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Post by ndrthl on Jan 19, 2006 6:31:13 GMT -5
GOING NATIVE IN AMERICA The Benefits of Becoming Indian By Jörg Blech In the United States a growing number of white people are discovering their Native American roots. Some are doing so for financial gain, but most are just looking for the meaning of life. A few weeks, Betty Baker was still just a white housewife. But now the woman, with her piercing blue eyes, goes by the name "Little Dove" --and has jettisoned her apron for an elaborate deerskin dress. "I am an Indian and I've sensed this my whole life," says the 48-year-old Baker, who lives in a wooden house on the edge of the small town of Pinson, Alabama. Five years ago, after her parents told her that her family probably had some Native American ancestry, she assembled documents and birth certificates and last September was accepted into the Cherokee Tribe of northeast Alabama. The cultural neophyte is now zealously learning the rituals and dances of her newly discovered ancestors. But she certainly isn't alone. Little Dove is just one of thousands of people in the United States who are becoming Indians. The government's official grouping of "Native Americans" is an extremely fast growing minority: between 1960 and 2000 it grew by 640 percent. More than 4 million Americans now describe themselves as Native American, which cannot be explained by the birth rate alone. Much of the growth is due to people like Betty Baker changing their ethnicity. Most of these new Indians have pale skin, some are even blond, and almost all were considered white before. Others point to high cheek bones, brown eyes and straight, glossy hair in their families as unmistakable signs of Indian ancestry. The self-described 'half bloods' may still live in their old homes, but their free time is now taken up by organizing powwows and walking around in costumes like those straight out of old Western movies. Financial benefits NEWSLETTER Sign up for Spiegel Online's daily newsletter and get the best of Der Spiegel's and Spiegel Online's international coverage in your In-Box everyday. But the benefits of racial identity aren't the only ones Indian converts are after. The Indian identity has attracted some poor Americans for the access to university scholarships or free health insurance that comes with it. Potential income from casinos. Indian tribes are allowed to have gambling on their reservations, as long as the tribe is recognized by the US government. A loophole that was originally intended to help many Native Americans out of poverty and deprivation has developed into a huge business. The gambling income nationwide amounts to over $18 billion annually and much of it is distributed among the members of the tribes. One of the biggest casinos in the world -- with 40,000 visitors a day -- is run by the Mashantucket Pequot near Norwich, Connecticut. Since gambling was established in 1986 the number of Indians living there has increased tenfold -- and each week there are new applications. According to Joyce Walker, the administrator of applications, "People say: I've just found out that I'm an Indian, and want to know how I can get my cash." Meanwhile the Mashantucket Pequot have made their entry requirements tougher and demand proof of blood ties. They and other tribes recognized by the state insist that they alone can decide who they accept and who they don't. Even those who turn up with DNA proof can be rejected. This doesn't seem to be putting off these "wannabe" Indians. If they are not accepted by the established tribes many simply found their own. While there are only three recognized Cherokee nations (two in Oklahoma and one in North Carolina), for example, there are now more than 240 tribes from Alaska to Mexico that have been attempting to gain government recognition for years. So far without success. A sense of belonging Circe Sturm of the University of Oklahoma believes these second-class Indians are often simply enjoying themselves. The anthropologist has interviewed more than 70 people who changed ethnic groups about their motivation. She doesn't believe that most of them are just after the money. Many are frustrated and are looking for some kind of meaning in their lives. "If being white is just an empty plate," she says, "then being Indian is a gourmet buffet." Stephen Locke A Indian casino on a reservation in California. Many of the converts connect the indigenous existence with ideals such as equality between the sexes, more democracy and a romantic affinity with nature. The anthropologist found that two things were particularly attractive to the pale-faced Indians: the spiritual rituals and the idea of belonging to a group. An increasing number of Americans want to experience those pleasant feelings -- and that is causing some unrest amongst Indians. In order to escape an invasion of outsiders, even many of the newer tribes are trying to seal themselves off from further claimants. Little Dove's husband Steve Baker is a mechanic and also feels like an Indian. He wears moccasins and a loin cloth, goes to the folklore meetings and wants to be accepted into his wife's tribe as "Running Bear." However, this isn't likely to happen anytime soon. The once so modest hobby tribe in northeast Alabama has swelled to 4,000 Cherokees and is now re-examining its integration policies. Until further notice, no new Indians will be accepted. service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,395703,00.html
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Post by aroundtheworld on Jan 19, 2006 11:46:01 GMT -5
It's sad thta there are so-called "blacks" with more than 40% Amerindian ancestry who cannot be accepted b/c they do not allow those with any african ancestry.
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 22, 2006 2:52:37 GMT -5
It's sad thta there are so-called "blacks" with more than 40% Amerindian ancestry who cannot be accepted b/c they do not allow those with any african ancestry. Were did you read that?
