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[Below is verbatim the last edit by Michael Wilson of the
soc.culture.native/alt.native FAQ.] See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge From: "Michael" <nakni@corecomm.net.nospam> Subject: FAQ: Soc.Culture.Native Message-ID: <M35n4.1817$WB5.77303@news.corecomm.net> Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 20:35:23 -0600 Archive-name: soc.culture.native-faq Original-author: idoy@crux2.cit.cornell.edu (Michael Wilson) Current-author: mwilson@uwm.edu (M. Wilson) Comment: enhanced & edited until from 3/1/93 to 2/5/96 by M. Wilson Comment: enhanced & edited from 2/5/96 to 2/21/97 by T. E. Brunner This FAQ and a copy of the charter is available at http://chahta.niti.net/~mwilson/scn As always, comments, corrections, and especially additions to the FAQ are welcome and appreciated. =========================================================== Frequently Submitted/Asked Items This document, often referred to as the FAQ (the Frequently Asked Questions file) discusses some questions and topics that occur repeatedly on soc.culture.native and alt.native. Often submitted by new users of this group, these questions may involve discussions sufficiently hashed and re-hashed on one or both of soc.culture.native and alt.native, questions which may then be quickly answered with reference to this document, or questions which may encroach upon certain sensitive areas. If there is a question and answer which you find questionable, please let the poster know (whose name is included with the question and answer, unless it's me). Contents ======== 1. What is the purpose of these newsgroups? 2. What is the history of this newsgroup? 3. Why are there two American Indian newsgroups: soc.culture.native and alt.native? 4. Shouldn''t you call yourself a "Native American"? 5. My Indian heritage is sketchy. Can I express my opinions on this newsgroup? 6. Is this newsgroup only for North American native people? 7. If this newsgroup is for all native people, isn't there overlap between, say, African newsgroups and this newsgroup? 8. Are there Native American listservs I can subscribe to? 9. What is the relationship between the listserv NativeNet and the USENET newsgroups soc.culture.native and alt.native? 10. Outdated gopher information DELETED. 11. Where can I get Native American music? 12. My great-grandmother is an Indian princess. 13. What's the story on New Agers and Shamanism? 14. Where can I get a list of all university Native American Program in the United States? 15. I want to read some Native American Literature. Which books should I read? 16. What's the deal with Forrest Carter, author of _The Education of Little Tree_? 17. Wasn't there a Native American rock band in the early seventies? 18. Is there a list of Native American Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes)? 19. Are there any American Indian World Wide Web site available? 20. How can I get Indigenous (Americas) language learning materials? 21. What is a twinkie and how do I know if I am one? Questions and Answers ===================== 1. What is the purpose of this newsgroup? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) The Charter states: "Soc.culture.native is for the discussion of issues relating to native populations throughout the world. . . . This newsgroup is intended to be inclusive, not exclusive, offering an important vehicle for exchange among native peoples and between native and non-native peoples. Besides providing a forum for the discussion of such issues as sovereignty, religion, education and philosophy, this newsgroup will also carry news stories and bulletins which pertain to current events relating to indigenous peoples, and which alert readers to urgent situations which require immediate responses, such as human rights cases and imminent encroachment upon native populations." 2. What is the history of this newsgroup? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) The group was a difficult sell to the folks at news.groups. In fact, an attempt to create a newsgroup for American Indians actually failed the first time around back in 1992 because of irregular voting. We studied the different histories sent to us by persons wishing to see this group become a reality. Especially difficult was the question of a name. Soc.culture.american.indian or soc.culture.indian.american for this group did not sit well with persons of East Indian descent living in the US. The name soc.culture.native.american was rejected by those born in the US or the Americans arguing that they were now "native" to this hemisphere. As a compromise, we settled on soc.culture.native. Several UseNet Vets also helped out, giving us some great advice about how to create this newsgroup. Although we made some incredibly bone-headed mistakes, we somehow managed to get the job done. The tough discussions went from December 1992 to the end of January 1993. There were three major proponents of the group: me, Floyd Davidson, and Gary Trujillo. The vote ran through February (the votes were collected and counted by Jan Isley). The group began operations of March 1, 1993. 