| Summary: | This thesis explores contemporary Lakota identity, as informed by the life
story narratives of Melda and Lupe Trejo. Melda Red Bear (Lakota) was born on
Pine Ridge (Oglala Lakota / Sioux) Reservation in South Dakota (1939-). Her
husband, Lupe Trejo (1938-1999) is Mexican and has been a long-term resident
of the reservation. I first met this couple in 1994 and developed an abiding
friendship with them prior to our decision to collaborate in recording their
storytelling sessions (1997-98). The recording and interpretation of the material
evokes ethical questions about power and representation that have arisen with
debates about 'as-told-to' autobiographies. Theoretical and methodological issues
associated with cultural anthropology, literary criticism and oral history are part
of the interdisciplinary intellectual work of this research and are discussed in the
context of the project. The thesis follows an introspective, recursive
methodology, where early research decisions are analyzed in the light of what I
have learned in this process of apprenticeship to Lakota traditional thinkers.
The narratives reveal that contemporary Lakota identity encompasses
colonial discourses, strategic responses to such impositions, and an autonomous
indigenous system of beliefs. This epistemological tradition, that is, traditional
Lakota spiritual beliefs, promotes an acknowledgment of relations as opposed to
exclusive categories of cultural difference. Melda Trejo has substantial
connections to the Lakota community and her marriage follows the traditional
pattern of "marrying out." Lupe Trejo configures his Mexican ancestry in ways
that align with the Lakota people while also acknowledging his difference in the
community. Melda and Lupe define themselves as Lakota through their spiritual
practice in the Sundance as it reappeared in the cultural resurgence at Pine Ridge
in the 1970s and 1980s. They situate themselves and their Sundance amid the
controversies that surround authentic practices and the participation of outsiders
in the ceremony. The thesis provides an interpretive framework, supported by
additional life stories as well as critical and ethnographic material, for the analysis
of selected stories.
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