Description
Cultural Representation in Native America is a collection of 12 essays that examine the context of racial identity and representation as it relates to Native Americans. The works of social scientists, literary critics, activists, and historians make up this broad collection of papers that address 3 areas of contestation as Native Americans live, work, and play within the broader culture. The editor notes that Aboriginal Peoples must always resort to contestation in order to claim their identity and place in the world. Whether it is the sports mascot issue, Native Barbie dolls, hip-hop groups 'playing Indian' or the misrepresentation of Aboriginal women, the essays tackle the ways Aboriginal Peoples react to this issue of representation surrounding their core identities. The authors include: Norma Alarc¾n, Paula Gunn Allen, Carolyn Dunn-Anderson, Troy Johnson, Andrew JolivÚtte, Philip Klasky, Winona LaDuke, Melissa Nelson, Kim Shuck, and Sara Sutler-Cohen. Winona LaDuke contributes two essays. Masks in the New Millennium tackles the issue of sports team mascots as played out within the University of North Dakota. She carefully outlines the economic, political, and religious factors that uphold the continuation of misrepresentation. In her second essay, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, LaDuke documents the efforts of the family of Crazy Horse to prevent beer companies from misappropriating their ancestor's name for commercial purposes. The final section examines the methods used by mixed-race or Metis people to deal with contemporary issues of identity whether they are Creole or Chicana. This is an important addition to the literature of representation.