American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Occasionally romanticized and often misinterpreted, the crucial role played by native peoples in the development of the American West is none-the-less universally recognized. In particular, the importance of the Pueblo Indians to the history of northern New Mexico is acknowledged by historians, novelists, and present day tourist bureau writers alike. Given the great influence of the Pueblo people in the development of the region, it is not surprising that these Indians played a particularly significant role in the creation of the internationally known artist colony established in the Taos-Santa Fe area during the early years of the twentieth century. Unfortunately the nature of that role has often been oversimplified, either by reducing it to the view that Indians were merely particularly colorful "subject matter," or by relegating it to the realm of unrealistic romanticization of the Indian culture. The Pueblos were, indeed, appealing subjects, but they were also much more than that to many of the artists and authors who settled permanently in the towns of Taos and Santa Fe between 1900 and 1940. The Pueblo Indian culture had a unique and influential role in nurturing both the initial establishment and the continuing productivity of the region as a cultural center, and that role deserves deeper exploration and greater recognition than it has received previously.

A title of this scope might lead the reader to expect some discussion of two great nineteenth century writers: Lewis H. Morgan and Francis Parkman. Indeed Morgan's League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois (Rochester, 1851) started scientific ethnography in America; and Francis Parkman's classic on France and England in North America ran to seven parts, and the remainder into twelve volumes, which represent a kind of literate narrative history that is no longer fashionable among historians. Parkman is not without his biases toward the savages, and he does not lack critics today. However thorough his research, and however much he distorted sources to support his views, as Francis Jennings has charged, he was a great writer and a master of historical style. "Parkman's work is one grand historical novel," as Edmund Wilson once reminded me, and he should be read in that light . Early on Parkman intended to write an Iroquois history, but he abandoned the plan when he found that he could not connect the culture of their living descendants with their historical past. Instead he turned to the then still viable cultures of the Plains as represented in his personal experiences of the Oregon Trail (1872) and derived from the buffalo hunters of the northern Plains the inspiration for the Indians that populated his novel. I remain a Morgan and a Parkman enthusiast, their works merit separate treatment, which I have accorded them elsewhere, and they are not my present concern.

Critique of NEH Code of Ethics William Oandasan What follows is a Code of Ethics for research adopted recently by the National Endowment for the Humanities as a model and principle for awarding research grants relevant to Native American fields of cultural study, as well as the fields of other indigenous peoples. The Code of Ethics is based on the Indian Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 95-561, 1978), the National Historic Preservation Act (Public Law 96-515 and its 1980 amendments), and other pertinent federal laws. The Code, for Native Americans, is the first to be so culturally encompassing. The logical, clear and concise presentation of the Code will stimulate improved relations and productive understanding between the scholars and the Native American tribes and people, given the understanding that no party has an inalienable right to "knowledge" possessed by the indigenous peoples or otherwise. The Code will expand the channels of communication between the scholars and the tribal governments and their memberships, as well as invite more participation from the tribes and their members in research involving their lives and communities. Under the Code Native Americans will be informed of the purpose of any cultural project or research involving them; and any results of a research or project, which will be released for public presentation, must first be submitted for approval by a representative body of the tribal political and traditionalist communities. The individual Native American participants and subjects of any research will be protected for providing informational materials and the materials are retained by the tribal communities; the confidentiality, and preferences for methods of recording data, of the tribal subjects and participants will be respected; and proper acknowledgements and suitable compensation will be reserved for the tribal members-if they choose. The Code will, hopefully, dispose of misunderstandings regarding what rights the tribes and their members can expect when working with scholars and what responsibilities the scholars have to the tribes and their communities.

Current Contributions to American Indian Biography: A Review Essay G. Edward Evans Marilyn Durkin Native Americans: 23 Indian Biographies. By Roger W. Axford. Indiana, PA: Halldin Publishing, 1980. 128 pp. pap. $4.50. Dictionary of Indians of North America. St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1978. 3 vols ., $85.00. Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership. By Frederick j. Dockstader. New York: Van No strand, Reinhold, 1977. 386 pp. $16.95. American Indian Leaders: Studies in Diversity. Edited by R. David Edmunds . Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1980. 257 pp. pap . $5.95. The Third Woman: Minority Women Writers of the United States. By Dexter Fisher. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980. 594 pp. pap. $9.50. Yaqui Women: Contemporary Life Histories. By Jane Holden Kelley. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1978. 265 pp. $12.50. American Indian Intellectuals: 1976 Proceedings of the American Ethnological Society. Edited by Margot Liberty. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1978. 248 pp. pap. $12.95. Problems in American Indian Biography Locating biographical information is a lengthy and frustrating experience. Should one require reasonable accuracy and currency, the search time will probably double. And once one has verified the accuracy and currency of information, he still may not know how complete it is. In those directories which are issued periodically and frequently revised, information is brief but generally up-to-date. Collections of essay-length profiles, however, are usually monographic works and seldom, if ever, revised. Retrospective works thus will not reflect current scholarship while biographies of persons still living will always be partial, and current only as they are being written. The problem is compounded for subjects who are relatively unknown or rarely encountered in print.