Essays and Research Papers on Native Indian Studies

A 5 page paper exploring the societal importance of this massive series of prehistoric earthworks which overlook the Mississippi River swamplands in northeastern Louisiana. The author of this paper explores the construction techniques employed at the site and the problems which are encountered when archaeologists try to interpret its meaning. This paper contends ...

A 10 page overview of the issues surrounding Native American water rights. Although water rights are not always mentioned in historic treaties, the Supreme Court ruled in 1908 that by establishing Native American reservations Congress implied and reserved the priority water rights necessary for present and future use. This paper provides an overview ...

Existence, like culture, is constructed from the experiences of the individual and is shaped by the physical, social, and political contexts of life as experienced by the group. This 5 page paper argues that Ralph Ellison in The Invisible Man, W. E. B. Du Bois in Spiritual Strivings, Leslie Marmon Silko in Ceremony and Amiri ...

An 8 page paper which discusses the historical importance of the aboriginal women of Canada, who have served as powerful providers to their families. Maria Campbell's "Halfbreed" is used briefly in the discussion. Bibliography lists 3 additional sources.

A 5 page research paper that summarizes the political, social and economic roles that Natives Americans have played in both colonial and modern times in North and South America. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 5 page discussion of the numerous lessons presented in this book on Native American history and the culture’s impacts on the Europeans who invaded Native lands. This book offers a provocative view of the manner in which mainstream America is indebted to its indigenous inhabitants the Native Americans. Despite the lack of ...

A 5 page discussion of Hopi mythology as it related to landscape and environment. The Hopi myth of how they are charged with caring for the fourth world is related and a discussion is provided as to how landscape serves as an important in such myths. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

5 pages in length. The colonization of America continued for many decades, with indigenous populations ultimately displaced when European settlers successfully overtook the territory and transformed it into their own. Alaska's native inhabitants are one of many groups whose lives changed forever when the white colonists infiltrated their homeland. The writer analyzes ...

A 5 page research paper and analysis of Louise Erdrich's novel Tracks. The writer discusses the role that Chippewa culture plays this novel and argues that it is the cultural "glue" that provides support for members of the tribe, both as individuals and as a group. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 5 page paper examines the thesis of Thomas Berger in his book The Long Shadow. The thesis is that indigenous people (i.e., natives) in the Americans are being as shabbily treated today by corporations and private concerns as they were hundreds of years ago as settlers began to infiltrate their lands. The paper names ...

A 5 page paper which examines the position of Native American author Natachee Scott Momaday which argues that Native Americans have a special understanding of how things, material and living, have a deep connection and how non Natives can benefit from that knowledge. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 7 page paper discussing this topic from social, geographic and anthropological perspectives. Many are fearful of using genetically modified foods, but there is no real evidence assessing long term effects either good or bad. However, loss of the natural form is the functional equivalent of extinction, and we can never know when ...

A 5 page essay that analyzes "She Had Some Horses," a poem by Native American poet Joy Harjo. The writer argues that Harjo uses imagery and symbolism to convey the frustration and violence that this "she" suffers, not only from society, but also from unnamed males who also suffer, and who look to her for ...

A 5 page review of this fictional novel by one of the most notable American authors of the nineteenth century. This paper reviews the issues surrounding Native American land and their relationship with the United States government which grounded Jackson’s novel. Where Jackson failed to raise attention to the plight of the Native ...

This 5 page paper discusses the legal status of these two groups during the early colonial days of this country. Paper also discusses similarities between these two groups. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

5 pages. This paper focuses on a hypothetical person who is half Native American and half Caucasian from a sociological perspective. The paper describes her life, the people around her, what she does and how the sociological impact of being of two cultures impacts her life in general. Bibliography lists 2 sources. ...

This 6 page paper provides four separate summaries and critiques of books or articles which are related to New Ageism. Andrew's Medicine Woman, McKenna's In Praise of Psychedelics, Burrough's Nova Express and Ross's New Age: A Kinder, Gentler Science? are the four works. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page discussion of the content and curricular merit of this book illustrating the journey of twelve-year old Matthew Dunn’s trip back to his mother’s tribal homeland in northeastern Alberta. This paper contends that this book is a welcome change from many of the more stereotypical depictions of Native Americans. No additional ...

A 6 page discussion of Native American survival into contemporary times even in the face of great odds. Notes the perceptions of Alexis de Tocqueville on his trip to the U.S. in 1831 and asserts that even given the dire predictions Tocqueville made, the Native American has managed to not only survive but in ...

12 pages in length. Authentic artistry is a fast-fading tradition. In today's hurried global society, the faster one can produce a piece, the sooner financial gain will be realized. When one contemplates the fundamental essence of Pueblo pottery, however, one is quick to note the tenuous association between money and clayware; rather, the ...

2.5 pages in length. The writer discusses the cultural injustices imposed upon the Native Americans and African Americans in post-revolutionary America. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This is a 6 page paper discussing concerns and goals for the webmasters of First Nation web sites. With the introduction of globalization and increased accessibility to information technology around the world, researchers and historians have given up the idea of keeping some indigenous cultures free from outside influences. Originally the idea of indigenous peoples ...

A 6 page discussion of the various forms of resistance which were launched by the indigenous peoples of Latin America against Spanish rule. This paper noted an impressive level of governmental and societal organization among these peoples which allowed both military resistance and political resistance. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page research paper that examines how slavery evolved as a facet of Cherokee society. Principally, the writer concentrates on the work of Theda Perdue, who argues in her text Slavery and the Evolution of Cherokee Society that the adoption of European-style slavery of Africans evolved from the Cherokee reaction to the social change ...

4 pages in length. One's heritage is an integral component to how one's entire life is approached; with tenets of the Irish, Chinese, American and every culture in between easily recognized by those outside of that particular population, one can readily surmise that heritage is the very embodiment of an individual. However, ...