American Studies Commons^™

Book Review Of Native American Language Ideologies: Beliefs, Practices, And Struggles In Indian Country Edited By Paul V. Kroskrity And Margaret C. Field, William F. Weigel

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

As its editors note, this collection is the first work on language ideology especially devoted to Native American languages. Its twelve articles (plus the editors’ introduction) mainly involve languages of the United States (with one each from Canada and Central America) and represent a mix of contributions by Native and non-Native scholars. The offerings generally center on the authors’ own field research, often supplemented by historical and linguistic background from secondary sources. Several themes run through many of these studies. One is a rejection of the notion that a language ideology is the monolithic stance of an entire culture. There …

Ranching And State School Land In Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Jacqueline Vadjunec, Rebecca Sheehan

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Ranchers in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, have turned to leasing school trust land to sustain and sometimes expand their operations. Changes in the land tenure process have undergone profound transformations in the last 20 years, greatly impacting land use in the region. Coupled with an almost decade-long drought, land managers pursuing seemingly “traditional” agricultural practices call upon increasingly complicated, mixed private and public tenure options in order to make ends meet. Using a political ecology framework, we examine conflicting relationships between school land, the state, and local land managers as well as the sustainability of cattle ranching on school trust land …

Book Review Of Great Plains: America’S Lingering Wild By Michael Forsberg., Joe C. Truett

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Michael Forsberg’s magnificent photos of land, animals, and people compelled me initially to turn page after page of Great Plains. The wonderful color images pulled me into the initial historical overview and chapter introductions by historical geographer David Wishart, field journal anecdotes by Forsberg himself, and the intensely personal essays by wildlife biologist and rancher Dan O’Brien. Ted Kooser’s foreword poetically set the tone for both the photography and the text. Forsberg and O’Brien present short pieces up front to introduce the book. Then comes a sweeping historical overview by Wishart, telling in about ten text pages and numerous …

The 37th Interdisciplinary Symposium Sponsored By The Center For Great Plains Studies, University Of Nebraska–Lincoln: Diverse Faces, Shared Histories Immigrants On The Great Plains

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This one-day symposium features national and state scholars and writers speaking on various aspects regarding the history, politics, and personal narratives on immigration. Native, Asian, African American, and Latino perspectives vary yet share overlapping histories. This symposium is designed to broaden our perspectives about immigration on the Great Plains.

Book Review Of Retiring The Crow Rate: A Narrative Of Political Management By Arthur Kroeger., Gary Storey

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

It was the Crowsnest Pass Agreement in 1897 between the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the federal government that came to establish the freight rate structure for export grain. When the rates were made statutory in 1925 they remained fixed until 1983, when the Western Grain Transportation Act (WGTA) replaced the Crowsnest Pass Agreement. The fixed-rail freight rate generally provided sufficient revenues for the two major railways, the CPR and the Canadian National Railway (CNR), to develop a network of branch lines of over 19,000 miles of track designed for horse and wagon technology. After 1960, when rail costs of …

The Really Good Buffalo Concept Test For “Values Added” Bison, Diane Rickerl, Tim Nichols, Carol Cumber

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

A consortium of tribal bison producers, tribal and state university faculty, and business professionals defined a “brand” of Native American-raised bison that would reflect the cultural and spiritual values of American Indians and the historic relationship between American Indians and bison. Following a concept-testing market-research approach, surveys were distributed to potential producers and consumers of this “Good Buffalo.” The consumer respondents indicated that environmentally friendly production practices (89%), humane treatment of animals (82.1%), and supporting prairie restoration were very important aspects of the brand. Price was very important for only 42.7% of consumer respondents, and being raised by American Indians …

Determinants Of Net Migration In Montana, Evelyn D. Ravuri

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The Great Plains has experienced population loss for most of the 20th century while the Rocky Mountain region has experienced rapid population growth in the past few decades. This paper examines net migration by county for Montana between 1995 and 2000 disaggregated by age and educational level. Montana was chosen because it straddles the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions and thus provides an opportunity to compare and contrast net migration and population change in two regions undergoing fundamentally different population processes. Regression analysis was applied to determine the predictor variables responsible for net migration between 1995 and 2000. Dependent …

Book Review Of The American Indian Oral History Manual: Making Many Voices Heard By Charles E. Trimble, Barbara W. Sommer, And Mary Kay Quinlan., Susan D. Penfield

