Nature Of Society Research Articles

Resituating the deep history of the Chesapeake

This themed issue of North American Archaeologist reexamines the deep history of the Chesapeake region's Native societies through five papers. The articles describe collaborative approaches that challenge traditional narratives, focusing on climate change, community dynamics, reassessment of a key archaeological site, and decolonization efforts.

Hispano-⁠indigenous Alliances and Cacical Political Authority in La Florida, 1565–97

Many scholars of La Florida argue that indigenous societies welcomed missionaries only in the seventeenth century, once they had no choice but to align with the Spanish Empire or risk geopolitical isolation and effacement. This argument fits into the problematic general narrative that Spanish missionaries enslaved native peoples and forcibly converted them to Catholicism—problematic because it leaves indigenous rulers out of the story. In this article, I use the brief missions to the Calusa, Tequesta, Tocobaga, and Guale peoples of the present-day southeastern United States to show that indigenous rulers in La Florida encouraged missionary activity well before the seventeenth century, and not as a last resort but as a way to further their expansionist ambitions. The indigenous rulers’ encouragement of missionaries and gains from the Spanish presence show how sharply the interests of the indigenous political classes diverged from those of indigenous commoners. I argue that in light of the reality of political privilege in La Florida’s native societies, historians must view historical indigenous societies as they do more familiar societies—as broad groupings riven by political interests rather than as social collectivities—and jettison the thematic lens of colonialism to achieve a faithful history of the transformation of the Americas.

The oyster revolution: shell middens, shell temper, and settling down in North America’s Chesapeake region

Transformative social change occurred in the Chesapeake region with the intensification of oyster harvesting and the establishment of central places in estuarine settings at the outset of the Middle Woodland period (ca. A.D. 200). Accompanying the pivot toward estuarine living was the spread of shell-tempered ceramics indexing regional social networks from the Delaware Bay to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Survey and excavation data from the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown (NWSY) on the York River trace this process on Virginia’s lower York River. Here, Middle Woodland populations established central places around the lower embayed portions of tidal creeks. Communal shell middens anchoring these central places offer evidence of intensive oyster harvesting and a history of periodic overharvesting, adjustment, and long-term sustainability. We hypothesize that common pool resource management, i.e., collective action and stewardship in the management of the oyster fishery, was an important part of Native societies’ settling down in this region.

Re-Imagining Alternative Futures through Empowerment

The physical conquest of European powers on the rest of the world for the imposition of an accumulation of wealth monopoly and the destruction of native societies remains the foundation of the current global economy. Despite concepts of human flourishing, a term connected to empowerment that acts as an architectural structure within the development and sustainability discourse, the destruction of our planet and collective human wellbeing is not at the forefront of international political agendas. Scholars argue that the development agenda is maldevelopment due to the unrequested interventions delivered to communities, mainly in the Global South. Thus, despite the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the implementation of inner dimensions that facilitate empowerment and are an integral part of development is missing from these sophisticated global frameworks. This research article repositions empowerment and compassion at the centre of the sustainable development discourse by drawing on the Inner Development Framework, particularly goal one—Being—‘Relationship to Self’ and goal three—Relating—‘Caring for others and the World’ and the Capabilities Theory as a guiding theoretical underpinning. On this basis, this article presents a qualitative interpretative study that examines the lived experience of women and their journeys to empowerment. The key findings indicate an intricate relationship between wellbeing and empowerment and the realisation of inner development as a tool to re-imagine alternative futures. In addition, industries are profiteering from a sustainability and development agenda that is failing to address the disablement of communities by a paternalistic approach to empowerment.