3. Why are there two American Indian newsgroups: soc.culture.native and alt.native? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) When I first proposed this newsgroup, a lot of news servers, including my own at Cornell, did not carry the alt.* newsgroups. As a result, many of us were being left out of the conversation. I was told that a soc.* newsgroup would likely be carried by just about all news servers, and thus would provide us with at least one universal channel of communications. As time went on, both alt.native and soc.culture.native became pretty much carried by all news servers. It''s sometimes a little awkward, but crossposting between the two groups is the best policy. 4. Shouldn't you call yourself a "Native American"? (mwilson@csd.uwmu) I refer you to Adrian C. Louis' novel _Skins_."He'd never met a ''Native American'' before. He'd met Indians, skins, dog eaters, sheep f******s, rabbit-chokers, Apaches, Arapahoes, Cheyennes, Crows, Shoshones, Comanches, and several tough son of a bitch Paiutes, but he''d never met a skin who called himself a 'Native American'." (247) 5. My Indian heritage is sketchy. Can I still express my opinions on this newsgroup? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) This newsgroup was designed with the idea that it would provide a place where people -- native and non-Native -- can meet and talk about native issues. So you don't need to any native ancestry to use this newsgroup, but it doesn't hurt. 6. Is this newsgroup only for North American native people? Not at all. This newsgroup is for native people in all parts of the world -- North and South America, Malaysia, and so on. It has a greater emphasis on North American native people only because of the availability of technology. 7. If this newsgroup is for all native people, isn't there overlap between, say, African newsgroups and this newsgroup? Yes, and for this reason, we hope that people will cross-post when these issues impact areas which will be of use or interest to other native peoples. 8. Are there Native American listservs I can subscribe to? (brunner@think.com) Yes, there are mailing lists to which you might have access: AISESNET, NATIVEPROFS, and NATIVELIT (part I), NATIVE-L, NATCHAT, NAT-1492, NAT-EDU, NAT-HLTH, NAT-LANG (part II), TRIBALLAW (part III). OTHERS (part IV) Part I: AISNET INFORMATION: AISESnet: Distributed by the University of Montana, Missoula, Montana; Moderator/Listowner: Borries Demeler (demeler@selway.umt.edu); List for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society Description: AISESnet is an informal distribution list providing communication between and information for AISES chapters, high school students, and members of industry. The list's topics include AISES issues, Native American issues, engineering and science issues, public opinion, position openings, AISES events, and chapter newsletters, scholarship information, conference information and discussion. AISESnet membership is open to all, including non - AISES members. There is no subscription fee. The list is divided into three sub- groups, 'general', 'discussion', and 'alcohol & drug'. To subscribe, send an informal subscription request to: aisesnet@selway.umt.eduFor more information, mail to the listowner (demeler@selway.umt.edu) NATIVEPROFS-L INFORMATION: NATIVEPROFS-L is a listserv for and about the American Indian and Alaska Native Professoriate. This listserv was created in response to a need for continual communication among native professors, expressed at the annual conference for the American Indian and Alaska Native Professoriate in 1993 (sponsored by Arizona State University). Persons using this listserv will be members of this organization or who will eventually be members of this organization. This listserv is not intended for use by the general public. If you have any questions about NATIVEPROFS-L, please contact Mike Wilson at mwilson@csd.uwm.edu Part II: NativeNet - INFORMATION: The NativeNet lists are all oriented toward providing channels of communication for exchanging information and ideas about the indigenous peoples of the world. Though many of the subscribers to the lists are themselves members of indigenous (aboriginal/Native) societies, NativeNet exists to promote dialogue between Native and non-Native peoples, so it does not pretend to be "of by and for" indigenous peoples. Since late 1989, the NativeNet lists have served to promote communication and understanding among people all over the planet relative to the First Peoples of the world and their many cultures. The NATIVE-L list is for posting informational articles and questions. It should not be used for carrying on discussions, since the NATCHAT list has been established specifically for that purpose. NAT-LANG