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I wouldn't say I live in a place that is "immersed" in Native American culture, but where I live (upstate NY), Native American issues are a subtle but longrunning part of the social and political reality. This is the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) country and many of them do not consider themselves U.S. citizens (despite citizenship being extended - or "forced on" depending on your view - to Native Americans in 1924). There are reservations in numerous places around the state. New York actually has the 10th largest Native American population (though not in relation to the non-Native population since NY has a huge population). There is always some issue about land claims and taxation of Native businesses in the news. It's a part of life here. Sometimes it is contentious but fortunately it has never erupted into real violence.
Some Iroquois actually took some land back in the 1970s and the state government never did take it back (Ganienkeh) although I think they worked out some sort of land swap...
I would say Syracuse is the major upstate city that acknowledges the Iroquois the most, if only symbolically for the most part, because this is where the Five (later Six) Nations used to meet, according to oral tradition the shore of Onondaga Lake (basically Syracuse itself) is where the confederacy was founded, miraculous things were said to have happened. Downtown there are at least 2 Iroquois flags that fly in the center square. South of the city is the Onondaga territory (reservation) which the Onondagas never vacated, they've always lived there. I think in Syracuse the Native American past is embraced somewhat more than elsewhere up here.
(There is of course, an entire upstate city - Salamanca - that is completely on an Iroquois reservation.)
We have the Onondaga Nation just south of Syracuse. I believe there are some that understand and follow some traditions of that culture. Onondaga Nation - People of the Hills
But what I'm trying to say is, an area where the people there still feel a connection to their culture from the past and try to honor it and keep it as alive as possible.
Well it might not be in NM but in Polacca, AZ (close to the AZ NM border) a Hopi reservation, people are still very much living a traditional life. Not many tourists on account of the lack of touristy attractions, except for the mesas. I'm Hopi and attend dances often at first mesa and tourists who do come up are not even allowed to take picture let alone have cameras. In one of the villages on first mesa, they still live without electricity and running water. Even the schools in the area have days off dedicated to cultural events on the mesas.
Of course the reservations but of the cities Phoenix has a sizable Indian population though it's impact on it's larger culture is more minimal. Tucson has the population and culture, I've often heard native language that I knew wasn't Spanish spoken around Tucson. O'odham is a big tribe and they have a really cool music called Waila. There's Yaquis in by Phoenix too in Guadalupe, town they founded. Their Easter dance is cool, features pagan/christian mix, jesus is shot by soldiers instead of crucified. Flagstaff has a ton of Navajos, some Hopis too. If they don't live there, they come to town all the time. Albuquerque has lots of Indians. Gallup NM is pretty much all Indian from what I've seen.
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Originally Posted by NHHiker1
But what I'm trying to say is, an area where the people there still feel a connection to their culture from the past and try to honor it and keep it as alive as possible.
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Northern California- but immersed, no. That is because the California tribes where small and spread out that when the Europeans came, well....it went like it did with any other tribe.
So the numbers where small to begin with.
However, those who are here today are very much about their culture.
The Pomo's had a village of theirs completely destroyed and most of the people did not survive.
Who was left worked hard to bring back all that was lost.
Annie Burke, a Pomo basket maker was one of those people to teach the youth the traditions so all was not lost. Today there are basket makers making baskets in the Pomo tradition.
Northwest Coast and southern coast of Canada also has a strong native cultural presence. And they still have potlatch gatherings, which had been outlawed for a long time.
I don't think it's something that you can really see just by walking into a town. Most of the art and ceremonies are where you find the culture.
I'm not sure if the entire state is this way, but many towns in northeast and east-central Oklahoma are either majority native American, close to half, or at least a significant minority. NE Oklahoma is the Cherokee Nation, after all. Natives are all over the place down there.
The NY Times' "Mapping the Census" feature is pretty cool. By selecting the "view more maps" menu, you can make the map show "largest racial groups" or "racial/ethnic distribution" of the entire nation to visually see where Natives are concentrated (or anybody else). Look at how black the Mississippi Delta is for instance. Cool stuff.
Most of the Native Americans I know live lives not unlike any other American. What is left of their traditions is preserved in their language, food , music, and familial ties. I think the Wounded Knee Massacre changed a lot of things. Most of the reservations I've been on are like any other small city or rural town with another language being spoken. You can keep up with National Native American issues through their radio broadcast and news papers. I think to learn more about Native American culture one should start with a broad perspective before trying to learn the intricacies of each remaining Tribe. Some of their languages are so complex they will use many words or a sentence to describe an object. Native times NATIONAL NATIVE NEWS
Not really, but Native Americans were some of the first "non-whites" I knew and my town was founded as a mission for a tribe. Every year members of the tribe would come to do a pageant about the town's founding.
The Southwest, the Dakotas, Alaska, and Montana have a fair amount of highly indigenous places. As does Eastern Oklahoma and parts of Minnesota.
In modern times many to most of them share many desires of other Americans. They like movies, fast food, rock or country music, and so forth. They live in the modern age. Additionally in our age many, probably most, indigenous Americans are Christian of some sort and speak English. Although many are kind of "syncretic Christians" who retain a good deal of folk beliefs. I don't want to make it sound like "they've totally lost their culture" because that's not what I mean. I just think some without experience of indigenous Americans sometimes still think they're like they were in period-piece movies. You can be Christian or Baha'i or Buddhist without totally abandoning your culture. I've heard some indigenous blues, jazz, country, and rock music that was pretty neat or adapted elements of their "sound." It's just like any culture they've evolved and adapted. (Although as is known they were sometimes harshly pressured to abandon their culture so some languages did decline, etc) They're closer to being like the natives in Smoke Signals or Northern Exposure than Dances with Wolves or Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
I'm restricting myself to weekends, it's still Sunday here, so see you Saturday!
I don't think anyone can censor me or call ME the "racist" for simply saying that Gallup, not Albuquerque, is New Mexico's "Indian" headquarters. As of the same census that for some reason counted the Gallup Metro Area as having 70,000 people, it also has about 33% Native or "at least part Native" population. I think that's the highest percentage of any city outside the Rez that I know of. (Riverton, WY is way smaller).
Albuquerque may be the headquarters of several of my American Indian professional associations but Gallup is way more "Indian Country" than anything else in this state.
In modern times many to most of them share many desires of other Americans. They like movies, fast food, rock or country music, and so forth. They live in the modern age. Additionally in our age many, probably most, indigenous Americans are Christian of some sort and speak English. Although many are kind of "syncretic Christians" who retain a good deal of folk beliefs. I don't want to make it sound like "they've totally lost their culture" because that's not what I mean. I just think some without experience of indigenous Americans sometimes still think they're like they were in period-piece movies. You can be Christian or Baha'i or Buddhist without totally abandoning your culture. I've heard some indigenous blues, jazz, country, and rock music that was pretty neat or adapted elements of their "sound." It's just like any culture they've evolved and adapted. (Although as is known they were sometimes harshly pressured to abandon their culture so some languages did decline, etc) They're closer to being like the natives in Smoke Signals or Northern Exposure than Dances with Wolves or Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
Yes, thank you: WE are just like everyone else in this country. WE even go to Ivy League universities, as Dartmouth got its start in the 1700's as "the Indian School."
Too bad that people who know that WE are just like everybody else, are in the MINORITY -- in this country and in Canada, too.
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Gallup, not Albuquerque
