Systems of Cultural Representation: An Examination of Native American Identity and Cultural Representations Through Digital Stories A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Jillian Fish IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Moin Syed, Ph.D. August 2020 © Jillian Fish [2020] Acknowledgements I am forever grateful for the mentorship of Professor Moin Syed, who has truly exceeded all expectations typical of an advisor. Over the past six years, he has not just supported my dreams, but has shown me that I am capable of them, providing me with a sturdy foundation that I will build on for many years to come. In addition, I am deeply appreciative of the mentors who have guided me on my path both to and through higher education. From elementary to high school teachers, and to college and beyond. I am especially indebted to Professors Timothy Osberg and Amy Reynolds, who ardently nurtured my interests, not just in psychology, but a psychology that is in the service of Native peoples. I am certain I would not have made it to this point without them. I am also filled with gratitude for my committee: Professors Joseph Gone, Richard Lee, and Geoffrey Maruyama, and feel fortunate to have learned from their insight and expertise over the course of my dissertation. I am especially grateful for Professor Joseph Gone, who has provided me with tremendous support and opportunities for the last several years, and who is committed to my development. Moreover, the support that Professors Patricia Frazier and Jo-Ida Hansen have provided me over the years is very much appreciated. I also extend my sincerest gratitude to the 77 community members who shared their lives with me over the course of OrigiNatives, which was much more than a dissertation project. While all spent a day of their lives with me, some did so while I sat on their apartment couches as they shared their stories, whereas for others, it was over breakfast or even dinner; and on several occasions, with their families. I am incredibly grateful for i and heartened by their commitment to OrigiNatives and storytelling. Additionally, I am thankful for Amy Kranz and Renay Tolbert for connecting me with Mary LaGarde (and Mary LaGarde herself) at the Minneapolis American Indian Center, who provided me with the space and support to host OrigiNatives, as did the Little Earth Youth Development Center, the American Indian Cancer Foundation, the Indigenous People’s Task Force, the Takoda Institute, the Division of Indian Work, the American Indian Student Cultural Center, Minneapolis College, Elder’s Lodge, the American Indian Family Center, and the American Indian Community Housing Organization. Nyà:wę. I am filled with gratitude for the individuals and communities who are my people, including the NICE Lab, my cohort mate Majel Baker, and my friends in the community. I am thankful for my fiancé, Graham Calderon, who has supported me throughout my endeavors, both academic and otherwise. For Payton Counts, Ighedosa Ogbeide, and Darien Ruzzicone, who patiently and enthusiastically helped participants create their digital stories and dedicated several days of their lives to OrigiNatives. Alas, words cannot express the gratitude I have for the Tuscarora Nation, my home. I am eternally grateful for life on the rez and the community that serves as the foundation of my commitment to a psychology that is for, and - in the case of my dissertation - by, Native peoples. I would like to acknowledge Randy’s Smoke Shop and the Chrysler family, who graciously paid for my textbooks throughout college; Patty Fisher, who baked me strawberry rhubarb pies “for the drive” and the families and smoke shops who sent me off with enough gas money in hand for a one-way trip from the rez to Minnesota six years ago. ii Dedication Dedicated to my grandfather, Lawrence Fish (“Super Chief”), who was a lifelong resident of the Tuscarora Nation; who taught me that if I start something, I must finish it. I also dedicate this to my grandmother, Clara Fish, who still resides on our reservation, and who keeps asking, “When are you going to finish your big paper?” I dedicate this to their parents, and grandparents; my great and great great grandparents, who lived on the land I was raised on after returning home from Carlisle and Haskell Indian Schools. This has, and always been, for them. iii Abstract Psychological research has demonstrated that Native peoples engage with shared meanings of cultural phenomena in their environments when forming their identities. These are referred to as cultural representations and are critical for Native peoples to form a coherent and meaningful sense of self. To date, empirical studies on cultural representations use experimental methods to measure the effect of media representations on identity-related outcomes among Native adolescents from reservations and in academic settings. These studies take a top-down approach that neglects the range of cultural representations and the intrapsychic processes Native peoples use to engage with them during identity formation, as well as well-known constructs from cultural psychology that have implications for individuals’ identities. The present study addresses these limitations through a bottom-up approach using narrative and digital storytelling strategies to answer the following research questions: 1) What cultural representations are present in narratives of urban Native peoples? 