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Pan…

Who are the Native Americans?

• The term “Native American” reflects over 500 different groups with diversity in the following areas:– Geographic region– Religious and cultural

practices– Language– Obtaining/sustaining

resources – Socioeconomic conditions– Clothing– Housing

The Indian Image

• The typical Indian image represented in folk culture often includes:

– Indians riding horseback

– Dwelling in tepees

– Hunting buffalo

Stereotypes of the Native American

• Indians were portrayed as savage and animal-like; dangerous, uncivilized, illiterate heathens, diggers on a land of gold.

• The romanticized image presented Indians as part of nature operating in perfect harmony with the earth.

• The realistic image is a combination of many good and bad characteristics; developed linguistically, economically, and politically organized, these tribes often exceeded the white mans expectations. Like all societies they had times of peace and war, abundance and despair.

Roots of Pan-Indianism

• Native American groups formed a pan Indian agenda in order to unite against the whites

• This agenda did not and could not exist pre-Columbus

• The early pan-Indian movement was marked by violence in response to the whites treatment of the native Indians

Pan-Indianism

• Involves the process of synthesizing the collective spiritual reality and the traditional wisdom of more than one Native American nation

• Provides a way of practicing Native American spirituality for young families assuring them an extended family network while stimulating the next generation to remain Indian.

Pan Indianism

• The pan-Indian movement is made up of all races but the largest contingency are non-federally recognized Indians who are desperately clinging to their “Indian identity”

• Commonality is the foundation for modern pan-Indianism

Pan-Indianism“the process by which certain American Indian groups are losing their tribal distinctiveness and in its place are developing a generalized, nontribal “Indian” cultureThus it represents the disappearance of distinctive tribal cultures the loss of tradition, and the decline of Indian identity.Which Indian-derived stems largely from the Prairie Plains culture areas, and minor elements from the Northeast, Southeast and SouthwestViews pan-indianism as the final stage in a process of cultural evolution that immediately preceded total assimilation.

Pan-Indianism• Is nothing more than intertribal diffusion, and that native

Americans have always enjoyed giving and receiving new religious cults, dances, and musical forms and that many ceremonies such as the Sun Dance, etc. have enjoyed a wide are distribution, are hence Pan-Indian

• In the days when Indian cultures were more or less intact, the borrowing of a new warrior society dance, social dance, or religion and its associated music usually meant a formal exchange between two distinct tribal groups, donors and borrowers. The exchange took place at a large gathering, and each group was represented by its headmen.

Diffusion Intratibal diffusion- describes the process through which a

song spreads widely within a reservation community or among reservation communities of the same linguistic stock

Homostylic diffusion- is defined by the performance of the song

Intracultural diffusion- describes the process by which a song is sung

Transcultural diffusion- describes the type of movement in which a song may break through its cultural boundaries on the Plains and be absorbed, though not unchanged, by other cultural groups.

Diffusion• Pan-Indian diffusion more often involves the appropriation

of selected elements from a stock of generalized “Indian” culture by individuals or groups.

• The borrowers of Pan-Indian forms are usually sublimely unaware of the specific tribal origins of the forms being borrowed today.

• Instead they view their borrowing merely as the assumption or resumption of something “Indian” as opposed to something “White.”

• These forms are “Indian” and they, the borrowers, are “Indian” as well, or wish to be considered such, and therefore adopt the form enthusiastically.

Formation of AIM

• Due to complaints of police harassment the Anishinaabee of Minneapolis formed the “Indian patrol” to monitor police activity

• The American Indian Movement was organized in 1968 by Clyde Hellecourt, Dennis Banks, and George Mitchell; three patrol leaders from the “Indian patrol”

Movements• 1968: American Indian Movement

formed• 1968: Mohawk Indians Blockade the

international bridge between Canada and New York, protesting their supposed “rights” to free passage

• 1969: under the name “Indians of all tribes,” a group of young Indians seized Alcatraz. They issued a “proclamation to the great white father” demonstrating their grievances

• 1972: “Trail of Broken Treaties” 500 people marched from Minneapolis to Washington proposing that the federal government reestablish a treaty making relationship with Indians– This march occurred prior to

political elections, so in order to avoid conflict and violence they agreed to review the 20 demands and pay for their transportation home.

• 1973: “Wounded Knee”, AIM leaders Banks and Means chose the site of the massacre of big foot’s band in 1890 to dramatize their opposition to the BIA. The demanded self-determination and a return of tribal sovereignty– This movement lasted 71 days and was filled with violence,

murder, and suspicion– Finally ended when the government agreed to investigate their

grievances and demands• 1978: “The Longest Walk,” they marched from San Francisco to

Washington DC– Result of the walk was the Native American Freedom of Religion

Act

Movements

American Indian Movement “AIM”

• In the past AIM has had a history of violence–Demonstrators protested

against; beatings, unlawful imprisonment, and deaths of Indians

• AIM today continues to work for Indian rights and communities but with less militant confrontation and media visibility

Post Industrial Pan-Indianism

• This movement began in 1977, when the Haudenosaunee and Indians from North and South America presented their “great Law of Peace” to The United Nations– This came with a warning

that the process of colonialism was destroying the earth’s ability to renew herself

Powwow• The term “Powwow” came

from the Algonkian-speaking Indians of the Northeastern part of the U.S.

• The word referred to a shaman or teacher, a dream or vision, or a council or gathering, rather than to a dance or celebration like it does today

• When the English met with the Indian leaders they would “powwow together”

• In Indian society one might visit a “powwow” because of his healing or spiritual powers

The Plains Indian Influence• Powwows are largely influenced by the Indian people of the great

plains during the 1800’s, with their roots in celebrations of North American tribes long before the introduction of Europeans

• People came together to hunt, plant, gather and celebrate while renewing family, clan and tribal ties

• Powwows also were used to forge political and social alliances, celebrate victories and practice religious and spiritual ceremonies

Early “Powwows”• Initially they were tribal in nature but sometimes became

intertribal and generally involved music and dance as an expression of cultural pride and practice

• Powwow dances varied, some were intended to communicate with the universe

• Some dances were performed to honor the spirits of animals which possessed special powers like the eagle or the buffalo

• Some dances and songs were “owned” by specific societies within tribes and could only be performed by members of those societies

Contemporary Powwows

• The powwows of today are cultural, ritual, social and spiritual, and they know no tribal boundaries

• Songs or dances that were once performed by specific tribes are now performed from Indian people around the country

• “Gatherings” are for member groups only, unlike the powwows where everyone is invited including whites

Powwow

Bibliography

• Howard, James H. “Pan-Indianism in Native American Music and Dance”. Society For Ethnomusicology, Inc. 1983

• Review: Powers, William K. “War Dance: Plains Indian Musical Performance”. University of Arizona Press. 1990

• Native American Information Service (1997). A Short History of Pan-Indianism Retrieved March 30, 2006 on the World Wide Web: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/119.html

• Modern Native American Militancy (2000). THE RISE OF INDIAN MILITANCY  Retrieved March 30, 2006 on the World Wide Web: http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/Indianmil.htm