CONTEMPORARY LAKOTA IDENTITY: MELDA AND LUPE TREJO ON 'BEING INDIAN' by LARISSA SUZANNE PETRILLO B.Sc, The University of Toronto, 1987 M.A., Wilfrid Laurier University, 1995 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Individual Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program. ) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA December 2001 © Larissa Suzanne Petrillo, 2001 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date DE-6 (2/88) Abstract This thesis explores contemporary Lakota identity, as informed by the life story narratives of Melda and Lupe Trejo. Melda Red Bear (Lakota) was born on Pine Ridge (Oglala Lakota / Sioux) Reservation in South Dakota (1939-). Her husband, Lupe Trejo (1938-1999) is Mexican and has been a long-term resident of the reservation. I first met this couple in 1994 and developed an abiding friendship with them prior to our decision to collaborate in recording their storytelling sessions (1997-98). The recording and interpretation of the material evokes ethical questions about power and representation that have arisen with debates about 'as-told-to' autobiographies. Theoretical and methodological issues associated with cultural anthropology, literary criticism and oral history are part of the interdisciplinary intellectual work of this research and are discussed in the context of the project. The thesis follows an introspective, recursive methodology, where early research decisions are analyzed in the light of what I have learned in this process of apprenticeship to Lakota traditional thinkers. The narratives reveal that contemporary Lakota identity encompasses colonial discourses, strategic responses to such impositions, and an autonomous indigenous system of beliefs. This epistemological tradition, that is, traditional Lakota spiritual beliefs, promotes an acknowledgment of relations as opposed to exclusive categories of cultural difference. Melda Trejo has substantial connections to the Lakota community and her marriage follows the traditional pattern of "marrying out." Lupe Trejo configures his Mexican ancestry in ways that align with the Lakota people while also acknowledging his difference in the community. Melda and Lupe define themselves as Lakota through their spiritual practice in the Sundance as it reappeared in the cultural resurgence at Pine Ridge in the 1970s and 1980s. They situate themselves and their Sundance amid the controversies that surround authentic practices and the participation of outsiders in the ceremony. The thesis provides an interpretive framework, supported by additional life stories as well as critical and ethnographic material, for the analysis of selected stories. Table of Contents Abstract Table of Contents Acknowledgements Chapter I - Introduction: Understanding the Context for the Project Introductory Remarks The Lakota Context Melda Red Bear and Lupe Trejo 1 The Researcher: Larissa Petrillo and Ethical Relationships 1 The Research: Larissa Petrillo and Academic/Personal History 2 Interpreting the Stories 2. Overview and Outline of Chapters 2> Chapter II - Power and Ethics 3 Introductory Remarks 3: My Perspective as an Academic 3: The Ethics of My Own Practices 3i What I Learned about Ethics 3' Institutional Review Boards and Religious Authority 4' The Lakota Political Context 4' Concluding Remarks: Academic Proof and Religious Authority 5 Chapter III - Representation and Interpretation 5 Introductory Remarks 5: Appropriation 5' Representation 5 Method for Interpretation 6i Textual Representation . 6 Concluding Remarks 7 Chapter IV - Melda: Indian Identity 7 Introductory Remarks 7. Race and Ethnicity: Summary of Findings 7< Melda: Red Bear Ancestry as Lakota Tradition 71 Interpretation 8: Concluding Remarks 9' Chapter V - Lupe: Ancestry and Intermarriage Introductory Remarks 'Well, that's okay then': Mixed-Blood Identity & Intermarriage 97 'Aztecs. Indians.': Lupe's Construction of Mexican/Indian Identity 103 Concluding Remarks 113 Chapter VI - Indian Identity as an Emerging Process 115 Introductory Remarks 115 'And we got into this Lakota religion': Re-identifying with Tradition 116 Interpretation 121 'I Tell You About That Eagle': Communicating Visions 126 Interpretation 127 Concluding Remarks 132 Chapter VII - Lakota Tradition and Being Related 135 Introductory Remarks 135 Lakota Tradition 136 Competing Religious Beliefs 140 Competing Definitions of Tradition 143 'White people, black people: No, you can't come in.': Policing Tradition.... 