Ethnic re-identification: Lithuanian Americans and Native Americans

Abstract

This paper compares recent resurgences of racial/ethnic identity among Lithuanian Americans and Native Americans in the United States, and examines the phenomenon of 'ethnic re-identification', defined as the adoption of an ethnic identity after a period of non-identification. This comparison of two very different groups - one a racial category comprised of a variety of diverse indigenous groups, the other a white ethnic ancestry category with some, but relatively much less internal differentiation - provides us with an opportunity to identify several general processes shaping ethnic re-identification. Similarities in patterns of ethnic re-identification in these two groups suggest that ethnic re-identification tends to occur within particular historical epochs, for example the US civil rights era and the disintegration of the Soviet Union; often involves specific symbolic moments, such as the occupation of Alcatraz Island or the Lithuanian declaration of independence; and tends to be bolstered by various forms of individual and collective ethnic action such as visits to ethnic homelands - whether countries or reservations - or protest activism. Ethnic re-identification can both strengthen and weaken ethnic group solidarity: it is strengthened by the cultural renewal activities and inflow of resources generated by re-identifying group members; but is weakened by debates about ethnic authenticity and group boundaries that result from the influx of new, often non-traditional members and the transformation of traditional practices and institutions that accompanies cultural renewal.