2) How do urban Native peoples internalize and resist the aforementioned cultural representations? And 3) How do well- known cultural psychology constructs relate to these cultural representations and narrative processes? To answer these questions, participants (n = 73) completed a questionnaire of cultural psychology constructs and open-ended story prompts, and attended a one-day workshop to create a digital story. For Research Question 1, thematic analysis was used to examine the content of the historical and cultural representations in Native peoples’ environments from their digital story narratives. To address Research Question 2, digital story narratives were examined for narrative processes to determine how Native peoples’ internalized and negotiated with historical and cultural iv representations when forming their identities. For Research Question 3, associations between historical and cultural representations, narrative processes, and well-known cultural psychology constructs were examined through correlations, independent samples t-tests, and chi-square analyses to further contextualize the findings. Results provide rich and descriptive information about historical and cultural representations salient to Native peoples’ identity development, which are discussed through Story Profiles. Implications for Native peoples as active co-constructors of their identities are discussed in relation to the current literature. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………. i Dedication…………………………………………………………………... iii Abstract……………………………………………………………………… iv List of Tables………………………………………………………………… vii List of Figures……………………………………………………………….. viii Author Note……………………………………………………………….…. ix Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review………………………….….. 1 Chapter 2: Research Method…………………………………………...……. 34 Chapter 3: Results…………………………………………….……….…….. 72 Chapter 4: General Discussion…………………………………….…….…... 140 References…………………………………………………………………… 148 Appendix A: OrigiNatives’ Workshop Guide……………………………….. 170 Appendix B: OrigiNatives’ Step-By-Step Research Protocol……………….. 176 Appendix C: Narrative Transcripts of Digital Stories 1-67………………….. 190 Appendix D: Questionnaire and Story Prompts……………………………... 313 Appendix E: Tier I and II Coding Manual…………………………………… 345 Appendix F: Tier III Coding Manual………………………………………… 357 Appendix G: Original Prospectus……………………………………………. 375 vi List of Tables Table 1 Participant Tribal Affiliations……………………………………….. 39 Table 2 Participant Demographics & Descriptive Statistics………………… 40 Table 3 Tier I Descriptive Statistics & Reliability Coefficients…………….. 51 Table 4 Tier II Descriptive Statistics & Reliability Coefficients……………. 53 Table 5 History & Culture Theme Definitions………………………………. 56 Table 6 Tier III Reliability Coefficients……………………………………... 63 Table 7 Narrative Processes Descriptive Statistics & Reliability Coefficients. 65 Table 8 Tier III Frequencies of Themes & Representations…………………. 84 Table 9 Tier III Descriptive Statistics for Themes & Representations………. 86 Table 10 Independent Samples T-Tests for History…………………………. 118 Table 11 Independent Samples T-Tests for Culture…………………………. 119 Table 12 Zero Order Correlations & Descriptive Statistics………………..... 135 Table 13 Partial Correlations………………………………………………… 136 vii List of Figures Figure 1 The Indigenist Ecological Systems Model…………………………. 8 Figure 2 Illustration of Three-Tier Coding System………………………….. 47 Figure 3 Final History Thematic Map………………………………………... 59 Figure 4 Final Culture Thematic Map……………………………………….. 60 Figure 5 Illustration of Ecological Profiling System for Story Profiles #1a-c.. 69 Figure 6 Illustration of Ecological Profiling System for Story Profiles #2a-c.. 70 Figure 7 Illustration of Ecological Profiling System for Story Profiles #3a-c.. 71 Figure 8 OrigiNatives’ Website legend……………………………………… 88 Figure 9 Results of Story Profiles #1a-c……………………………………... 126 Figure 10 Results of Story Profiles #2a-c……………………………………. 129 Figure 11 Results of Story Profiles #3a-c……………………………………. 132 viii Author Note The