'Cultural Creatives' in a Native American Tribal Community in the United States?

• In Event: From Discourses of Stability towards Discourses of Change: “Cultural Creatives” From Around the World

Abstract

Ray and Anderson’s approach to globalization in terms of “traditionals,” “moderns,” and “cultural creatives” seems to be both challenged and enhanced by its consideration in the context of Native American tribal communities in the United States. Historically, tribal community members have been oppressed, stereotyped and “otherized” by what Ray and Anderson define as “traditional” and “modern” whites. In addition, historically, tribal community members have shared a preoccupation for holistic self-actualization, a concern for the state of the earth, and an interest in inclusiveness of community, that Ray and Anderson posit as values of the “cultural creatives.” These considerations would prompt the placement of Native American tribal community members in the U.S. among the “cultural creatives,” although they are often considered – and even consider themselves – “traditional” (without necessarily a biblical component). Drawing on data from focus groups in a Native American tribal community in the upper Midwest of the United States, this presentation reflects on the possible characterization of tribal community members as “cultural creatives.”

Authors

• Sorin Nastasia, University of North Dakota

• Diana Nastasia, University of North Dakota