Strengthening Aging and Gerontology Education for Social Work SAGE-SW

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Cultural Overview American Indian and Alaskan
Native ? First Nations ? Indigenous
University of Oklahoma School of Social Work
Masters Advanced Curriculum Project Sponsored
by
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Culture

• A shared way of perceiving, believing,
  evaluating, and behaving1

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Collectivism vs. Individualism

• Native Americans
• Great value of group and membership
• Decisions/actions made to support group
• Emphasize teamwork/harmony
• Collective speaks for individual
• Individual accomplishments not emphasized
  personally
• High context-words are not as important as
  actions over repeated interactions
• Recognize importance of vertical relationships

• American Society
• Great value of individual accomplishments
• Decisions/actions made with individual as the
  primary reference
• Emphasize competition
• Individualists speak for themselves
• Low Context-words are emphasis
• More comfortable with equal status relationships

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Self Concept

• Native Americans
• Concept of self tied to group identity
• Self esteem based on contributions to the whole

• American Society
• Concept of self tied to individual identity
• Self esteem based primarily on individual
  achievement
• Self concept and esteem
• Sayings
• Be who you are
• Stand out in a crowd
• Make your mark

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Childrearing

• Native Americans
• Family Bed
• Feeding when child is hungry
• Keeping them in close proximity even when
  can walk
• Taking them everywhere
• Extended family caregiving
• Importance of grandparents

• American Society
• Sleep alone at earlier age or since birth
• Feeding scheduled within defined setting
• Separated from adult events or gatherings
• More time in playpens

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Relationships

• Native Americans
• Humans to nature
• Connectedness and use with respect
• Goal of balance, harmony
• Humans to humans
• Cooperation
• Goal of balance, harmony
• Importance of Ancestors
• Defines self today
• Goal of connecting generations

• American Society
• Humans to nature
• Conquer and use
• Goal of control
• Humans to humans
• Competitiveness
• Goal of winning
• Importance of Ancestors
• Important but separate from the individual today

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Family Constellation

• American Society
• Small family with one or two responsible for
  activities and decisions
• Less support in daily living activities

3 Generations Cherokee Women
Click here to listen to Rose High Bears story of
her tribe, customs, and respect for her late
grandmother, Sophie VanderPoole, an Alaskan
Athabascan from McGrath, Alaska. From Wisdom of
the Elders Radio http//www.wisdomoftheelders.org/
prog2/transcript02_tis.htm

• Native Americans
• Emphasis on extended family
• Extended kinship networks involved in almost all
  aspects of daily life

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Ownership

• Native Americans
• Communal ownership
• Open
• Definition
• Used by anyone within community as they need
• No priority given to person who originally
  offered gift (resource) for all to use
• Without constraints on use as to how and when
  it can be used
• Example
• Traditionally land was held communally without
  any individual ownership

• American Society
• Individual
• Specific
• Definition
• Individual ownership over land grants that person
  rights and power over the land and any resources
  produced, and establishes boundaries that can not
  be physically crossed
• Punishment warranted when rights are ignored
• Example
• Western Europeans brought the concept of
  individual land ownership to tribal people when
  they divided up communally owned tribal lands and
  allotted them to individual male heads of
  households, a foreign concept to tribal people

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Concepts of Class and Status

• Native Americans
• Status determined by personal qualities, tribal,
  and clan affiliations
• Introductions include
• Tribal affiliations
• Clan affiliations
• Standard First?
• Who are your people?
• Not impressed by professional degrees
• Material wealth
• Does not impress, but giving to group

• American Society
• Status determined by income, job prestige, level
  of education
• Standard First?
• What do you do for a living?
• Where do you work?
• Material Wealth
• Source of pride
• Assumed to be the result of hard work

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Event Oriented vs. Clock Time

• Native Americans
• Clock and schedules are not emphasized
• Emphasize completion of an event/task no matter
  how long it takes

• American Society
• Organize day around clock
• Emphasize punctuality
• Sayings reflect importance of measuring,
  portioning time, and being early
• Time is money
• Wasting time
• Early bird catches the worm

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Role of Men and Women

• Native Americans
• Matrilineal Tribes
• Many tribes are matrilineal, children belonged to
  mothers clan
• Government
• Men and women figured prominently in decision
  making
• Spirituality
• Men and women are central spiritual figures
• Men and women function as spiritual healers
• Work
• Female and male defined work with equal status
  given to both