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Post by buddy on Jan 22, 2006 3:04:41 GMT -5
I was about to ask the same question. I never heard that before. What about the Black Seminoles?
But about the growth of "Native Americans" in the U.S., it's definitely mainly because of white Americans who may have a dash of Native American ancestry in their family suddenly identifying as Native American. Cherokee, as probably most of us on this site know, is by far the most popular tribe to claim ancestry from. Most people I've spoken with who say that they are partially Native American almost always say that they are part-Cherokee. Perhaps it's because they don't know for sure what tribe their NA ancestry comes from and Cherokee is probably the best-known, or it could be because they simply can't prove that they have any NA ancestry, but know that it's basically fashionable nowadays to have NA ancestry. Still, it's a fact that many Euro-Americans do indeed have NA ancestry.
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 22, 2006 11:41:59 GMT -5
I was about to ask the same question. I never heard that before. What about the Black Seminoles? But about the growth of "Native Americans" in the U.S., it's definitely mainly because of white Americans who may have a dash of Native American ancestry in their family suddenly identifying as Native American. Cherokee, as probably most of us on this site know, is by far the most popular tribe to claim ancestry from. Most people I've spoken with who say that they are partially Native American almost always say that they are part-Cherokee. Perhaps it's because they don't know for sure what tribe their NA ancestry comes from and Cherokee is probably the best-known, or it could be because they simply can't prove that they have any NA ancestry, but know that it's basically fashionable nowadays to have NA ancestry. Still, it's a fact that many Euro-Americans do indeed have NA ancestry. Most Euro-Americans with Amerindian ancestry do no have Cherokee ancestry. It's just fashionable to say that they had a Cherokee ancestry.I am more likely to believe a person if they claim to have Chowtow ,Iroquis,Navaho ancestry than Cherokee ancestry.
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Post by buddy on Jan 22, 2006 13:43:31 GMT -5
^Right, it is fashionable to be part-Cherokee. If someone is from Oklahoma or Texas and they say they have Cherokee ancestry, I'd be much more inclined to believe that person since Cherokees were forcibly moved to reservations in that part of the country.
While on the subject though, is it true that roughly 1/3 of Euro-Americans have traceable NA ancestry?
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Post by alaina on Jan 22, 2006 14:53:10 GMT -5
People desperate for some kind of culture...
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 22, 2006 16:31:29 GMT -5
^Right, it is fashionable to be part-Cherokee. If someone is from Oklahoma or Texas and they say they have Cherokee ancestry, I'd be much more inclined to believe that person since Cherokees were forcibly moved to reservations in that part of the country. vgambler> True. buddy>While on the subject though, is it true that roughly 1/3 of Euro-Americans have traceable NA ancestry? I have no idea . 1/3 is alot .
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 22, 2006 16:33:33 GMT -5
Also when people say that a family ancestor was "dark" had black hair etc,doesn't mean that the ancestor had Amerindian blood. It could be that the ancestor had black heritage.
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 22, 2006 17:21:10 GMT -5
Interesting article i found.
German Indians: Karl May Festival and Cologne Karnival
No country has more of a fascination with Native Americans than Germany. For more than a century, Germans have been developing Native American hobby clubs, open-air theater festivals, fairs, and carnival costumes. Besides a deep-rooted romantic view of a pre-industrial past and the imagery of cowboy Western movies, the primary cause of this fascination is the work of the nineteenth-century writer Karl May. Though May didn't visit North America until late in life, he wrote many novels about the Wild West, portraying Native Americans as heroes and whites as villains.
Although May's "pro-Indian" slant can be understood as a progressive, anti-colonial message, his writings were also an important part of Nazi mythology. German fascists identified with the Indian as noble savage and as the victim of a modern, corrupt, overly-intellectual world. The Nazis' homespun victim mythology formed the basis for retaliatory aggression against those whom they perceived as threats. Ironically, while Hitler was researching American Indian reservations as models for concentration camps, he made his generals carry around volumes of May's writings.
After World War II, the east-west division of Germany caused a split in the culture of Native American emulation. In East Germany, Indian fan clubs increased because they presented a legal opportunity to gather in large numbers, and May's anti-American, anti-capitalist messages conformed to Eastern-Bloc doctrine. In West Germany, the influx of American popular culture expanded the imagery of the American West. Although an intense pro-Americanism developed after World War II, the notion of European Americans as invaders on Native American soil tied in with the resentment felt during the US military occupation. Also, postwar Germans, discouraged from nationalism and group ritual, sensed a permission to find themselves in other ethnic groups. And, perhaps, criticism of atrocities against Native Americans also gave Germans some relief from their own shame about the Holocaust.