is for information and discussion of the languages of aboriginal peoples, NAT-EDU is for educational matters, NAT-HLTH is for health issues, and NAT-1492 (now largely dormant) is for articles pertaining to the 500th anniversary of the "voyage of discovery" of Christopher Columbus (from the perspective of aboriginal peoples). Articles from NATIVE-L are automatically forwarded to the "alt.native" and "soc.culture.native" newsgroups, so if you want to continue reading either of these newsgroups, you would be best advised *not* to subscribe to NATIVE-L, since you will have access to all of the traffic on that list via Usenet. All of the NativeNet lists are "moderated" in the Usenet sense, meaning that all articles are reviewed by a moderator prior to being relayed to the lists to which they have been sent. The moderator checks each article for its relevance to the topic of the list, and ensures that a modicum of good taste is maintained (relative to his or her own subjective judgement, of course), and deals with misdirected articles (containing clearly personal correspondence, intended for the author of a previous article [see below] or an administrative query). To subscribe to any of the NativeNet lists, go to the NativeNet Web page at "http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet/" where you will find an electronic form you can fill out, or send email to the listserv address: listserv@tamu.edu In the body of your message, put: subscribe "listname" your_full_name where "listname" is replaced by the name of one of the lists - for example: subscribe nat-edu Jane Doe At least a first and last name, separated by a space, are required. You can include any number of "subscribe" lines within a single message. There are archives for all but the NATCHAT mailing list. Articles can be retrieved from these archives via full-text Boolean search expressions. For more details on this feature, send a message to "listserv@tamu.edu" containing: get nn-intro archives native-l Some archives are also available via the NativeNet Web site (see above). Part III: TRIBALLAW - INFORMATION: Tribal Law is an open forum that will enable interaction by native people and others interested in the laws and policy that effect Native Americans on the North American continent. Students, teachers and professionals, as well as anyone else interested in the subject matter, may post and discuss legal and policy issues regarding recent tribal, state and federal court decisions, Indian public policy, social services and the legal history of Native Americans within the United States and Canada. It is our hope that through this forum people may become better informed and will also be able to use the list for research and discussion as well as for posting their tribe's recent tribal court decisions for discussion and analysis. Please feel free to post and respond as you see fit. We ask only that everyone be respectful to others in your replies. Although this is an unmoderated list, the listowners reserve the right to terminate any membership if we find that they are abusing other members and their rights to speak openly on this list. Below are instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing, as well as how to access the archives and other commands. If you have any questions about Tribal Law, or have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact one or both of the list owners. To subscribe to the triballaw mailing list send email To: listserv@thecity.sfsu.edu In the body of the mail (not the subject line, which can be left blank) write the following: subscribe triballaw <your_name> Part IV: OTHERS AZTLAN Precolumbian Mesoamerican studies -- send message "subscribe aztlan your-first-name your-last-name" to listserv@ulkyvm.louisville.edu IROQUOIS Iroquois language -- send message "subscribe iroquois your-first-name your-last-name" to listserv@vm.utcc.utoronto.ca NAGPRA-L Discussion of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act -- send message "subscribe nagpra-l" to majordomo@world.std.com NAT-WORK Native American work issues -- send message "subscribe nat-work your-first-name your-last-name" to listserv@akronvm.uakron.edu NATFOOD-L Native American Foods -- send message "subscribe natfood-l your-first-name your-last-name" to listproc@listproc.wsu.edu 9. What is the relationship between the listserv NativeNet and the UseNet newsgroup soc.culture.native? A number of selected posts from the large mailing lists of NativeNet appear regularly on soc.culture.native and alt.native. However, at this time, the gateway is not two-way. If you wish to have the person who wrote the post from NativeNet see your reply, you will need to send your post to him or her through e-mail. The post from the mailing list Native-L will have this designation at the top of the post. 10. DELETED 11. Where can I get Native American music? (Greg Jerrett, jerrett@iastate.edu) You can write to: Indian House, P.O. Box 472, Taos, NM 