ASU recently released a report entitled The State of Indian Country Arizona. It looks at each of the 22 tribes and covers topics including cultural rights, demographics, education, health and human services, natural resources, sustainability and economic development. SHPRS Café sat with Professor Don Fixico to get his take. SHPRS: The report provides a picture of improvement, but with ample room to grow. You have wisely suggested looking at the gourd as half full rather than half empty. What would you say has been the greatest improvement for the Indian nations since they got the right to vote in Arizona in 1947? Fixico: The greatest achievement of the 22 Indian nations has been a statewide recognition of Indian political presence. These twenty-two groups own twenty-eight percent of the land in Arizona and that is approaching almost one-third of the entire state, which includes natural resources, particularly Indian water rights. SHPRS: If it were possible to narrow it down, what would you say is the single greatest challenge for Indian nations today? Has that been the main challenge historically? Is anything new being done to address that challenge? Fixico: Perhaps the greatest challenge for the Indian nations has been how they have been treated in the historic past in the nineteenth century as a race that had to be vanquished. This led to thirty-four pejorative stereotypes about American Indians, compared to six favorable stereotypes and six neutral stereotypes. The rebuilding of Indian nations since 1934 to the present has helped to overcome this negativity as other people continue to witness the tribal progress in economics and in other areas. SHPRS: Earlier this year an auction house in France went ahead with the sale of Native American objects despite the objections from the Hopi tribe and requests from the US Embassy to delay the sale. Can you talk about the significance of these objects and the history of international trade in these artifacts? Fixico: Hopi tribal chairman Leroy Shingoitewa clearly stated that it was immoral to sell such sacred objects because they are spiritual beings and this is an important part of Hopi worldview that should be respected like other people’s view such as religion. It is not so much as international trade of these artifacts, but rather how they were obtained. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) passed a little over twenty years ago is a good start for understanding and respecting Indian cultural and religious rights, and returning Native human remains and sacred objects to the tribes from where they originally existed. SHPRS: The title of your last book is Call for Change: The Medicine Way of American Indian History, Ethos and Reality. Can you explain what that means? Fixico: Over thirty thousand books have been written about American Indians from the white point of view. The tendency until now has been to focus on the relationship between Indians and whites, but that perspective is extremely limited. Let’s take the Creek, for example. One cannot look at their history without considering their relationship with the Cherokee, their relationship with the French, with the English, with the Spanish, with the plant world, the animal world, the metaphysical and the unknown. Each one of these binary relationships must be looked at individually to understand the complete picture. Looking at the complete picture, especially the relationship with metaphysical power, is the medicine way, and that is the change that is called for. SHPRS: Can you comment on the state of infrastructure in Indian nations and their vulnerability compared to the rest of the state when facing natural disasters such as the floods happening in the Navajo Nation earlier this month? Fixico: Like many communities, the Navajo Nation was not prepared fully to deal with the flooding. The reality is how to respond to such natural disasters. The Indian nations understand the significance of infrastructure and resources as well as the importance of tribal management and leadership. In becoming less dependent upon the federal government for assistance, the tribes will continue to rebuild their nations following each setback. SHPRS: In your new book, Indian Resilience and Rebuilding, you look at the business of casinos, from which some tribes have been able to profit. Who provides the financial backing for these investments? And, to your knowledge, are the terms of these investments favorable or exploitative? Fixico: Corporate investors, which sometimes include foreign investors, are the ones who financially back tribal casinos to open their doors for operation. Certainly the terms favor the investors who want immediate return payments, so that they can move onto the next opportunity. Such investments are processed following in depth fiscal studies and exploitation occurs when the terms are way out of line. SHPRS: You talk about Indian Capitalism being based on a moral economy, one that takes care of their community by, in many cases, reinvesting the profits from gaming into education, the elderly, and different forms of health care. Their respect for the land and natural resources in today’s growing awareness about the environment could be regarded as a moral economy as well. Could you picture a future where Indian Capitalism becomes a model adopted by grassroots organizations? Fixico: The kind of tribal capitalism that I talk about in my book emphasizes taking care of community. Community is important in Indian Country and taking care of people, especially those who need help. In time, this type of Indian capitalism could be a model for grassroots organizations, but it also requires the people to commit themselves to help sustain the community.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 23:51:56 +0000
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