Karl May Festival highlights the annual celebration of May's birthday in his hometown of Radebeul (near Dresden) by hundreds of Germans dressed as Native Americans. Loosely formed groups called tribes gather from all over the country. The local tribe is led by the self-proclaimed chief of this area, Old Bull, also known as Gerhard Fischer. Tourists stream through the two-day festival to witness the various encampments and lifestyle enactments. A broad range of Native American cultures are painstakingly researched in the belief that they are being perverted by modernity and in need of outside preservation. However, artifacts and customs are imaginatively combined with little concern or explanation as to which specific indigenous nations they represent.
Cologne Karnival further documents how Native American images are superimposed on German culture. Every year in February many cities in Germany celebrate Karnival, or Fasching. Over a period of several days, people dress up in costumes, get together, celebrate, and have parades and parties. Children participate, putting on all kinds of homemade and store-bought costumes. Many dress up as Native Americans, further indicating the persistence of May's thinking in German consciousness.
Andrea Robbins and Max Becher
Artist Biography Exhibition Checklist Back to Main Try This On! Catalog Page back to the top
Copyright © 2000 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
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Post by buddy on Jan 22, 2006 20:30:10 GMT -5
Also when people say that a family ancestor was "dark" had black hair etc,doesn't mean that the ancestor had Amerindian blood. It could be that the ancestor had black heritage. That's true too. I do remember an actual genetic study on Euro-Americans which indicated that roughly 1/3 had some African ancestry, thus I would also think that NA ancestry would be at least as frequent since mixing with NAs was never viewed as negatively as mixing with Africans. Sometimes you can detect the NA admixture in Euro-Americans have it in their backgrounds. The cheekbones are often higher, the distinctive eye shapes may be there, etc. I don't think that a trait such as black hair is necessarily a good indicator as some northern Europeans even have it. I'll see if I can find any information regarding NA admixture in Euro-Americans.
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 22, 2006 21:39:23 GMT -5
Also when people say that a family ancestor was "dark" had black hair etc,doesn't mean that the ancestor had Amerindian blood. It could be that the ancestor had black heritage. Buddy>That's true too. I do remember an actual genetic study on Euro-Americans which indicated that roughly 1/3 had some African ancestry, thus I would also think that NA ancestry would be at least as frequent since mixing with NAs was never viewed as negatively as mixing with Africans. GAMBLER> Yeah,Amerindian blood might be found as frequent on Euro-Americans as African ancestry.I would like to see some studies. Buddy>Sometimes you can detect the NA admixture in Euro-Americans have it in their backgrounds. The cheekbones are often higher, the distinctive eye shapes may be there, etc. I don't think that a trait such as black hair is necessarily a good indicator as some northern Europeans even have it. Gambler> My brother in law who is Mostly of German ancestry is 1/8 Amerindian. You can't see any Amerindian in him. He says he tans easily because he has Amerindian blood. Do you think thats why he tans easily? Buddy>I'll see if I can find any information regarding NA admixture in Euro-Americans. Cool.
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Post by Drooperdoo on Jan 22, 2006 22:13:18 GMT -5
Buddy, Here's an article on Dr. Mark Shriver's finding that about 1/3rd of white Americans have some level of sub-Saharan dna: multiracial.com/content/view/451/27/A quote from the article: "About one-third of White Americans are of between two and twenty percent recent African genetic admixture, as measured by the ancestry-informative markers in their DNA.[19] This comes to about 74 million Americans." ***** This next article--which also mentions Shriver--mentions "Amerindian admixture," too. www.csmonitor.com/2005/0428/p14s02-stct.html
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Post by human2 on Jan 23, 2006 1:26:16 GMT -5
Interesting article i found. German Indians: Karl May Festival and Cologne Karnival No country has more of a fascination with Native Americans than Germany. For more than a century, Germans have been developing Native American hobby clubs, open-air theater festivals, fairs, and carnival costumes. Besides a deep-rooted romantic view of a pre-industrial past and the imagery of cowboy Western movies, the primary cause of this fascination is the work of the nineteenth-century writer Karl May. Though May didn't visit North America until late in life, he wrote many novels about the Wild West, portraying Native Americans as heroes and whites as villains. Although May's "pro-Indian" slant can be understood as a progressive, anti-colonial message, his writings were also an important part of Nazi mythology. German fascists identified with the Indian as noble savage and as the victim of a modern, corrupt, overly-intellectual world. The Nazis' homespun victim mythology formed the basis for retaliatory aggression against those whom they perceived as threats. Ironically, while Hitler was researching American Indian reservations as models for concentration camps, he made his generals carry around volumes of May's writings. After World War II, the east-west division of Germany caused a split in the culture of Native American emulation. In East Germany, Indian fan clubs increased because they presented a legal opportunity to gather in large numbers, and May's anti-American, anti-capitalist messages conformed to Eastern-Bloc doctrine. In West Germany, the influx of American popular culture expanded the imagery of the American West. Although an intense pro-Americanism developed