American Indian Culture and Research Journal

We have seen how these people look and act in their own countries; we will now take a peep at them, mixing and mingling with the polished and enlightened of the world. We have seen them in the darkness of the wilderness; we will now see how they bear the light. George Catlin, ca. 1848 Native American peoples, like Europeans, have an intellectual history worth reconstructing. This premise is vital to any understanding of relations between Europeans and others on the colonial frontier, because, as James Axtell elucidates, the ideas of both parties “have consequences when they are translated by will into action.” Given the strong resistance of many indigenous peoples to the colonial enterprise, it is important to understand their cultural philosophies and reasoning. Towards that larger goal, this paper intends to reconstruct Paxoche (Ioway) perceptions of England’s socioeconomic system, laws, and judiciary, as observed during their 1844-45 European tour.

Approximately twenty years ago, American Indian studies programs surfaced in academic institutions in the United States. Some institutions emphasized research, while others focused on teaching, cultural activities, and community service functions. As Russell Thornton explained, the emergence of these programs differed from the histories of most previously existing disciplines. The fundamental difference is that, historically, a discipline came first, followed by its structural component (faculties, courses, and programs). In the case of American Indian studies, the structural element preceded the formalization of intellectual issues. There is still debate over the disciplinary validity of American Indian studies. A standard measure of a discipline is its ability to generate and sustain a scholarly body of literature. Citation analysis is one method for examining and classifying that literature. Citation analysis can examine the scholarly literature emanating from American Indian studies and address questions such as, Who are the most frequently cited authors? Which subject areas receive frequent citation? What are the ages of the most frequently cited works? Which works, including scholarly journals, receive the most citation?

The perseverance of North American native cultures has finally focused attention on the durability of their lifestyles and on the mechanisms they employ for effective cultural maintenance. These nations represent clear examples of successful cultural adaptation and transformation in terms of both morphostatic and morphogenetic processes. Although native peoples struggled with the complexities of these challenges through time, their persistence is clearly indicative of durability, not simply as the result of social maintenance but as clear evidence of the amazing adaptability built into their processes of socialization and education, both formal and informal. In the initial period of European contact with native peoples, little consideration was afforded the subject of aboriginal cultural structure and operation, because these cultures were targeted for a quick takeover and/or annihilation. Differences between European and aboriginal lifestyles were summarily dismissed by explorers who were propelled by a strong ethnocentrism. From the European perspective, if a culture was different, it was simply inferior. What use could there be in investigating an alternate (and inferior) way of life when the primary goal was economic pursuit? No questions were asked about the origins or history of the native lifestyle, nor did anyone inquire as to its remarkable tenacity and persistence. From first contact, there was a unilateral campaign of conquest. The lndian was expected to listen, and the newcomer talked. In some cases, it was an uncontested conquest, because the natives were favorably inclined toward the newcomers and because they recognized aspects of the imported religion as similar to their own, and they readily bought into it.

It was 24 July 1766, and the eyes of the Ottawa and Wyandot warriors suggested they were displeased with their situation as they gathered for a conference between their spokesmen-Teata and Pontiac-and British Indian superintendent Sir William Johnson. Their disapproving stare would not have been directed at the superintendent but at the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga warriors accompanying Sir William. Johnson downplayed the Iroquois Confederacy’s presence at Lake Ontario in his reports to London, although their presence was crucial to his negotiations with the western nations. The confederacy’s presence at the conference conveyed a clear message: The Six Nations Iroquois, despite some internal political problems, would remain the centerpiece of Anglo-Indian relations, even as that policy moved into the Great Lakes region. Even Pontiac, who came in the ”name of all Nations to the Westward” could not ignore the implied message. The warriors, chiefs, diplomats, interpreters, and soldiers who gathered at Lake Ontario in 1766 were trying to put an end to the Anglo-Indian War of 1763-65, a war commonly referred to as ”Pontiac’s Rebellion.” Thanks to writers such as Francis Parkman and Howard Peckham, Pontiac’s Rebellion is one of the most thoroughly documented “Indian” events of the colonial period. Only recently, however, has the Native American perspective been explored. Recent studies by Michael N. McConnell, Richard White, and Gregory Evans Dowd direct historians toward a new appreciation for the complexities of the issues faced by western Indians as they decided whether to take ”up the hatchet’’ against the British. This is study builds on these more recent works by examining a variety of political, generational, and religious issues that Sir William Johnson tried to resolve when he met with Pontiac in July 1766.