87571, If you write to this address and ask for a catalog (be sure to include your address!) they will send one promptly. Everything is $10 and everything is available on a cassette but no cd's. The recording are mostly live so no point in cd really. They are VERY quick. The formats are usually collections of types of music, e.g., Lakota love songs by Kevin Locke, or the Red Earth Singers Live at Bismark or Crow grass dance and owl dance songs. Usually you get 10 or more gourd songs or peyote songs, that sort of thing. (Eric Brunner, brunner@cup.hp.com) A new publication is also avaliable, and highly recommended. A Guide to native American Music Recordings Greg Gombert, 1994 ISBN 0-9644454-3-3 $12.95 > From the back cover blurb: 1,300 recordings, 90 record companies and 30 distributors are listed in a through and easy to use format with a comprehensive index. Cross- over styles such as blues, AAA, country, new age, rock and rap are covered as completeley as traditional and intertribal styles. You can write to: Indian House, P.O. Box 472, Taos, NM 87571, If you write to this address and ask for a catalog (be sure to include your address!) they will send one promptly. Everything is $10 and everything is available on a cassette but no cd's. The recording are mostly live so no point in cd really. They are VERY quick. The formats are usually collections of types of music, e.g., Lakota love songs by Kevin Locke, or the Red Earth Singers Live at Bismark or Crow grass dance and owl dance songs. Usually you get 10 or more gourd songs or peyote songs, that sort of thing. 12. My great-grandmother is an Indian princess. (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) Then you should consider the following statement by Vine Deloria: "It doesn't take much insight into racial attitudes to understand the real meaning of the Indian-grandmother complex that plagues certain whites. A male ancestor has too much of the aura of the savage warrior, the unknown primitive, the instinctive animal, to make him a respectable member of the family tree. But a young Indian princess? Ah, there was royalty for the taking. Somehow the white was linked with a noble house of gentility and culture if his grandmother was an Indian princess who ran away with an intrepid pioneer. And royalty has always been an unconscious but all-consuming goal of the European immigrant" (_Custer Died for Your Sins_ 3). 13. What's the story on New Agers and Shamanism? (brunner@think.com) I'm working on a suitable response to this one, my nickle story is: The word "shamanism" comes to the world from anthropological work done in East Siberia. It entered the anthropological literature as a general term in about the early 1900's as a "shorthand" for a wide variety of spiritual and social practices. Modernly it refers to several different types of "shamanism", see newsgroup soc.religion.shamanism, particularly its FAQ for more. The word "new age" is a recent pan-Euro-American creation, it doesn't appear to have any core tenets as a belief system, except glibly imitating predominantly Lakota-stolen external forms of faith expression, and other trinketized objects, such as (Anishabe) dreamcatchers and so forth. There is a "Lakota Declaration of War" of recent date which, IMO, speaks to the central issues of cultural appropriation by the current batch of "new agers". Personally, I think it worth knowing that these post-60's air-heads are simply a new twist on the turn of the century American Primativists. Now the targets are Lakota, then they were Eastern Tribes, and I see them in the context of European Primitivist Movements, of which Blye's drum banging is simply the most recent incantation. Again, a better answer may be forthcomming. Less biased perhaps <g>. 14. Where can I get a list of all university Native American Programs in the United States and/or Canada? (brunner@think.com) There is work in progress on this question, by Amy Davidson and Robert Nelson ASAIL Editorial Assistant and Professor of English, resp. at the University of Richmond. A gathering of University/College programs from some years ago is available. The bibliographical entry for that is: Ballinger, Franchot, ed. "A Guide to Native American Studies Programs in the United States." <SAIL [Studies in American Indian Literatures]> 5.supplement (1995): 1-31. Franchot's info is based on responses to a 1992 questionnaire he sent out. Only 30 schools provided responses, though. Amy and Robert are busy rooting out more info including Canadian coverage. If you know of any programs other than the ones listed below, please contact Amy or Robert directly, their email address are: davidsona@urvax.urich.edu and nelson@urvax.urich.edu. The list of already cooperating schools is: Cornell University De Anza College Five College consortium (Smith, Amherst, U Mass, Hampshire, Mt Holyoke) Humboldt State University Iowa State University Pembroke State University SUNY - Oswego Trent University University of Arizona University of Iowa University of Lethbridge University of Washington University of Wyoming 15. I want to read some Native American Literature. Which books should I read? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) There are many, many wonderful American Indian writers today. A good starting list may be found at http://www.uwm.edu/~mwilson/lit/booklist.htm This list was put together by the members of the NativeLit-L mailing list for Native literature. 16. What's the deal with Forrest Carter, author of _The Education of Little Tree_? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) The last I heard, a professor of history (also named Carter, I believe) argued that Forrest Carter was none other than Asa Carter, former Klu Klux Klans member and speechwriter for George Wallace ("segregation forever"). The _New York Times_ showed pictures of the two, and I have to say they looked like the same guy. Tony Plate (tap@cs.toronto.edu) writes: 12 years after the death of Forrest Carter, his widow, India Carter, confirmed that he was indeed Asa Carter. This was reported in the October 25, 1991 edition of Publishers Weekly. The article quotes from a number of people connected to the issue, whose views range from the (seemingly) hostile to the understanding: "_The Education of Little Tree_" is a hoax ... the last fantasy of a man who reinvented himself again again in the 30 years that preceeded his death in 1979" Dan T. Carter, professor of history at Emory University, a biographer of George Wallace, and author of several stories exposing Forrest Carter's past. "If the man who wrote speeches for George Wallace could write this book there's hope for a cure for the souls of us all." Rennard Strickland, Cherokee, Director of the center for the study of American Indian Law and Policy at the University of Oklahoma, and writer of the introduction to the UNMP edition. According to Professor Carter, Asa Carter was one-eighth Indian and was not an orphan. Eleanor Friede, Forrest's editor, said that his grand parents were Cherokee. Forrest always denied to her that he was Asa Carter and she was shocked when told the truth by Forrest's reclusive widow. The Publishers Weekly article is the best I have found on this subject. It refers to several articles in the New York Times, one in 1976, and another in the Oct. 4'th issue (presumably 1991). There is a one or two sentence reference to the story in "The imaginary Indian: the image of the Indian in Canadian culture." (Daniel Francis. Arsenal Pulp Press, c1992.) 17. Wasn't there a Native American rock band in the early seventies? Yes, it was called Redbone. Steve Brock (sbrock@teal.csn.org) writes: Redbone's top-40 hit was called "Come and Get Your Love." Eric Brunner (brunner@cup.hp.com) adds: Redbone is based in LA and played at the 1994 Matsun (San Juan Baptista) gathering. 18. Is there a list of Native American BBSes? The absolute latest version of this list is also always available on the BDPA BAC BBS(1-707-552-3314) and on the Data Bits Online BBS(1-213-295-6094) in the following file: NATIVBBS.MSG = BBS List (c)1993 Arthur R. McGee & The Indigenous Peoples of North America 19. Are there any American Indian World Wide Web site available? (mwilson@csd.uwm.edu) There are many, many Web sites available. Rather than try to list them all in the FAQ, we will try instead to list sites that have good indexes. Lisa Mitten's list of sites: http://info.pitt.edu/~lmitten/indians.html Capucine's Native Resources: http://www.klingon.org/native/pages/index.html Please send me other great sites. 20. How can I get Indigenous (Americas) language learning materials? > From <silver@sonoma.edu>: To: Mailing List: NAT-LANG (nat-lang@gnosys.svle.ma.us) To whom it may concern: if you are looking for teaching materials and tapes for American Indian languages, The Newsletter of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (aka SSILA News- letter) has a column entitled LEARNING AIDS, which provides information about published and "semi-published" teaching materials and tapes. The Newsletter is published quarterly. If interested contact the editor: Victor Golla, Department of Ethnic Studies, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521 (internet: vkgl@axe.humboldt.edu.>. 21. What is a twinkie and how do I know if I am one? (Gary "Beau" Owen fcowboy@netgsi.com) writes: You might be interested in my humorous posting 'You Might Be a Twinkie If...' in which I catalogue all the horrors I have personally seen committed by New Agers and wannabes. http://www.netgsi.com/~fcowboy/twinkie.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Wilson, mwilson@uwm.edu, Department of English, The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee ############## end of FAQ file ############## -- Floyd L. Davidson floyd@barrow.com Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) User Contributions:
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