A valuable, perceptive analysis which discusses
ways to define Indianness,
explains long-standing public misconceptions of Indianness that are
detrimental to Southeastern Indians, and catalogs a variety of cultural
traits of Southeastern Indians, emphasizing the paradoxical ways in which
modernism and attention to the surrounding culture have helped tribes
survive and further preserve their unique traits. The overall purpose
of
the essay is “an exercise in operationally defining 'Indianness.'”
Incorporates definitions by Charles M. Hudson (1976),
Nancy Lurie (1971),
Frederick Barth (1969), J. Anthony Paredes (1991) along with the concept
of “the Ethnographic-Present Fallacy.” The Lumbee (like the
Houmas, Poarch Creeks, and to an extent the Catawbas and Tunica-Biloxis)
have an immediate cultural
past which can be called a “folk culture,” as defined by Paredes
in
1975. By the late 19th century they “were largely or exclusively
monolingual
in English, thoroughly Christianized, often genetically intermixed with
outsiders to a considerable degree, and usually bereft of obvious artistic
and ritual markers of cultural distinctiveness.... [their] rustic way
of
life...was much like that of their non-Indian rural neighbors...[but]
these
groups retained a distinct social identity as 'Indians' albeit often
a
strongly devalued one” (p. 345).
Paredes notes the recommendation of Eric R. Wolf and
others “that culture is not a given but in a state of constant
construction and negotiation among and between social actors, even if
not fully under their volition. Culture becomes, then, as much the product
of identity formation and maintenance processes as a determinant
of identity status for a people” (p. 347). In his catalog of cultural
traits of Southeastern Indians, Paredes acknowledges the wide variation
among groups and notes “expected” factors that rarely exist
now, as well as some unexpected ones which do. Only the Choctaw and
Miccosukee have an ancestral language still spoken by many or most tribal
members. Only the Seminole have a distinctive house-type; they are also
the only ones with any fairly distinctive articles of clothing (although
many Southeastern Indians adopt “Plains Indian” clothing to
advertise their identity).
Continuing his list of cultural traits of Southeastern
Indians, Paredes
notes that some have distinctive crafts traditions, such as baskets
and pottery; most belong to Christian denominations, and their predominantly
Indian-membership churches are staples of community life; many have
folktales, herbal remedies, and mystical beliefs that need to be cataloged;
some, like the Lumbee, have global values which are a part of their
identity (Blu, 1980 pp. 148-9: “meanness, pride, and cohesiveness”
); all have a core tendency toward in-marrying; most have, at some point,
practiced subsistence farming; many perform for tourists at outdoor
dramas, powwows, traveling dance teams, Indian villages, or tribal museums;
many make use of the powwow circuit to “consolidate[s] a shared
Indian identity that has great public appeal and produces revenue”
(p. 351); many have various legally incorporated
nonprofit organizations which help them promote the needs and interests
of the tribe; many have been very successful in business enterprises.
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