INTRODUCTION Storytelling is a valued characteristic of some nations in the Native American population. Storytelling is often used to convey important information and major points to be learned. Some significant American Indian values that can be of assistance to counselors and therapists in the counseling process are shared in this culturally appropriate format. Following is a discussion of the importance of such values when correctly incorporated in counseling techniques. It is essential that counselors be aware of some background, history, and specific issues confronting clients from various ethnic groups who seek psychotherapy. Inherent in that awareness should be a knowledge of the value systems of these clients. This is especially true regarding the values of the American Indian, which differ greatly from and directly conflict with those of the dominant Euro-American culture. It is possible that this conflict could transfer to the therapeutic setting between an American Indian client and a non-Indian counselor. Acquisition of knowledge and understanding regarding the Native American’s value system can help the counselor minimize such conflict. The purpose of this paper is to present several significant values of Native Americans that may greatly facilitate the therapeutic process with an Indian client. This information is communicated in the form of a story, mimicking the storytelling of American Indian culture. George Howard pinpoints the importance of the storytelling tradition in imparting cultural values when he states that ’’the young learn to tell the dominant stories of their cultural group-be those stories scientific, civic, moral, mathematical, religious, historical, racial, or political in nature.”’ Tappan and Brown reinforce the importance of this tradition, citing the development of moral reasoning skills. Through the verbal retelling of one’s own experiences, one internalizes the meaning of the story. This act entails acknowledgment and expression of one’s moral perspective, honoring what one feels and thinks, and ultimately claiming responsibility for one’s action; the latter being a true mark of maturation.

Several studies have reported negative correlations for medical resources and homicide rates among general populations in the United States. Another study, however, found that, for fifteen Western European nations, suicide and homicide rates increased as medical resources improved. The present study found strong, positive correlations for the number of available hospital beds per 100,000 population and suicide and homicide rates among United States Indian Health Service (IHS) areas, raising additional cross-cultural questions about the medical resources hypothesis. For many years, scholars have tried to explain the differential distribution of suicide and homicide rates. Culturalists tend to point to underlying normative value systems, while structuralists focus on poverty and inequality. Research from these two approaches has produced contradictory findings. Recently, it has been suggested that culturalists and structuralists have overlooked factors involved in the production of suicide and homicide rates. Several studies suggest that appropriate medical resources influence mortality rates and may prevent borderline cases from becoming suicide and homicide statistic. By assuming that victims die solely because they have sustained a wound, culturalists and structuralists may have failed to consider the role of available medical resources.

In September 1899, Crow Dog submitted a claim to the United States Army for fifty dollars, for a horse killed at Wounded Knee. He stated that he had served as a scout for Lieutenant Colonel Smith of the 8th Infantry and that Indian agent Major Wright had promised him he would be paid. The commissioner of Indian affairs asked J. George Wright, who was then serving as the United States Indian inspector for Indian Territory, to verify the claim. In the National Archives-Southwest Region, buried among thousands of pages of records relating to Wright's accounts, is his reply, which gives some interesting background on Crow Dog and his claim. According to Wright, "[I]t seems highly improbable that Crow Dog, always recognized as a leader in the hostile element would have been engaged as a scout." Wright noted that Crow Dog had been sentenced to hang for killing Chief Spotted Tail in 1882 but was eventually released and "was always considered a disturbing element and was the leader in all troubles.” Like a good federal bureaucrat, Wright closes by passing the buck and suggesting that the commissioner contact Lieutenant Colonel Smith.