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Regional Domesticities: Recalling, Rewriting, And Redefining Gender And Domesticity In The Greater Southwest, A. Laurie Lowrance

English Language and Literature ETDs

This dissertation examines how Native American and Mexican American women in the greater Southwest negotiated domestic expectations within their own cultures while navigating the demands of encroaching Anglo culture to produce something new: hybrid domesticities rooted in the region, which I call regional domesticities. Chapter 1 focuses on María Amparo Ruiz de Burton and connects her novels Who Would Have Thought It? and The Squatter and the Don to the rhetoric of the Overland Monthly. Chapter 2 explores bicultural collaborations between Native American and Anglo women and focuses on Sarah Winnemucca’s Life Among the Piutes and Helen Sekaqueptewa’s Me …

Biogeochemical Processes Affecting Arsenic (As) Release And Bioavailability Near Abandoned Mine Wastes, Cherie L. Devore

Civil Engineering ETDs

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the biogeochemical processes affecting the mobilization and bioavailability of arsenic (As) from mining-impacted sediments to surface water sources and plants. The Cheyenne River Watershed has been affected by mining legacy for several decades. The biogeochemical cycling of As on tribal land is not well understood, which justified the following research objectives: 1) Investigate the effect of competing anions on the release of As from sediments exposed to oxidizing conditions; 2) Evaluate chemical and microbiological processes affecting the release of soluble As, Fe, and Mn from contaminated sediments under laboratory controlled aerobic and …

Contemporary Alaska Native Identities: Creation And Curation By Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Tess Mccoy

Art & Art History ETDs

I focus on contemporary Alaska Native artist, Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Iñupiaq, Athbaskan, Irish, German), her works of art, exhibitions, and her curatorial practices to explain the presentation history of Native American people and how this affects present-day exhibitions. Through her work, I explore the importance of agency of Native people through identity, depictions of themselves, and their people in museum spaces. I examine the history of museum culture as the way in which indigenous agency is removed and reconstructed to fit the needs of interest groups. In contrast, Kelliher-Combs and other advocates attempt to intervene and interrogate the persistence of archaic …

Evaluation Of The New Onset Diabetic Education Program For Navajo Adults, Denise S. Bartley

Nursing ETDs

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is higher in American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) than in any other racial or ethnic group in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2018). In response to this escalating health issue, the U.S. government funded a number of DM education and treatment programs focusing on AI/AN populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the New Onset Diabetes Education Program (NODEP) based at Northern Navajo Medical Center (NNMC) in Shiprock, N.M.

The Navajo philosophy of learning was used as a guiding framework. …

The Indigenous Sovereign Body: Gender, Sexuality And Performance., Michelle S. Mcgeough, Michelle Susan Mcgeough

Art & Art History ETDs

Gender variance and artist production are not topics that are often discussed within the discipline of art history. In fact gender variance and in particular its relationship to sexual orientation was not a topic studied, much less discussed outside of the medical community until the mid-twentieth century. It was generally thought that sexuality and gender were “biologically determined” and deviation from the heterosexual norm was considered pathological. In contrast, Indigenous nations in Canada and the United States had a very different understanding regarding the relationship between gender, biology, and sexual object of choice. One area that provides us with a …

The Past In The Present: Federal Implementation Of The Native American Graves Protection And Repatriation Act, Erin J. Hudson

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation examines the implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act by federal agencies. Specifically, it examines the processes that archaeologists, working in different geographic regions and for different federal agencies, use to complete NAGPRA actions and determine cultural affiliation. A total of nine case studies from two regions (US Southwest and Pacific Northwest) and three federal agencies (USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and US Army Corps of Engineer) were used to document the complete NAGPRA process as it occurs in real situations, to identify the processes and lines of evidence used to complete those actions, …

An Action Research Case Study: A Sociocultural Perspective On Native American Students Learning Mathematics In A Public Elementary School Classroom, Lisa M. Tsuchiya

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This dissertation is a qualitative study utilizing action research methods to develop a case study on the experience of urban public elementary school Native American students in collaborative mathematics activities. Data was collected with observations, mathematics assessments, and interviews to study how public school Native first graders experience collaborative mathematics activities when culturally modified with Indigenous ways of knowing and being? A major challenge in analyzing this work was finding a theoretical framework that could explain the experience of Native students in a multicultural public school. Sociocultural theory was selected because it operationalizes the key features of the study: Indigenous …

Indigenous Perspectives On Contemporary Native Art, Indigenous Aesthetics And Representation, John Paul Rangel

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

In this dissertation I examine and posit Indigenous perspectives on contemporary Native art, Indigenous aesthetics and issues of representation. Contemporary Native art at this moment is best described as an expression of values—personal or communal or cultural—with an attention to material conditions and current issues. I employ Indigenous methodologies and Tribal Critical Race theory as a critical framework to intervene in the dominant discourse on Native art. This research focuses on the narratives and perspectives of eight artists who represent a cross-section of the current state of Native arts production in North America drawing from the local Native arts community …

Preliminary Validation Of A Native American Food Safety Knowledge Survey, Margaret Markham Siebert

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

The objective of this study was to develop and validate a food safety knowledge survey culturally appropriate for Native American Populations. A reiterative three-phased approach (survey generation and item construction, survey item review, and statistical item analysis) to survey validation was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Surveys were given to 28 individuals fitting the demographic criteria: Native American adults who are primary food handlers with children under the age of 10. Surveys were analyzed statistically using item difficulty, item discrimination, and internal consistency. Key informant interviews were conducted with six participants who fit the inclusionary criteria. Key …