Environmental change impacts and inclusive rural tourism development on the livelihoods of native societies: evidence from Musina Municipality, South Africa

PurposeThis study aims to explore the latent potential of alternative-responsible tourism and ecotourism leadership in sustainable tourism and the sustenance of rural communities in Musina Municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It also sought to compare this potential with other African pastoral areas and to integrate it with various rural sites elsewhere abroad.Design/methodology/approachNarrative literature, document reviews, interviews and focus group discussions were used to garner relevant data and were analyzed through cross-tabulation analysis and manually. On this account, probable climate change-bound environmental consequences, rural, tourism, farming and ecological administration issues came to the forefront.FindingsThe examination correlates the potential position of proper ecotourism exercises and responsible tourism as an agreeable path to promote sustainability in rural localities. Subsequently, upon apparent countryside products, ecotourism and farming exercises glimpsed in the study area, environmental degradation poses a conceivable hazard to natural resource governance. Hereafter, it aggravates the possibilities for climate change effects and poor subsistence.Originality/valueThe rich biodiversity in the study area provides platforms for sustainable rural tourism enterprises and addresses any pertinent concerns. Thus, the study has manifested a demand for a creative tourism approach and innovations against environmental change outcomes and to capacitate Musina Municipality residents and probably others elsewhere on the continent to engage in ethical tourism initiatives and sustainable livelihoods.

Establishing Colonial Rule in a Frontier Encomienda: Chile’s Copiapó Valley under Francisco de Aguirre and His Kin, 1549–1580

AbstractThis article explores how Francisco de Aguirre used the Copiapó Valley encomienda to negotiate political power during the transition from conquest to colonial rule in northern Chile. Simultaneously, we analyze the circumstances of how a native society was incorporated into the Spanish Empire after a decade of fighting and resistance on the fringes of the empire. The strategic use of the fear of native rebellions to close the road from Peru to Chile gave Aguirre enough power to negotiate an important political position, which in the future would clash with the colonial authorities. Copiapó Valley’s peripheral location in the southernmost Atacama Desert constituted a political gray zone for the colonial administration. This space contributed to consolidating power for Aguirre and enabled locals some negotiation power within the possibilities afforded by the colonial system.

La Transformación del culto

In this article I seek to contribute to the understanding of certain aspects of the ritual life of the native societies of the North Calchaquí Valley during the Inka colonization. For this, I am going to focus on the strategies developed by the people and families who were transferred from their villages of origin and resettled in the vicinity of imperial settlements, thus going on to live under the Inca orbit. The main axis will be placed on the rituals that are practiced inside the houses, such as 1) burials and 2) the daily ceremonial. To analyze this I will compare two different socio-historical contexts, a) two sites with long-standing occupation with evidence of Inka contact where the imperial influence was not so direct and b) two sites located in the vicinity or within Inka settlements, where the influence of the Tawantinsuyu was more direct. Based on this, I will argue why there is a rupture of memory and the sense of place in the families that were resettled and how new frameworks of meaning are created in this new socio-political context in which they found themselves.

Evolutionary analysis of JC polyomavirus in Misiones’ population yields insight into the population dynamics of the early human dispersal in the Americas

BackgroundJC polyomavirus (JCV) has an ethno-geographical distribution across human populations. ObjectiveStudy the origins of the population of Misiones (Argentina) by using JCV as genetic marker. MethodsViral detection and characterization was conducted by PCR amplification and evolutionary analysis of the intergenic region sequences. Results22 out of 121 samples were positive for JCV, including 5 viral lineages: MY (n = 8), Eu-a (n = 7), B1-c (n = 4), B1-b (n = 2) and Af2 (n = 1). MY sequences clustered within a branch of Native American origin that diverged from its Asian counterpart about 21,914 years ago (HPD 95% interval 15,383–30,177), followed by a sustained demographic expansion around 5000 years ago. ConclusionsJCV in Misiones reflects the multiethnic origin of the current population, with an important Amerindian contribution. Analysis of the MY viral lineage shows a pattern consistent with the arrival of early human migrations to the Americas and a population expansion by the pre-Columbian native societies.

