Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Different Names For Bullying, Marco Poggio

Capstones

“There's all different forms of bullying,” says Steven Gray, a Lakota rancher and former law enforcement officer living in South Dakota. In this look into Gray’s life, we learn about two instances of bullying: the psychological and physical harassment that pushed his son, Tanner Thomas Gray, to commit suicide at age 12; And the controversial construction of an oil pipeline in an ancient tribal land that belongs to the Lakota people by rights of a treaty signed in 1851, which Gray sees as an institutional abuse infringing on the sovereignty of his people. Gray is involved in the movement that …

From Sacred To Profane: European Materials Integration Into Mississippian Cosmology, Campbell Walker

Anthropology Undergraduate Senior Theses

Interpreting the significance of materials used by southeastern Native Americans to express their cosmological beliefs reveals certain trends that reflect changes in culture over time. We recognize that, for many hundreds of years within the Mississippian period, artifacts fashioned from specific materials reflected the relationship between these materials and their place in native cosmology. In the post-Mississippian period, nontraditional materials became available that were used to fashion these same traditional artifact forms. I present research on how Native Americans integrated these new materials into their cosmology by drawing analogies and distinctions between uses of traditional and nontraditional materials in relation …

Native American Young Adults In Their Transition To College, And Persistence Through The First Year, Adrian Alexander Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation study focused on a mixed-methods exploration of Native American students’ perceptions of risks and protective factors as they transitioned to college at a predominately White institution (PWI), and navigated through their first year. Due to low numbers of Native Americans at PWIs, individuals have described feeling invisible, which negatively impacts their ethnic identity development, sense of belonging, wellbeing, and retention in college. Factors involving respect, positive relationships, cultural affirmation, and resiliency are associated with success and retention for Native American students.

A mixed-methods model, guided by grounded theory and principles of social justice advocacy provided a reflection on …

Northwest Coast Native American Art: The Relationship Between Museums, Native Americans And Artists, Karrie E. Myers

Museum Studies Theses

Museums today have many responsibilities, including protecting and understanding objects in their care. Many also have relationships with groups of people whose items or artworks are housed within their institutions. This paper explores the relationship between museums and Northwest Coast Native Americans and their artists. Participating museums include those in and out of the Northwest Coast region, such as the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, the Burke Museum, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Museum. Museum professionals who conducted research for some of these museums included Franz Boas, …

Using Photography As An Anthropological Approach To Studying Culture At The Mount Pleasant Lndian Lndustrial Boarding School, 1893-1934, David Brown

Masters Theses

This project is designed to study the culture of Native American boarding schools through the visual domain of photography. I have chosen the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan as a case study. I specifically examine how photographs depict themes of Native American student assimilation, domestic care and order, living conditions, communication, ethnic composition, and resistance. There has been very little written on the history and culture of the boarding school in Mount Pleasant, much less any analysis that has been done with the photographs. I am combining the available written and visual materials of …

Through The Gateway: Marijuana Production, Governance, And The Drug War Détente, Michael Polson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the 1996 voter approval of medical marijuana laws in California, marijuana policy has become increasingly liberalized. Producers, however, have remained in the greyest of grey market zones. Federal anti-drug laws and supply-side tactics have intensively targeted them even as marijuana has become more licit. In this legally unstable environment, marijuana patient-cultivators and underground producers have articulated and asserted themselves politically and economically, particularly as the likelihood of full legalization has increased. This dissertation explores how producers navigated the nebulous zone between underground and medical markets. I argue that even as producers supplied marijuana to a formalizing, regulated medical industry …

Minority Librarians In Higher Education: A Critical Race Theory Analysis, Kelli Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The library profession as a whole is predominantly white with a large discrepancy between the percentage of minorities in the United States in general and the percentage of professional librarians who are minorities. Despite past recruitment efforts, there remains a dearth of minority librarians in higher education and the reasons for this remain unclear. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate minority librarian experiences in higher education and their perceptions of supports and barriers encountered in becoming and being professional librarians. Five themes emerged from the data. The first theme pertained to the spirit of service and activism …

Indigenous Curation At The Denver Museum Of Nature And Science, Julia Marie Strunk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the questions of how and why indigenous curation is incorporated into collections care and management for American Indian sacred, ceremonial, and religious items at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) through the examination of staff discourse. This thesis also discusses the importance of incorporating non-Western ontologies and epistemologies into classically Western science and natural history museums, and how this helps reconcile differing collections care and management practices. Through the presentation and examination of data and literature, I argue that it is important to include indigenous curation in museums because it aids in cultural revitalization and …