Food Handling Perceptions, Practices, Knowledge And Barriers In Native American Primary Food Handlers Of Young Children In New Mexico, Lindsay O'Connell

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Food borne illness among Native American populations exceeds that of majority populations. Due to the unique cultural diversity in New Mexico, these inequities are even greater. Attitudes and behaviors towards food are influenced by social and cultural contexts, yet, there has been limited research relating to the knowledge and perceptions of minority populations. A qualitative research design using focus group methodology was used in this study. The Health Belief Model was used as the theoretical framework. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the food safety practices and beliefs of primary food handlers within Native …

Subversion Through Inversion: Kent Monkman's "The Triumph Of Mischief", Monique Belitz

Art & Art History ETDs

Monkmans acrylic painting The Triumph of Mischief is the central subject of this investigation which includes its relationship to other paintings and objects in the installation The Triumph of Mischief. By applying Mieke Bal's narratology theory, the principles of carnivals as proposed by Mikhail Bahktin, the four dichotomies underlying Western movies, Monkman's appropriation of older art work, his use of various binary opposites and his inclusion of iconographic details from various art history epochs are explained. Investigating the painting from a postcolonial and postmodern theoretical angle demonstrates that several iconic images from Western art history are decolonized by mocking and …

Three Rivers As Transitional Zone: Considering A Collective Metanarrative In Pueblo Prehistory, Heather Kline

Art & Art History ETDs

The Three Rivers petroglyph site in what is presently south central New Mexico represents important concepts for the study of southwestern prehistory. This site has been studied to a limited degree from the perspective of archaeological site surveys that have categorically classified the motifs represented on the petroglyphs, but at this point very little is known about the cultures that lived and created art in the Three Rivers area. The iconography of these images is remarkably similar to that represented on ceramics at both Mimbres during the Classic period (ca. AD 1000-1150), as well as Casas Grandes during the Medio …

Native Artists Helping Our People Endure (Hope): A Social Capital Analysis Of A Grassroots Art Initiative To Address Youth Suicide In An Indigenous Community, Nathania Tsosie

Architecture and Planning ETDs

This study identifies and examines the components of social capital related to a grassroots initiative to address Indigenous youth suicide through art. The Native Artists for HOPE’s Thoreau Youth Art Project was organized by a small group of professional Native American artists in response to a sudden increase of youth suicide in a community on the Navajo Nation. Built on cultural core values identified by the artists themselves, the day long workshop encourages self-expression and creativity as an alternative to risky behaviors believed by community members to be related to suicide. A brief literature review of social capital including its …

The Discourse And Practice Of Native American Cuisine: Native American Chefs And Native American Cooks In Contemporary Southwest Kitchens, Lois Ellen Frank

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation analyzes the emergent Native American cuisine of the American Southwest. It consists of an ethnography of both Native American cooks, who are largely self-taught and practice in noncommercial settings, as well as Native American chefs, some self taught and some professionally trained and working in commercial settings. The ethnographic work includes both extensive and intensive field interviews with chefs and cooks, and close attention to their work in home and professional kitchens. Particular attention is paid to histories of food knowledge, as well as to food preparation concepts, techniques, performance, and aesthetics. The foods employed by these cooks …

An Examination Of Communicative Dialectical Tensions And Paradoxes Encountered By Native American Researchers In The Field And In The Academy, Lorenda Belone

Communication ETDs

This study investigated the communicative dialectical tensions and paradoxical situations faced by Native researchers in the academy and in research with their own communities or with other Native communities. Thematic analysis was conducted on narratives from 12 semi-structured interviews from participants across the country. Three major themes emerged regarding communicative struggles for the participants when conducting research with Native communities: a dialectic of insider/outsider; challenge of developing positive communication; and concerns of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Four major themes emerged with regards to communication challenges for the participants while working in the academy: insider-outsider dialectic, paradox of walking the talk, …

Reflections Of Navajo Culture And Educational Philosophy In Two Fourth-Grade Art Education Classrooms In The Gallup-Mckinley School System, Mara Pierce

Art & Art History ETDs

This project takes a look at the content and the context that is presented to children in two fourth grade public school art classrooms (Gallup-McKinley County Schools district) that primarily serve Dine children. The purpose of this study is to examine the existence and relevancy of the materials delivered in those classrooms, examining how they serve the best interest of those children with respect to their cultural learning philosophies, academic success, and self-awareness as members of the Dine Nation. The project also takes a look at how the children respond to the lessons delivered in those classrooms, particularly how the …

The History Of Children's Literature Of New Mexico, Mina Bannon Ruggles

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual literature for children about New Mexico. The influences of Indian, the Spanish-American, and the Anglo-American cultures of New Mexico on children's literature have been considered. Interesting and outstanding personalities in the field of children's literature also have been presented, and the chronological development of children's literature of New Mexico has been traced.

The Study Of The Stereotype Of The American Indian, George A. Agogino

Sociology ETDs

The object of this investigation is to test two widely accepted hypotheses concerning the stereotype concept of sociology and social psychology by analysis of the American Indian as depicted in comic books, magazines, and motion pictures. From a total of sixty stories about Indians taken from a sampling of these sources a relatively complete stereotype has been abstracted.