after World War II, the notion of European Americans as invaders on Native American soil tied in with the resentment felt during the US military occupation. Also, postwar Germans, discouraged from nationalism and group ritual, sensed a permission to find themselves in other ethnic groups. And, perhaps, criticism of atrocities against Native Americans also gave Germans some relief from their own shame about the Holocaust. Karl May Festival highlights the annual celebration of May's birthday in his hometown of Radebeul (near Dresden) by hundreds of Germans dressed as Native Americans. Loosely formed groups called tribes gather from all over the country. The local tribe is led by the self-proclaimed chief of this area, Old Bull, also known as Gerhard Fischer. Tourists stream through the two-day festival to witness the various encampments and lifestyle enactments. A broad range of Native American cultures are painstakingly researched in the belief that they are being perverted by modernity and in need of outside preservation. However, artifacts and customs are imaginatively combined with little concern or explanation as to which specific indigenous nations they represent. Cologne Karnival further documents how Native American images are superimposed on German culture. Every year in February many cities in Germany celebrate Karnival, or Fasching. Over a period of several days, people dress up in costumes, get together, celebrate, and have parades and parties. Children participate, putting on all kinds of homemade and store-bought costumes. Many dress up as Native Americans, further indicating the persistence of May's thinking in German consciousness. Andrea Robbins and Max Becher Artist Biography Exhibition Checklist Back to Main Try This On! Catalog Page back to the top Copyright © 2000 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts God the Germans and Japanese are such neurotic, funny people, even evidenced in the personalities of members on Dodona. How the Italians ever get into that Axis. Vela, do you have a link to this article?
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Post by vgambler33 on Jan 23, 2006 1:37:30 GMT -5
Interesting article i found. German Indians: Karl May Festival and Cologne Karnival No country has more of a fascination with Native Americans than Germany. For more than a century, Germans have been developing Native American hobby clubs, open-air theater festivals, fairs, and carnival costumes. Besides a deep-rooted romantic view of a pre-industrial past and the imagery of cowboy Western movies, the primary cause of this fascination is the work of the nineteenth-century writer Karl May. Though May didn't visit North America until late in life, he wrote many novels about the Wild West, portraying Native Americans as heroes and whites as villains. Although May's "pro-Indian" slant can be understood as a progressive, anti-colonial message, his writings were also an important part of Nazi mythology. German fascists identified with the Indian as noble savage and as the victim of a modern, corrupt, overly-intellectual world. The Nazis' homespun victim mythology formed the basis for retaliatory aggression against those whom they perceived as threats. Ironically, while Hitler was researching American Indian reservations as models for concentration camps, he made his generals carry around volumes of May's writings. After World War II, the east-west division of Germany caused a split in the culture of Native American emulation. In East Germany, Indian fan clubs increased because they presented a legal opportunity to gather in large numbers, and May's anti-American, anti-capitalist messages conformed to Eastern-Bloc doctrine. In West Germany, the influx of American popular culture expanded the imagery of the American West. Although an intense pro-Americanism developed after World War II, the notion of European Americans as invaders on Native American soil tied in with the resentment felt during the US military occupation. Also, postwar Germans, discouraged from nationalism and group ritual, sensed a permission to find themselves in other ethnic groups. And, perhaps, criticism of atrocities against Native Americans also gave Germans some relief from their own shame about the Holocaust. Karl May Festival highlights the annual celebration of May's birthday in his hometown of Radebeul (near Dresden) by hundreds of Germans dressed as Native Americans. Loosely formed groups called tribes gather from all over the country. The local tribe is led by the self-proclaimed chief of this area, Old Bull, also known as Gerhard Fischer. Tourists stream through the two-day festival to witness the various encampments and lifestyle enactments. A broad range of Native American cultures are painstakingly researched in the belief that they are being perverted by modernity and in need of outside preservation. However, artifacts and customs are imaginatively combined with little concern or explanation as to which specific indigenous nations they represent. Cologne Karnival further documents how Native American images are superimposed on German culture. Every year in February many cities in Germany celebrate Karnival, or Fasching. Over a period of several days, people dress up in costumes, get together, celebrate, and have parades and parties. Children participate, putting on all kinds of homemade and store-bought costumes. Many dress up as Native Americans, further indicating the persistence of May's thinking in German consciousness. Andrea Robbins and Max Becher Artist Biography Exhibition Checklist Back to Main Try This On! Catalog Page back to the top Copyright © 2000 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts God the Germans and Japanese are such neurotic, funny people, even evidenced in the personalities of members on Dodona. How the Italians ever get into that Axis. Vela, do you have a link to this article? Im not Vela. www.ybca.org/archive/trythison/try_ldeeper/german_indians_deep.htm
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