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The American Indian Oral History Manual offers a clear, succinct, and practical approach to guide and encourage the collection of American Indian oral history by Indigenous peoples themselves. Building on previous work conducted for the Native American Veteran History Project, it was tested at two Great Plains states workshops (South Dakota and Nebraska) attended by representatives from tribal colleges and veteran interest groups. The authors bring a great deal of expertise to the table in producing this useful text. Charles Trimble, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, has a distinguished record of involvement in Indigenous issues, including service …

Great Plains Research 2010: News And Notes

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

CONFERENCES

October 31–November 3, 2010 The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America will be in Denver, Colorado. The theme is “Reaching New Peaks in Geoscience.” Website: www.geosociety.org/meetings/.

November 17–21, 2010 The 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association will be held Sheraton New Orleans and Marriott New Orleans in New Orleans. The theme is “Circulation.” Website: www.aaanet.org/meetings/.

December 12–15, 2010 The 58th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America will be held at the Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center in San Diego, California. The theme is “Entodiversity: Disciplinary, Biological, and Geographical.” Website: www.entsoc.org/am/index.htm. …

A Test Of Personal Characteristics That Influence Farmers’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Courtney E. Quinn, Mark E. Burbach

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Current models of farmer conservation practices minimize the role of individual personality characteristics. This study examined the relationship between farmers’ use of conservation practices that impact surface water quality and the personality characteristics of work motivation, environmental attitude, and moral reasoning about the environment. A significant negative predictive relationship was found between an externally based self-concept and pro-environmental behaviors. This finding lends support to the notion that farmers concerned about what their neighbors and peers think may not believe their efforts to benefit surface water will be adequately recognized. A significant negative predictive relationship was found between anthropocentric reasoning and …

Book Review Of Criminal Justice In Native America Edited By Marianne O. Nielsen And Robert A. Silverman., Jill E. Martin

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The issues surrounding Native American communities and crime are addressed in the 14 essays in this volume. The book’s underlying premise is that “because of the tragic consequences of colonialism, Native American communities and organizations need more control over their own destinies and need more resources to do so; they need to be able to determine for themselves how to best provide services to their Native American members and clients.” Readers are likely to agree that Native Americans need more control over criminal justice issues. The book’s contribution is to show different ways tribes can undertake such control. The essays …

Book Review Of Native Peoples And Water Rights: Irrigation, Dams, And The Law In Western Canada By Kenichi Matsui, Oliver W. Maclaren

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Native Peoples and Water Rights constitutes a valuable collection of historical case studies that shed light on a category of rights frequently overlooked. These detailed examinations identify the political, economic, and social factors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that influenced legislative and judicial developments regarding the water rights of North America’s First Peoples. Beginning with the adoption of John Locke’s property theory in the proagrarian policies of the Jefferson administration, Matsui documents the formative period of water rights in western North America. This analysis skillfully contextualizes Chief Justice McKenna’s seminal decision in Winters v. United States 207 …

Book Review Of Identity Captured By Law: Membership In Canada’S Indigenous Peoples And Linguistic Minorities By Sébastien Grammond, Patrick Macklem

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In Identity Captured by Law, Sébastien Grammond assesses the constitutional and international legality of rules that control membership in Indigenous societies and the official language minorities of Canada. Grammond’s main argument is that Indigenous and minority membership rules do not violate legal commitments to equality if there is sufficient correspondence between the legal criteria that determine membership and the actual criteria that group members themselves deploy to define themselves. Membership rules based on a racial conception of ethnic identity are less likely than those based on cultural or relational conceptions of ethnic identity to correspond to actual identities and therefore …

Book Review Of A Kansas Year By Mike Blair, Donald W. Kaufman

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Mike Blair, a longterm employee of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, has combined wildlife and nature photographs taken in Kansas over many years into a single “synthetic” year of images. Although Kansas by title and locale, this small-format book (6 x 9 inches) will interest a wide audience, its photos and written text relating, with a few exceptions, as much to the entire Great Plains region as to a single geopolitical entity. Individual entries are presented in a chronological sequence, January through December, not unlike an almanac, each consisting of one or two photos and a page or …