• American Society
• Patrilineal
• Marriage between man and woman, wife and children
  took the last name of the husband/father
• Government
• Male dominated
• Religion
• Leaders of churches are predominantly male
• Work
• Historically paid work outside the home was male
  dominated with women responsible for caregiving
• Paid labor accorded higher value

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Ceremonies and Rituals

• Native Americans
• Births, Naming ceremonies
• Adolescent Transition to Adulthood
• Marriage
• Illness
• Death
• Historical events
• Spiritual ceremonies can correspond to seasons,
  significant events or changes in physical
  environment

• American Society
• Births
• Weddings
• Death

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Ceremonies and Rituals Green Corn Ceremony,
Oklahoma Seminole and Creek

• The principal event of the ceremonial year,
  traditionally held over four days in late June or
  early July, when the first corn ripened. Now the
  ceremony begins Thursday afternoon and ends
  Sunday morning to accommodate the non-Indian work
  week. The ceremony is held on the square round
  or ceremonial center. Elements of the ritual
  include Stomp, Long, Ribbon, Feather and Buffalo
  dances, fasts, feasts, single pole and match ball
  games, building of the sacred fire, corn
  sacrifice, medicine taking and the scratching
  ceremony of women, children, and men, naming
  ceremonies, rinsing in water and prayer. The
  ceremony ends with a single pole ball game and
  breakfast. In the Seminole and Creek ceremonial
  cycle, the green corn ceremony is preceded by the
  Stomp Dance and followed by the stickball game
  and the soup dance.

Hirschfeld, A. Molin, P. (1992), p. 107
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Ceremonies and Rituals

Make Audio headings direct links (delete this
text but keep address listed)
Corn Mother http//www.wisdomoftheelders.org/prog2
04/transcript_sl.htm Judy Bluehorse Skelton
offers insights into Corn Mother, the
significance of this sacred plant, and its
cultivation by native peoples along the Missouri
riverbanks. Pine Nuts and Pine Nut
Songs http//www.wisdomoftheelders.org/prog6/trans
cript06_jt.htm The late Judy Trejo tells of the
harvest of the pine nut, the staple food of the
great basin peoples. The Harvest http//www.wisdo
moftheelders.org/prog6/transcript06_tr.htm Nico
Wind spreads a feast of songs and dances
celebrating the harvest.
Audio Clips from Wisdom of the Elders, 2004
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Languages Across Tribal Nations

• Each tribe has its own language
• There has been a significant loss of fluency
• Speaking tribal languages was forbidden at
  boarding schools
• Elders are critical in sustaining tribal
  languages
• Language preference varies by tribe, family, and
  generations within families
• Language revitalization comes from within tribes
• 75 of American Indians and Alaskan Native aged 5
  and older spoke only English at home
• Compares to 94 of non-Hispanic Whites aged 5 and
  older
• 18 of American Indian and Alaskan Natives spoke
  a language other than English at home and spoke
  English very well

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Tradition vs. Technology

• Native Americans
• Emphasis on tradition
• Value of elders
• Value of elders as knowledge holders

• American Society
• Emphasis on new
• Value of youth
• Value of innovation as source of knowledge

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Beliefs About Health

• Native Americans
• Illness is the result of imbalance
• Within the self systems
• Within the family
• Within the world (physical and spiritual)
• Symptoms
• A physical symptom can result from emotional or
  spiritual causes
• Treatment
• Holistic
• Medical doctor
• Traditional Healer

• American Society
• Illness is the result of biology
• Symptoms
• Indicate source of biological illness
• Treatment
• Separated Care
• Medication
• Therapy

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References

Hirschfeld, A. Molin, P. (1992). The
Encyclopedia of Native American Religions A
Comprehensive Guide to the Spiritual Traditions
and Practices of North American Indians. New
York, NY MJF Books. Joe, J.R., Malach, R.S.
(1998). Families with Native American roots. In
E.W. Lynch M.J. Hanson (Eds.), Developing
cross-cultural competence (2nd ed.). Baltimore,
MD Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Tomoeda,
C.K. Bayles, K.A. (2002). Cultivating
cultural competence in the workplace, classroom,
and clinic. ASHA Leader , 7 (6). 4-7. Wisdom of
the Elders. Retrieved December 5, 2008 from
http//www.wisdomoftheelders.org/index.html