Standard, even "new Indian history" narratives of relocation and removal have generally avoided critical discussions of colonialism, memory, and space. Choosing instead to emphasize the important political, economic, social, and even cultural implications of such dislocations, much of what passes as "Indian" history fails to…

The intent of this article is to demonstrate the existence of political moieties at Teotihuacan by gathering evidence for dual organization in Mesoamerica, providing information regarding the operation and functions of political moieties, and indicating how the evidence now available conforms to a general model of moieties. (Author)

Discusses leadership and political structure among the five Iroquois Nations--Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca--in the northeastern United States during the eighteenth century. Uses myth, ritual, historical sources, American ethnology, and British social anthropology to describe and analyze political entities and to classify leaders.…

In this essay, the author provides a word of caution to those in the social sciences where, in the name of "objective science," it becomes easy to render humans into objects. Anthropology, one of the social sciences, has often been referred to as a tool of colonization. The discipline's approach of seeing small communities as…

Describes political change among Plains tribes, particularly the Dakota. Shows how Indian political organization adapted to changing economic, social, and environmental conditions. Discusses the change from bands to tribes to chiefdoms to community political organizations able to offer resistance to the dominant white society while maintaining…

Discusses the Yuki Indian chief's aboriginal role as leader, decision maker, and group coordinator and how that role, revived by Indian agents, served acculturation forces when the Yuki became reservation Indians. Describes how chiefs, relatively progressive and acculturated individuals, were effective middlemen between the agents and Indians.…

Although each urban Indian community is distinctive, there are a number of common features or characteristics that are found in most urban Indian communities. The salient characteristics of the San Francisco Bay Area Indian community and many other urban Indian communities are that they are multitribal and therefore multicultural; dispersed…

Introduces four papers presented at the 1985 Newberry Seminars on the History of American Indian Leadership. Emphasizes need for recognition of rich political traditions and distinctive modes of governance in breaking down barriers between Indian history and history of other American groups. Points out dynamic nature of native institutions. (LFL)

Demonstrates why terms like "tribe" cannot be transferred from ethnographic descriptions to political history. Critiques her work with Central African tribes, comparing African and American Indian societies to show that what looks like a tribal entity is usually a political polity with its own history of growth and decline. (LFL)

Discusses cultural differences between Indian and white people in their perceptions of money and the meanings of certain English words such as greed and jealousy. Identifies possible sticking points in Indian-white communication and political/economic relationships. Relates intratribal disputes and factionalism to impose financial situations and…