A Soil Water Climatology For Kansas, Michael J. Keables, Shitij Mehta

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Regional climate models suggest that summers in the Great Plains may become increasingly dry during this century, raising concern about the availability of water resources for irrigation and municipal water supplies. While the models predict drier conditions across the region, the impact of climate change on water availability at the local scale will depend largely upon the soils and their ability to store water during dry periods. This study presents a soil water climatology for Kansas using a climatic water balance approach. Monthly observations of temperature and precipitation for the period 1950–2006 are used to calculate climatologies of actual evapotranspiration, …

Book Review Of Unearthing Indian Land: Living With The Legacies Of Allotment By Kristin T. Ruppel. Tucson, Elizabeth James

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The legacies of allotment on reservations—fractionated heirship and dispossession most notably—have been apparent to numerous observers since the early 20th century. In Unearthing Indian Land: Living with the Legacies of Allotment, Kristin T. Ruppel explores contemporary efforts on the part of several Native individuals to correct more than a century of land tenure questions and outright fraud. Although such efforts have potential impact throughout Indian country, Unearthing Indian Land focuses on the local efforts of activists such as Ernee Werelus at Fort Hall in Idaho and Helen Sanders on the Quinault Reservation in Washington. Ruppel correctly traces the origins …

Book Review Of Let’S Speak Chickasaw: Chikashshanompa' Kilanompoli' By Pamela Munro And Catherine Willmond, Joshua D. Hinson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Let’s Speak Chickasaw: Chikashshanompa’ Kilanompoli’ is a landmark achievement in Chickasaw language revitalization and fills a wide gap in the available literature. A Chickasaw Dictionary (1973), compiled by the late Reverend Jesse J. Humes and his wife, the late Vinnie May James Humes, is an English-Chickasaw word list, an effort on the Humes’ part to preserve the language in written form. Chikashshanompa' Holisso Toba'chi: Chickasaw: An Analytical Dictionary (1994) is a remarkable effort of over 12,000 entries and includes a chapter on “The Structure of Chickasaw Words,” a brief though thickly constructed examination of Chickasaw syntax, morphology, and phonology. Let’s …

Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Symptoms Of Adhd, And Associated Outcomes In Middle School Students, Lisa Paige Bateman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given increased evidence related to the importance of fostering life satisfaction in the overall population (Diener & Diener, 1996), as well as recent suggestions regarding the importance of increasing positive academic and social outcomes for youth with ADHD (DuPaul, 2007), it is important to gain a clearer understanding of how life satisfaction may be related to ADHD symptoms. Although research has examined the relationship between life satisfaction and externalizing behavior (Suldo & Huebner, 2004a), research on the relationship between life satisfaction and ADHD is currently limited. This study examined if levels of ADHD symptoms predicted reports of life satisfaction in …

Uncoverings: The Research Papers Of The American Quilt Study Group, Volume 31 (2010), Laurel Horton, Virginia Gunn, Anita B. Loscalzo, Nao Nomura, Pamela Weeks, Jonathan Gregory, Jane Przybysz

Uncoverings Journal

Preface by Laurel Horton

McCall's Role in the Early Twentieth-Century Quilt Revival by Virginia Gunn

Prussian Blue: The Development of a Colorant and Its Use in Textiles Anita B. Loscalzo

The Development of Quiltmaking in Japan since the 1970s by Nao Nomura

"One Foot Square, Quilted and Bound": A Study of Potholder Quilts by Pamela Weeks

Wrapped in Meanings: Quilts for Families of Soldiers Killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars by Jonathan Gregory

Bay Area Beginnings: The American Quilt Study Group and the Twentieth-Century California Fiber Art Movement by Jane Przybysz

Contributors

Index

Writing Southern Race Relations: Stories Ellen Douglas Was Brave Enough To Tell, Suzanne W. Jones

English Faculty Publications

When Ellen Douglas started writing, she drew inspiration from the way William Faulkner and other southern writers whom she admired, like Eudora Welty, depicted southern places. Douglas planted all of her fiction firmly in the region of Mississippi that she knew best; her Homochitto is modeled of Natchez, where she was born, and her Philippi on Greenville, where she lived with her husband and their children. But Douglas reacted against the gothic and mythic elements in Faulkner's work and used as her first literary models the great nineteenth-century realists: Dostoevsky, Flaubert, James, and Tolstoy. She admired Eudora Welty, but found …