Native Pathways: American Indian Culture and Economic Development in the Twentieth Century

by Brian C. Hosmer, Colleen O'Neill (Editor), Donald L. Fixico (Foreword by)

How has American Indians' participation in the broader market--as managers of casinos, negotiators of oil leases, or commercial fishermen--challenged the U.S. paradigm of economic development? Have American Indians paid a cultural price for the chance at a paycheck? How have gender and race shaped their experiences in the marketplace? Contributors to Native Pathways ponder these and other questions, highlighting how indigenous peoples have simultaneously adopted capitalist strategies and altered them to suit their own distinct cultural beliefs and practices. Including contributions from historians, anthropologists, and sociologists, Native Pathways offers fresh viewpoints on economic change and cultural identity in twentieth-century Native American communities.

Genres: Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jesse Morrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marx argued that the bourgeoisie "creates a world in its own image." When looking at how Native Americans interact with the global economy there are two basic ways a lay person may consider it. Either they will see Native Americans as entering the capitalist market or they reject it and stay "traditional."

Yet, the 14 chapters in this book give a far more nuanced approach. From the earliest contacts with Europeans, Native Americans have entered the global economy. This work only covers the 20th Century when both American capitalism and native interaction with it were developed.

Through it Native Americans have balanced their "traditions" with the market. In some cases they have entered the modern economy through oil leasing and casinos but used it for tribal development. In others they have invented tradition, like Navajo rugs or Seminole gator wrestling, to market "authentic" native experiences to Whites.

Others have entered the market as labor. Whether joining wild west shows or working in salmon canneries or working for New Deal era development projects, these Natives have used wage labor to supplement or even move off the reservation.

The final chapters show how Native Americans have always connected with the global market. But, like Japan or China, they have not allowed the bourgeoisie to remake Native culture into a European image.