Using Citizenship to Retain Identity: The Native American Dance Bans of the Later Assimilation Era, 1900–1933.

Treglia, G.

Abstract

From the 1880s until the early 1930s the US federal government adopted a formal policy of intolerance towards Native American cultures and religions, stemming primarily from the belief that traditional religio-cultural practices – especially dances – distracted Native Americans from crop-tending and stock-rearing, and also constituted “outmoded” reminders of a “savage” past seen as incompatible with the responsibilities of US citizenship. Some cultural practices were banned outright, while others were actively discouraged or denigrated as “oldtime.” Yet Native American cultural expression did not die – in large part because Native communities employed varied methods to resist the bans. This article examines the ways in which pro-dancing communities utilized the language of US citizenship and made appeals to the Constitution, private property rights and US patriotism in their bid to ensure the survival of their dances and ceremonies. It also examines support for the dance bans by Native individuals, and the increasingly complex and evolving cultural identities in reservation communities in the early twentieth century.

Citation

Treglia, G. (2013). Using Citizenship to Retain Identity: The Native American Dance Bans of the Later Assimilation Era, 1900–1933. Journal of American Studies, 47(3), 777-800. https://doi.org/10.1017/s002187581200206x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 23, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013-08
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2013
• Journal: Journal of American Studies
• Print ISSN: 0021-8758
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-5154
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 777-800
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s002187581200206x
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1451282