Re-Figuring the Ecological Indian

Richard Throssel Papers, American Heritage Center

Donald Fixico's Video Broadcast and Images from the Symposium are now available!

In collaboration with and support from the UW American Indian Studies Program

Agenda 

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

8:00 a.m..

Welcoming by Wind River Indian Reservation and University of Wyoming Officials

8:00-4:30 p.m. -- Registration (AHC Lobby, 2nd floor)

9:00-10:30 a.m. -- Concurrent Sessions

Indigenous Values and the Ecological Indian 

Moderator:  Audrey Shalinsky, Professor-Anthropology

• "Bradlee LaRocque: Electric Catalogue"—Alfred Young Man (Cree), University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

• "Blended Mental Spaces and the American Indian Conceptualization of Ecology: A Categorical Extension of Shepard Krech's Ecological Indian"—Enrique Salmon, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO 

• "The Ecological Indian: Whose Fantasy?"—Leonard R. Bruguier, University of South Dakota

Conservation and Development:  Choices and Paradox 

Moderator:  Brian Hosmer, Associate Professor-History/American Indian Studies

• "Skull Valley Goshutes and the Politics of Nuclear Waste: Environment, Economic Development, and Tribal Sovereignty" —David Rich Lewis, Utah State University

• "Indian Wilderness: Paradox or Pragmatism?" —Diane Louise Krahe, Washington State University

10:30-10:45 a.m.--Break

Photo from the collections of the  American Heritage Center

10:45-Noon--Concurrent Sessions

Understanding, and Applying, Traditional Ecological Knowledge 

Moderator:  Michael Harkin, Associate Professor-Anthropology/American Indian Studies

• "TEK as Embedded Knowledge: A View from the River"—Lisa Brooks (Abenaki), Cornell University; Cassandra Brooks (Abenaki), Bates College, Lewiston, ME

• "Local Knowledge as Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Definition and Ownership"—Chris Hannibal-Paci, University of Northern British Columbia

• "Navajo Philosophy, Spirituality, and Sheep"—Lyle McNeal, Utah State University

Photo from the collections of the  American Heritage Center

Panel Dicussion:  Chief Washakie

Panel discussion about the selection of Chief Washakie to represent the state in Statuary Hall in the nation's capitol and what Chief Washakie symbolizes today.  The moderator will be Geoffrey O'Gara (author, "What You see in Clear Water") and panelists will include James Trosper (descendent of Chief Washakie), Sen. Mark Harris, Sen. Robert Peck, Joanne Ayers (descendent of Chief Washakie), Sarah Boehme (curator, Buffalo Bill Historical Center), and Henry Stamm, IV (historian and author, "People of the Wind River").

Noon-1:30 p.m. -- Lunch (pre-registered buffet lunch, Centennial Complex Restaurant, 1st floor or lunch on your own)

1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. -- Lecture:  Donald L. Fixico, "The Complexity of Indian Reality and the Natural Environment". (Stock Growers', 2nd floor)  See the Video Broadcast

Of his several books, the most recent ones are The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century: Tribal Natural Resources and American Capitalism, Rethinking American Indian History, and The Urban Indian Experience in America.

Donald L. Fixico

2:30-3:00 p.m. -- Book Signing (Loggia, 2nd floor)

3:00-4:30 p.m. -- Concurrent Sessions

Re/Presenting the Diversity, Indentities, and Representations of Aboriginal People (Indian, Inuit, and Metis) 

Moderator:  Dr. Ute Lischke, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario

• "Ecological Indian Images in Popular American Films: An Indigenous Response"—Susan M. Hill (Mohawk Nation, Haudenosaunee Confederacy), Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario 

Tourism, Eco-tourism, and Sacred Sites 

Moderator:  Frieda Knobloch, Assistant Professor-American Studies

• "The Indigenous Nahua Women in Cuetzalan: Preserving Their Environment, Language, and Culture Through Eco-Tourism"—Louise M. Greathouse-Amador, Benémerita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico

• "Stone Impressions: Non-Indian Perceptions of The Bighorn Medicine Wheel"—Paula Renaud, University of Wyoming

4:30-6:30 p.m. -- Break

6:30-7:00 p.m. -- Reception (UW Classroom Building, #302)

7:00-9:30 p.m. -- Film and Panel Discussion  (UW Classroom Building, #302)

Moderator:  Judy Antell, Director-American Indian Studies

In the Light of Reverence:  Protecting America's Sacred Lands.  Discussion by American Indian panelists (Curley Bear Wagner and Charlotte Black Elk) and Christopher McLeod, film's director.  

