From Cowboys to Diplomats: Challenges for Social Entrepreneurship in The Netherlands

Social entrepreneurship—a new business model that combines a social goal with a business mentality—is in a transitional phase, from a rough cowboy market to a more established market niche. This process results in two interconnected dilemmas for the social entrepreneur. First, how it can capture market share despite its role as an antagonist to current market values. Second, how it can prevent the loss of its own core values in the course of greater interaction with the incumbent regimes. Using a tool known from innovation sciences to analyse radical innovations, namely strategic niche management, and both survey data and interviews from actors in the Netherlands, this article shows that social entrepreneurs have an attitude that is still more in line with the cowboy market than with the new diplomatic role they are expected to take on. Subsequently, it provides recommendations on how to achieve this new attitude.     

American Indians,civilized performance and the question of rights

Abstract

Between the middle of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, public arguments about the eligibility of American Indians for citizenship, and about the obligations of white Americans toward Indian populations, shifted from a focus on the rights of the Indian minority to a focus on the rights of the white majority. Similarly, discussions of the criteria for Indian citizenship also shifted, from a concern with the moral duty of the majority to ensure the human rights of the minority to a consideration of whether any claims to rights must be respected on moral grounds alone. The writings of Lydia Maria Child and Lyman Abbott on the 'Indian question' illustrate the ways in which Child's paternalistic family model of entitlement is replaced by a later model that emphasizes culture over morality, behavior over rights.     

Mental Health Care for American Indians in Prison

Abstract

Based on an earlier finding that as many Native Americans in upstate New York received mental health care in prison as outside of prison during a 10-month period, this study was designed to investigate if prisons had become an alternative treatment option for Native Americans with a mental illness in New York State. The study was not able to answer this question due to the limited number of cases and to outside constraints. However, it is possible from the results to provide a picture of mental health needs and attitudes among Native American inmates which is surprising and instructive for those who provide psychiatric care to American Indians, either within or outside of prison walls. A noteworthy finding was the importance placed by these inmates on the use of culturally appropriate ceremonies to assist in their rehabilitation. Low rates of serious mental illness among the American Indian sample highlight the need for further study in this area.     

Barriers to healthcare for American Indians experiencing homelessness

Members of American Indian (AI) communities face many barriers to receiving both mental and physical healthcare. These barriers can have a negative effect on overall health. Barriers are compounded for AIs who are also experiencing homelessness, and AI make up a disproportionate percentage of the homeless population nationwide. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 service providers and 16 homeless participants in a mid-size Midwestern city to identify barriers to care for homeless participants. Key barriers identified in this study for homeless participants were: transportation, phone accessibility, discrimination, and cold and bureaucratic cultures of healthcare systems. Major barriers identified by service providers were: access to care, discrimination and mistrust, and restrictive policies. Given generally higher disease prevalence within the homeless population and health disparities within the AI community, steps should be taken to reduce barriers to healthcare.     

The unredeemed past: Academics and Indians on America's intellectual frontier

Susan B. Andrews and John Creed (eds.), Authentic Alaska: Voices of Its Native Writers (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). Pp.xxvii + 177. $35 (hardback); $15 (paperback). ISBN 0 8032 1041 8 and 5933 6

Joy A. Bilharz, The Allegany Senecas and Kinzua Dam: Forced Relocation Through Two Generations (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). Pp.xxvi + 194. $40/£38 (hardback). ISBN 0 8032 1282 8

Devon A. Mihesuah (ed.), Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about American Indians (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). Pp.xi + 212. $15/£14 (paperback). ISBN 0 8032 8243 5

Roger Nichols, Indians in the United States and Canada: A Comparative History (Lincoln, NE and London: The University of Nebraska Press, 1988). Pp.xvii + 383. $60/£57 (hardback). ISBN 0 8032 3341 8

Eli Paul (ed.), The Nebraska Indian Wars Reader, 1865–1877 (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). Pp.xii + 245. $15/£14 (paperback). ISBN 0 8032 8749 6

