... 285
Indigenous Women and the Struggle For Self-Determination, Sovereignty, Nation, and
Decolonization after 1973...... 287
The Decline of Red Power Militancy and Nationalism, 1973-1978...... 288
Reinventing Nationalist Warrior Masculinity Once Again: The Leaders of the American
Indian Movement after 1973...... 290
Cultural Warriors: Moral Regeneration, Spiritual Healing, Cultural
Revitalization, Mental Decolonization, and Indigenous-Settler Colonial
Relations...... 292
The Indigenous Renaissance: Cultural Renewal, Political Sovereignty, and Indigenous
Gender Practices...... 292
The AIM Warriors as Cultural Warriors...... 295
VII "Don't forget the warriors" - The Legacy of the American Indian Movement,
Remembering and Commemorating Warrior Masculinity and the Nationalist
Struggle...... 298
Controversy over the Warrior Society of the Independent Oglala Nation, Warrior
Masculinity, Martial Virtues, and Leadership...... 298
"Don't forget the Warriors" - The Legacy of the American Indian Movement Across Indian
Country...... 303
Warriors and Nation: Indigenous Vietnam Veterans' Perspectives on the American Indian
Movement, Warriorhood, Nationalism, and Patriotism...... 306
Heroizing Warriors for Nationhood: Commemorating Past and Present Indigenous
Struggles Against U.S. Colonialism Through Mnemonic Artifacts...... 310
Heroizing Warriors for Nationhood: Commemorating Past & Present Indigenous Struggles
Against U.S. Colonialism at Key Protest Sites...... 313
Conclusion...... 315
Part V: Conclusion
Warrior Masculinity, Race, Gender, and Nation...... 317
The Code of the Warrior...... 317
Warriors, Colonized Subjects, and Veterans...... 319
American Indian Movement Activists-Turned-Warriors: Emasculation, Remasculinization,
and Hypermasculinity in the Indigenous Rights Struggle...... 325
Race, Masculinity, and Martial Valor...... 332
The Cultural Memory and Legacy of the American Indian Movement...... 333
New Directions of Indigenous Warriors and Warrior Societies: Tribal Warriors, Street
Gangs, and Military Veterans...... 334
VIII Appendix...... 337
Bibliography...... 339
Abbreviations...... 339
Primary Sources...... 340
Archival Collections...... 340
Oral Interviews Conducted by the Author...... 341
Newspapers and Magazines...... 342
Books, Articles, Oral Interviews, and Other Sources...... 344
Government and Official Documents...... 353
Documentaries and Films...... 356
Secondary Sources...... 359
Books and Articles...... 359
Websites and Blogs...... 393
Lebenslauf...... 395
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