Body, Dress, and Symbolic Capital: Multifaceted Presentation of PUGREE in Colonial Governance of British India

The association of colonial power with turban has not been made since the beginning of British rule in India. This link has been developed through various setbacks. The Britishers’ perceptions about the dress of the native employees was not as same in the 1880s–90s as it was in the 1800s. As the time progressed, the body-politics related to colonizer’s sartorial manners in India matured. By attaching the tag of “civilized” to own sartorial etiquette, the Britishers made their social etiquette inaccessible to the natives for power’s sake. It was from this mentality that the Britishers created an English-educated class in Indian Native society, who used to consider following many indigenous customs and manners tantamount to their backwardness. Wearing a turban was among one of them. Based on the turban, the sphere of symbolic power that was constituted in colonial India until the end of the nineteenth century will be discussed in this article.

Chemical Elucidation, Microbial Growth and Free Radical Inhibitory Effects of Dennettia tripetala Fruit: In vitro and In vivo Model Experiments

Natural products are being exploited in the treatment of diverse ailments stemming from microbial and free radical incursion in the African native societies. The current study was designed to elucidate the bioactive constituents, microbial growth and free radical inhibitory effects of Dennettia tripetalafruit, employing in vitro and in vivo models. Briefly, phytochemical analysis was qualitatively investigated. The free radical scavenging assays using 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhdrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylenzoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical solutions using vitamin C as reference antioxidant. Antibacterial activity was carried out using agar diffusion well. Bioactive elucidation was conducted using Gas chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). Liver protective effect of the extract was investigated on rats’ model. Phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts (hexane and ethanol) revealed saponins, tannin, flavonoid, steroids, phenols and terpenoids. GC-MS analysis revealed various bioactive compounds. DPPH inhibitory effect of the hexane and ethanol extracts, displayed IC50 values, 3.86 and 4.01 µg/mL against a corresponding vitamin C (IC50 value, 0.007 µg/mL). Both extracts solution scavenged ABTS radical (IC50 values, 4.53 and 4.79 µg/mL) against vitamin C (IC50 values, 0.005 µg/mL). The extracts demonstrated promising antibacterial activities against eight selected multidrug-resistant strains, comprising Gram positive and negative strains. The crude extract protects liver induced carbontetrachloride toxic onslaught through significant (p <0.05) increased in the catalase, superoxide dismutase activities, reduced glutathione and depleted malonedialdehyde levels in the rats’ liver co-treatment groups. Overall, the findings suggest D. tripetela’s leaf extract a promising antidote for the treatment of free radical and microbial , infectious diseases.

Indian Cities: Histories of Indigenous Urbanization ed. by Kent Blansett, Cathleen D. Cahill, and Andrew Needham