149 Tradition as Negotiated 152 Concluding Remarks 155 Chapter VIII - Conclusion 157 Works Cited 163 Appendix A - Photographs and Maps 182 Appendix B - Census Data 191 Appendix C - Timeline of Significant Events : 194 Appendix D - Family Tree 229 Appendix E - Ethics Forms 238 v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis committee for engaging in this innovative and challenging interdisciplinary process. I am grateful to Margery Fee. Jo Fiske. Jo-Ann Archibald. Laurie Ricou. and Veronica Strong-Boag for their insights and support. Additional thanks to Brenda Trejo. Jean Barman. Susanna Egan and Raymond A. Bucko. S.J.. for their review of the dissertation. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Melda and Lupe Trejo for working with me in building a body of material that has utility to the Lakota and academic communities. Their hospitality and generosity has been well received. Our friendship is very special to me; 1 remember Lupe frequently and fondly. I am grateful to members of the Trejo family for their assistance in ensuring the material was as comprehensive and representative as possible. 1 also want to thank Edna Janis for her help with photographs and the family tree. My associations with the family have always been enjoyable: I look forward to our continuing friendship. I am also grateful to the Lakota community for their participation in this work, and for their hospitality. In the neighboring town of Merriman, Nebraska, I have also been fortunate to be hosted by a warm community. Thanks, especially, to Lorena Cobb. I want to express my gratitude to Kay and Jaap Koppedrayer. Kay provided encouragement and moral support, as well as offered critical insights into the research. Her friendship has been vital and inspirational. I would like to express sincere gratitude to my family and friends for their encouragement and support over the many years. Mom, Dad. Matt and Jay have all been incredible. Words fall short, here. Simply: thank you. Chapter 1 - Intruduction: Understanding the Context for the Project 1 Chapter I - Introduction: Understanding the Context for the Project Introductory Remarks This thesis presents what I have learned about the process of recording the life stories of a Native/Mexican couple. I also explain what I have learned from their stories about Native identity. Melda Red Bear is a fifty-eight year old Lakota woman from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Her husband, Lupe Trejo, is a Mexican who has lived in the Lakota community for roughly half of his life. He died in April of 1999 at the age of sixty. In their forty years together, Melda and Lupe raised eleven children and supported themselves as migrant workers. Since 1988, they have held a Sundance ceremony on the Red Bear land, near Allen in South Dakota. In their life stories, they talk about their personal experiences as well as their knowledge of Lakota and Mexican history and culture. I was introduced to Melda and Lupe through a mutual friend in April of 1994. My interest in cross-cultural collaborative projects developed about the same time because postmodern concerns theories about representation and postcolonial concerns about the 'appropriation of voice' had apparently arrested precisely the kind of project that I regarded as crucial to promoting social justice. In this thesis, I describe our relationship and provide interpretations of their stories, which I recorded between November 1997 and August 1998. I acknowledge that all interpretations involve some form of bias. However, I take the stance that efforts to convey information are nonetheless beneficial and function to promote social change. I will demonstrate the process I have used to produce material of benefit to both Native and academic communities. I will also show that, through Melda and Lupe's stories, I have gained 2 insights into the role of Lakota tradition in the construction of contemporary Native identity. In their life stories, Melda and Lupe emphasize the importance of the Sundance ceremony and convey their understanding of Lakota tradition to their relations. Melda says, "So this prayer, Indian way, is very powerful and it's good" (217).1 Mitakuye 'oyasin or 'all my relations' is a Lakota prayer that refers to the belief that all of creation is related. Melda and Lupe speak about a way of knowing the world that is firmly rooted in Lakota cosmology, spiritual beliefs and traditional