Cultural Transmission in Urban American Indian Families

Abstract

This study identified values associated with cultural transmission in the face of societal oppression. Practices used by urban American Indian women to transmit cultural knowledge, as well as values and attitudes toward learning—which are themselves vital lessons about what it means to be Indian—were ascertained. Ten urban Indian families, specifically mothers and their preadolescent children, from Oregon's Central Coast and Willamette Valley, participated in ethnographic interviews. Question creation and formation was established through the use of participatory action research. Families were found to share the value of cultural survival. Practices found to be commonly used to transmit cultural knowledge were listening; talking; telling; watching or observation; showing; exposure, involvement, and participation; and research or asking questions. Showing and research or asking questions were more recent developments in response to the effects of oppression, and they show that Indian families can adapt to continue cultural transmission and survival.