Reviewed by: Indian Cities: Histories of Indigenous Urbanization ed. by Kent Blansett, Cathleen D. Cahill, and Andrew Needham Gregory R. Campbell Indian Cities: Histories of Indigenous Urbanization. Edited by Kent Blansett, Cathleen D. Cahill, and Andrew Needham. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2022. vii + 317 pp. Illustrations, notes, index. $32.95 paper. In 2020, 9.7 million people identified as Native American and Alaskan Native (AI/AN), 2.9% of the total United States population. As of 2022 there are 574 federally recognized AI/AN tribes and 324 federally recognized American Indian reservations. Other tribal communities are state-recognized, and a multitude of Indigenous societies are ethno-politically viable but not federally or state-recognized as ethno-legal entities. The 2020 census also reveals that 87% live outside tribal statistical areas and only 13% live on reservations and trust lands. In fact, approximately 60% to 70% of American Indians and Alaskan Natives live in metropolitan areas. Residential demographics and geography directly contradict the popular public stereotype that most contemporary [End Page 62] Indigenous people are largely rural and living on reservations, a population largely divorced from an urban existence and experiences. The stereotype, as the editors point out, is grounded in the settler colonialism agenda. During the processes of nation-building, Indigenous urban accomplishments prior to the arrival of Europeans were often either grossly undervalued, mythologized, or replaced by European settlements. The impetus for the volume arose, after several working meetings by the participants, to not only build on the existing historical literature but also to offer new directions for Indigenous urbanization. The book is a collection of 12 original presentations composed by an impressive cross-section of academic disciplines, introduced by a synthetic essay. The two essays in Part I demonstrate the continuity of the Native urban sensibilities and traditions during the early era of colonialism, highlighting political economic interactions. A central element is the central roles regional Native societies had in the formation of European cities. Part II, composed of four essays, offers select insights into the development of various European urban areas through the appropriation of Indigenous lands and resources in the 19th century. As the chapters reveal, the employed strategies of dispossession ranged from outright violence and forced removal to legal mechanisms as well as erasure. Despite these colonial processes, Indigenous people remained active agents, playing a role in shaping urban landscapes. The four essays in Part III provide select discussions of 20th-century Indigenous urban experiences. Collectively, the chapters explore how Native American individuals, families, and communities living in urban arenas crafted lifeways, institutions, intertribal networks, and connections to their natal, non-urban communities to foster their Indigenous identities. Contrary to federal policies designed to submerge or meld Native people into the "mainstream" fabric of American life through urbanization, Indigenous people constructed and fostered a variety of strategies to sustain being Indigenous. The book concludes with a highlighted glimpse of ongoing interconnections between urban areas and rural reservations. The two chapters graphically expose the false assumption that reservation issues are largely divorced from urban realities in the 21st century. The final essays point out that the dichotomy between rural Indigenous natal homelands and events in urban areas is nonexistent. They are, historically and to the present, intimately connected and impactful. Despite the diversity in scholarly perspectives, approaches, and topics, an overlapping theme, that of ethnic resiliency, is elucidated in the articles that reflect the complexities about the Indigenous experience in living an urban existence. As active agents in their own histories, Indigenous people and communities, while confronting prevailing political structures, nationalistic policies, legal frameworks, as well as colonial agendas, created and sustained a sense of identity and place in urban spaces. As with any collection of readings, Indian Cities: Histories of Indigenous Urbanization is testimony to the burgeoning, wide-ranging scholarship about Native American experiences. At its broadest conception, the urban Indigenous heritage is a vital but sometimes overlooked component of Native American lifeways. Urban indigeneity, whether expressed by tangible or intangible means, provides a sense of belonging, continuity, and collectivity. As this volume aptly illustrates, Native American urban issues are a complex arena that deserves further scholarly attention. Overall, the contributions are a framework...

Learning from Within: A Proposal for a New Approach to Education in Native Society

This article presents a new perspective on how to think about interculturality and education from the perspective of a native society in the Paraguayan Chaco. It highlights how formal schooling reaffirms the model of unidirectional relations advocated by national society. Within this model, indigenous peoples and persons are not allowed to participate in this national society on their own conceptual terms, and inclusion turns out to be mere shorthand for assimilation. This text, on the other hand, proposes modes of education and forms of relating that pay attention to the native dimension. These would contribute to the creation of spaces which indigenous societies as such can hold within national society and support indigenous people’s own processes of protagonism and initiative. In parallel, it proposes conceiving of education as from rather than for autochthonous societies; and conceiving of the learning process from the point of view of learning rather than from the point of view of education. This conceptual change, which includes a critique of the widespread concept of interculturality, entails that we must not design modes of education, but rather create preconditions for learning from within the native society, which also requires ways of relating from within. In this way, colonialist pressures in education can be overcome and new possibilities for native protagonism can be developed.

Introduction: Assimilation, integration or transnationalism? An overview of theories of migrant incorporation

Introduction: Assimilation, integration or transnationalism? An overview of theories of migrant incorporation

Evaluating the dating and context of long-nosed god maskettes and iconography in the American midcontinent

ABSTRACT Long-nosed god (LNG) maskettes and iconography have traditionally been seen as a pre-Southern Cult phenomena, placed variously in the tenth to thirteenth centuries. Researchers have suggested they were employed in political and religious interactions or to facilitate trade, but few have looked in detail at their chronology, context, and distribution. Here, an in-depth review of radiocarbon dates and context raises questions about the place of LNGs in midcontinental Native societies. This reassessment illustrates that LNG images do not predate the appearance of Caddo and Cahokian symbolic emergence and can be first securely documented in the late eleventh century. They clearly are objects that signify personal endowments and are inalienable, following that individual to the grave. Their context and distribution indicate that LNG icons are an integral part of the Caddo religious and political networks but are tangential at Cahokia and take on totally different contextual meanings to the north of Cahokia. This study demonstrates that proposing uniform explanations for LNG ideology and implementation does not correlate with the archaeological evidence. Future studies that account for regional variations in LNG chronology, context, and spatial distribution are needed to begin addressing the roles of these unique objects in Native societies.