Gerald Vizenor, Fugitive Poses: Native American Indian Scenes of Absence and Presence (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). Pp.238. NP (paperback). ISBN 0 8032 4664 1     

The conceptualization of mistreatment by older American Indians

The problem of how to conceptualize elder mistreatment goes back several decades, and is especially important for ethnic minority populations, who may have perspectives that differ from the dominant society. This community-based participatory research study, which examined perceptions of mistreatment by family among 100 urban and rural older American Indians, permits a rare glimpse into how Native elders themselves understand this issue. Here, good treatment was conceptualized in terms of being taken care of, having one’s needs met, and being respected. We found relatively high standards for how elders should be treated—such as the belief that an elder’s needs should be anticipated and met without the elder needing to ask—in the face of widespread accounts of the mistreatment of elders within the community, largely through various acts of financial exploitation and neglect. Substance abuse and culture loss were blamed formuch of the elder mistreatment occurring in contemporary Native communities.     

Diaspora and cultural heritage: the case of Indians in Canada

The present paper examines the historical and contemporary context of Indian communities in Canada from a cultural heritage perspective and analyses the processes of migration, settlement and cultural identity. It also examines the challenges of developing museum exhibits which depict the Indian diaspora in Canada. Despite its colourful history and its growing size and prominence in Canadian society, the Indian diaspora has not been the subject of much interest by Canadian museums. While recognising the necessity of working with local communities and thereby reflecting local concerns, it is submitted that any museum exhibit attempting to portray the complex set of experiences of the Indian diaspora in Canada should include some portrayal of the highly marginalised position which the Indian community faced when it first established themselves in the early 1900s. In addition to this historical focus, any attempt to portray the contemporary Indian diaspora needs to portray its growing diversity and its efforts to maintain, and in many cases modify and ‘hybridise’, cultural practices. Such a display would also have to reflect the influence of transnational forces on the contemporary Indian diaspora. Ultimately, efforts by museums to develop exhibits reflecting the Indian presence in Canada will only further the aims of its widely praised state policy of multiculturalism.     

Modernization and Fertility: The Case of the James Bay Indians*

II a été souvent avancé, mais sans preuve empirique suffisante, que le processus de modernisation peut s'accompagner, à son stade initial, d'une augmentation du taux de fécondité, notamment grâce au relâchement des contraintes traditionnelles qui affectent la procréation. Les données d'une enquête auprès des Indiens de la Baie James semblent corroborer la théorie. En effet, elles révèlent que les intervalles intergénésiques diminuent au fur et à mesure qu'on passe des générations plus anciennes aux générations plus récentes des méres indiennes. Trois facteurs, reliés au processus de modernisation, semblent avoir contribuéà ce phénomène: (1) changement dans les habitudes d'allaitement dans le sens d'une réduction de la période ou même d'un abandon de l'allaitement naturel; (2) réduction des accidents puerpéraux, intervenue à la suite des progrès médicaux et du passage du nomadisme à un mode de vie plus stable de la société indienne dans cette région; (3) diminution des incidences des séparations prolongées des époux dans la mesure où s'améliorent les communications entre les villages et la société indienne tend à devenir sédentaire. The theory that modernization at its initial stage may result in an increase in fertility through the relaxation of restrictive customs governing procreative behaviours of premodern societies has often been postulated, but little empirical evidence has been provided to support it. Data collected on fertility for Indians living in the James Bay area of Canada tend to confirm the validity of this theory. They reveal, for this population, that intervals between successive births tend to become shorter among younger as compared to older generations of mothers, and this is attributed to three factors related to modernization: (1) changes in lactation habits whereby an increasingly larger proportion of mothers either do not breast-feed at all, or do so for shorter periods of time than did the older generations; (2) reduction in the level of pregnancy wastage resulting both from medical progress and from the fact that hardship and pregnancy accidents to which the pregnant mothers were formerly exposed probably have diminished as James Bay Indians have shifted from a nomadic to a sedentary society; and (3) reduction in the incidence of prolonged temporary separation of spouses as the communication between home villages of spouses has improved and as Indian families have given up their nomadic mode of life.     

