WHOSE FACTS AND INTERPRETATIONS?
Pomo Feather Basket with Clamshell Disc Beads and Abalone Shell Pendants
This Web Site is designed to accompany courses I teach (at both Cabrillo and Hartnell colleges) which deal with the Native (or indigenous) Peoples of California. It is NOT meant as a substitute for class lectures or the assigned readings from the texts. Rather, it contains information which I hope will be of use to my students in their attempts to come to a fuller understanding of the indigenous people of California.
Furthermore, since I am writing from an outsider's perspective, I cannot accurately represent Indian desires and interests, I make no pretense to do so, and I have no desire to do so. Michael Dorris, Modoc Indian author, offers some sound advice on the problems associated with studying the cultures and histories of America's indigenous people. He notes that whether we are Native or not, whether we hail from the U.S. or not, we never approach the study of any aspect of America's indigenous peoples with a blank slate. We all carry a host of assumptions and expectations unconsciously internalized, codified, and given "validity" and meaning through exposure to countless Hollywood westerns (from the John Wayne "The only good Indian is a dead one," to the "noble savage" of Dances With Wolves), T.V. programs, novels (including those of Tony Hillerman and James Fenimore Cooper), by childhood cowboy-and-Indian games, and by admonitions from our parents to "stop acting like a bunch of wild Indians." From these multiple sources come our deep-seated images of "Indians:" be they the noble "redman" (think of Squanto or Saccajaweya) or the bloodthristy savage (Pawnees in Dances With Wolves or Mohawks in Last of the Mohicans). We must acknowledge that we begin our inquiry into Native history, not from some neutral point, but many steps back, and we bring to our inquiry a whole host of stereotypes, biases, and prejudices.
Also, it is important for you to remember that anthropologists (and that is what I am) are all-too-human and our interests and scholarship are intricately connected with our biases and prejudices. I freely admit that I am not objective and I do not present "facts," rather I offer information about the inidgenous peoples of California according to my interpretation of the facts, interpretations which reflect my biases and prejudices. However, I try to present information that I believe to be both accurate and non-exploitative. If you find materials associated with this web site which you believe to be inaccurate, or offensive to or exploitative of California's First Peoples, please e-mail me [crsmith@cabrillo.cc.ca.us]. Also, all of the opinions expressed here are mine and not those of my employers, Cabrillo and Hartnell Colleges.
There are several thousand sites on the Web which contain information
concerning North America's indigenous peoples. Many (such as mine) claim
to contain accurate information about the Native peoples. However, some
sites contain information that is not only inaccurate and damaging, but
extremely offensive to North America's indigenous peoples, especially those
sites that portray North America's indigenous peoples as more than human
(the "Noble Savage" stereotype) or less than human (the "Ignoble
Savage"). Also, many sites claim to be authored by a Native person
(when in fact the author is a non-Native masquerading as an Indian), or
they are authored by either Newagers or by Wannabis, that is, someone
who has "discovered" their "Native heritage" (usually
Cherokee or Sioux or both). These are offenses for which there is no punishment
severe enough. As an example of what I'm talking about look at Julia White's
web site. Ms. White claims to have "discovered" her "American
Indian" heritage and writes articles for Connecting Spirit magazine,
articles which discuss "Indian" history. May the Great Spirit
help us if Ms. White gets better known. Her work is full of major inaccuracies
regarding North America's First Nations (such as her erroneous discussion
of the territorial extent of the Chumash) as well as extremely offensive
language (such as her reference to members of the Powhatan confederacy as
"ruthless savages").
How does one critically evaluate a site whose author claims either to be
an "Indian" or to present accurate information on the Native peoples?
An excellent starting point for critically evaluating "Indian"
web sites (or any web site) is Elaine M. Cubbins site Techniques
for Evaluating American Indian Websites. Elaine is a Sihasapa
Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux), holds a Master of Arts Degree in Information
Resources and Library Science, and is a Ph.D. candidate in that field. I
STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU VISIT HER SITE.
Last Updated: 14 August 1999