Analysis of the changes in the morphology of Pre- and Post-Hispanic queros housed in Museum collections of Argentina

Wooden vessels or queros (also keru) are ceremonial artifacts imbued with political and utilitarian value, since they were part of the decision-making spaces of the elites, and reflected concepts and logics of representation characteristic of the indigenous world, both for native societies of the 15th century and during the later Colonial Andean period. Celebrations were accompanied by toasts and meals, at which political decisions were made regarding the fate of the population and the direction of the government. Most studies of queros have centered on decorative aspects, identifying noticeable differences in surface treatment and iconography between both periods. This work is focused on the statistical analysis of the morphology of these vessels, from the comparison of a sample of queros of Inca and Colonial periods, and the analysis of the variability observed within each of them. The working sample is composed of 45 pieces, with different origins and chronologies, belonging to collections from two Argentine museums: the Ethnographic Museum (University of Buenos Aires) and the Museum of La Plata (National University of La Plata). The results suggest important morphological differences within the colonial vessel assemblage, even greater than those observed from the comparison between Inca and Colonial queros. The general trend indicates a narrowing of the vessel waist, with its concomitant increase in the diameters of the mouth and base over time.

Resistance Through Language Appropriation to Create a Reality for Oneself in the Postcolonial Nigeria

the paper explores the reasons behind appropriating the English Language to carry the native's experiences and the strategies deployed by the authors of Nigeria to reconstruct Africa's taunted imageries and cultures through their use of language. This article also examines the pattern that has been documented in Nigeria and re-evaluates some of the identified resistant strains that authors consciously or unconsciously integrate to ensure that their works are authentic. Author/Character/community or a nation is built through an indigenous choice of vocabularies that reflect the meanings of native society. Creative authors, especially with the postcolonial attitude, employ narrative strategies by using indigenous phrases and other signifiers to deviate from the standard variety to foreground the indigenized realities of the marginalized. Appropriations in the English Language help the colonized reconstruct their culture and history's lost and hidden truths. These strategies give the text an authentic identity representing the bare realities of the indigenous community. The indigenized medium of expression is also considered a form of resistance towards Eurocentric linguistic hegemony. The colonized writers articulate their native ideologies and beliefs without depending on the medium of a foreigner. The collection of criticisms in this paper will enable the upcoming writers to know and discover the elegance and inestimable elements in their native Nigerian literature than foreign literature with an alien culture that is hardly incomprehensive. The work also confirms the mimetic nature of Language and its interdependence with society.

Exoticism, Exchange, and Early Indigenous-Colonial Relations in the 15th to 16th Century Caribbean

The initial interactions between Indigenous groups and European colonists across the Caribbean were largely shaped by pre-existingsociocultural conditions. The central importance of exchange for social construction and the concomitantly high value placed upon foreign material was common to many Native societies. This played in contrast to European understandings of exchange, which was far more focused on economic gain and competitive bargaining. The role assigned to exchange and the foreign in Indigenous and European societies guided their perceptions of each other and respective goals in interaction. Native systems were well entrenched throughout the regional networks of trade and culture in the Caribbean, and so colonists entered into a world fundamentally defined by such systems. European imperial views permitted them to exploit these systems, twist- ing Indigenous exaltation of intercultural trade into a tool for attempted oppres- sion, subversion, and assimilation. Nevertheless, colonists were unable to under- mine core structures, even if they appropriated them for the creation of new hierar- chies and dehumanization of Natives. These structures prevailed even as coloniza- tion grew more pervasive and degenerative.