Suicide in Adolescent American Indians: Preventative Social Work Programs

Suicide is a leading social problem among the adolescent American Indian community. This literature review examines the demographics of American Indian adolescents who attempt suicide, along with the effects it has on the entire family/community. This paper describes various programs used to address individuals, while correlating them to specific use within the American Indian population. The authors look at the effectiveness of the Adolescent Suicide Prevention Project, American Indian Life Skills Development Curriculum, and Zuni Life Skills Development, along with the draw-backs associated with the implementation of each program. The importance of incorporating culturally specific programs and addressing the issue at a community level in an attempt to enhance the well-being of at-risk American Indian Adolescents is emphasized.     

Elder Abuse Among Asian Indians: Traditional versus Modern Perspectives

ABSTRACT

This article examines different perspectives of elder abuse in the context of traditional cultural values and the effects of modernization in India and acculturation among Indian immigrants to the US. Case examples illustrate general perspectives. Implications for policy, programs, and practice are discussed.     

Review Essay: Thinking Critically about West Indians,Culture, and Identity

Qualitative Sociology -     

Career Development and American Indians Living on Reservations: Cross-Cultural Factors to Consider

Cross-cultural factors that can affect optimal career decision making among American Indians living on reservations are discussed in this article. The factors are presented in relation to: (a) knowledge of the world of work, (b) external pressures and (c) assessment. Career counseling strategies are identified that may enhance the career development process.     

Burmese Indians in contemporary Burma: heritage,influence, and perceptions since 1988

This article seeks to explore the current role, significance and influence of Burmese Indian minorities in post-1988 Burma as well as the perceptions the Burmese indigenous society and elite have developed on them since the colonial era. British Burma (1826–1948) witnessed a massive immigration of Indian communities that disproportionately dominated Burma's colonial enterprise. A strong resentment thus arose among the Burman Buddhist majority, illustrated by the rise of a popular ‘indophobia’ phenomenon. Paroxysmal expressions of the colonial original trauma were observed through recurrent pre-independence anti-Indian riots as well as a specific and enduring linguistic patronizing classification of the ‘Kalas’ by the Burmese language. Nationalistic administrative laws, enacted by the Burmese post-independence parliamentarian and military governments, furthered the downgrading and discrimination of Burmese Indians who remain however a visible minority today, with a manifest economic weight and a strong socio-cultural presence throughout Burma. In this paper, it will, however, be argued that after years of ‘Burmanization’ processes, Burmese old-age ‘indophobic’ sentiments have turned towards more ‘islamophobic’ tendencies, now explicitly targeting the Muslim communities of Indian origin, but that it remains difficult to evaluate their impact on Burma's current policymaking.     

Archival sources and the culture history of the Indians of the Eastern Subarctic*

This paper discusses some of the historical materials available to anthropologists interested in research on the Indians of the Eastern Subarctic. Until very recently, several important archival resources were either unknown or ignored by scholars, and therefore many ethnohistorical issues have remained unresolved. In some cases, field data have been extended back in time to fill gaps. But when historical materials are later uncovered, they sometimes refute field-derived historical assumptions. This paper, then, stresses the importance of archival research and illustrates its value with reference to several problem areas in Subarctic ethnology. Of special significance are the Hudson's Bay Company Archives in Winnipeg.     

Fiji Indians and Political Discourse in Fiji: from the Pacific Romance to the Coups

Abstract Why did Fiji Indian political rhetoric shift, at Fiji's independence, from Gandhian political grievance to nation, development and harmony? The Indians were brought to Fiji as plantation labor in order to protect the indigenous Fijians from wage labor. A romantic vision of the indigenes guided colonial policy, and became law at Fiji's independence, in a constitution giving indigenous Fijians and their chiefs special privileges. Despite the appeasing rhetoric, an electoral defeat of the indigenous chiefs was followed by military coups, for protection of indigenes against Indians and consolidation of chiefly power. Fiji has proved difficult to ‘imagine’ as a nation.