The Study of Literature Review: Local Leadership in the Java Culture Perspective “Asta Brata” in Organizations

The purpose of this research is to look at how the values in Javanese (Indonesian) cultural values influence the value of local leadership in an organization by connecting the values in Astra Brata's cultural values with leadership in an organization. Astra brata is a cultural value that refers to natural components that reflect natural aspects in Javanese society's nature and character. Astra Brata is a heavenly essence described in Hindu texts as manifesting in the eight components of nature. This study employs a literature review study, with the first stage of creating using the VOSviewer tool, to see the connection between many keywords selected in this study, for the limitations of the research to be conducted. "Leadership and Local" are the terms utilized here. The research findings are utilizing the VOSviewer tool show gaps in the keywords chosen for this study, Leadership and Local. The ability to rule and make decisions is concentrated in the hands of a few individuals in a stable environment linked with cultural values that are used as references as particular traits and personalities (leaders) associated with Astra Brata's culture.

Wakefield's Offspring

Wakefield's Offspring

The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation

While Colin Calloway’s latest book returns to a topic the author has visited throughout his career, eighteenth-century Native history, it does so from a new angle. In The Indian World of George Washington, Calloway’s objective is to attract readers whose interests typically lie in the genre of presidential or Founding Father biography. As the title suggests, George Washington is the vehicle through which the author aims to persuade these readers to think deeply about Native peoples and their role in shaping the history of the United States.Calloway’s work still demonstrates the power and influence Native peoples wielded throughout eighteenth-century North America. Washington’s importance to the early history of the United States assists in communicating this message to nonspecialists. By analyzing how Native peoples informed Washington’s actions and decision-making, his successes and failures, Calloway leaves the reader with little choice but to acknowledge the Native role in determining the nature of both colonial America and the Early Republic. The bulk of the text focuses on military and diplomatic disputes, notably the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolution, and relations between Native societies and the fledgling United States. The third part of the book, covering Washington’s interactions with Native peoples during his presidency, is the most compelling. While there are plenty of works attesting to the role of Native peoples in early American military conflicts, their diplomatic importance during the Early Republic often receives less scholarly attention. Calloway illustrates how Washington had to treat with Native dignitaries as representatives of “foreign nations rather than domestic subjects” (2). The reader gets a clear sense of the power that peoples such as the Creek, Haudenosaunee, and Shawnee wielded and how they mounted a genuine challenge to American expansionist aims. Calloway also highlights the ingenuity and skill of Native leaders such as Red Jacket, Alexander McGillivray, and Joseph Brant, showing them to be Washington’s equal as tacticians, strategists, and negotiators.Although it is not his core focus, Calloway also weaves together the social and cultural worlds of Native peoples and American colonists. He evokes images of cities where “tribal delegations were a regular sight,” mingling among Euro-Americans (5). The impact of trade and cultural exchange appears throughout, as Native people bear gorgets and manufactured textiles alongside leggings and moccasins. Countless examples abound to show that Native societies adapted and experimented with the objects and ideas of the outside world, challenging popular depictions that continue to caricature Indians as anti-technological, static, and unchanging. For a nonspecialist or casual reader who might possess more stereotypical notions of Native societies, these descriptions matter.Calloway’s focus on Washington does have significant drawbacks. The author acknowledges a multipolar Indigenous world, a “continent crisscrossed by networks of kinship, exchange, and alliance,” where Washington only operated on the “peripheries” (9). However, by placing Washington at the center of the volume, the author only allows the reader to see glimpses of this world. The book shuffles from crisis to crisis, in line with Washington’s biography. Unfortunately, this leaves Native people to feature only insofar as they “shaped the life of the man who shaped the nation” (15). The result is a revolving cast of American Indian peoples and leaders, popping in and out of the historical narrative. The volume does a masterful job of demonstrating how Native peoples influenced Washington’s life and American history at every turn. However, some readers will be disappointed, and others disoriented, by the way in which Native nations and historical actors move in and out of focus.Deeply researched, richly detailed, and persuasively argued, The Indian World of George Washington is the rare work that should appeal to academics and readers of so-called popular history alike. Most notably, it may just help bring the insights of countless ethnohistorians to eyes of a broader audience.