FRIDAY, April 26

8:00-9:00 a.m. -- Registration (AHC Lobby, 2nd floor)

9:00-10:00 a.m. -- Concurrent Sessions

Misrepresentations and Representations of Aboriginal People by Non-Aboriginal People in the Late 20th Century 

Moderator:  Simon Harrison, American Studies

• "Ecological Indian Imagery in Corporate Logos" —Philip Bellfy (White Earth Band, Minnesota Chippewa), Michigan State University

• "Slaying the Deer: Ecology and DEFA Indians, Chingachgook, The Great Snake" —Ute Lischke, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario; David McNab, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario

Representations of Indians and Nature 

Moderator:  Sarah Strauss, Assistant Professor-Anthropology

• "Ecological and Un-Ecological Indians: The (Non-) Portrayal of Plains Indians in the ‘Buffalo Commons’ Literature"—Sebastian F. Braun, Indiana University

• "Playing Indian: Use of Native American Images of ‘Nature’ in Late 20^th, Early 21^st Century America"—Kim Winters, University of Wyoming

10:00-10:30 a.m. -- Break

Photo from the collections of the  American Heritage Center

10:30-11:30 a.m. -- Concurrent Sessions

The Forest Through the Trees:  Truth, Relevance, and Use Value in Re-figuring the Ecological Indian

Moderator:  Phil Roberts, Associate Professor-History

• "Anthropocentric Anthropology: The Denial of Restoration, Co-Dependency and Sahdee"—Pat Lauderdale, Arizona State University

Fishing, Fisheries, and the Law 

Moderator:  Bill Gribb, Associate Professor-Geography & Recreation/American Indian Studies

• "Mi’kmaw Lobster Fishing in St. Mary’s Bay, Nova Scotia: A Traditional Enterprise?"—Simone Poliandri, Brown University

• "United States Relicensing of Hydroelectric Dams Resembles Contingent Proprietorship, A Modern Application of an Old American Indian Idea"—Ronald L. Trosper, Northern Arizona University

11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. -- Lunch (pre-registered buffet lunch, Centennial Complex Restaurant, 1st floor or lunch on your own)

1:00-2:00 p.m. -- 2002 George A. Rentschler Distinguished Visiting Lecturer, Shepard Krech, III--"Beyond The Ecological Indian" (Stock Growers' Room, 2nd floor)

Shepard Krech III is Professor of Anthropology, Brown University, and Director of Brown's "university museum", the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology.  He is the recipient of major fellowships from National Endowment for the Humanities, the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and the National Humanities Center, as well as major grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the National Institute for Mental Health.

Professor Krech's last major books were published in 1999:  The Ecological Indian: Myth and History, which is on the fit between the idea of American Indians as ecologists and conservations and American Indian behavior; and Collecting Native America, 1870-1960, a co-edited collection of essays on collectors of American Indian objects who founded museums in the United States and Canada.  He is currently working on two major projects:  one on the intersection of birds and North American Indians, the other the Encyclopedia of World Environmental History, 3 vols. (New York: Routledge, 2003) edited with environmental historians Carolyn Merchant and John McNeill.  He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and in Maine.

2:00-2:30 p.m. -- Book Signing (Loggia, 2nd floor)

The Ecological Indian:  Myth and History A startling look at historical truths and romantic falsehoods about Native Americans and their relationship to nature.  The idea of the Native American living in perfect harmony with nature is one of the most cherished contemporary myths.  It has provided an important corrective to individual and corporate carelessness towards the natural world.  But is there truth in this larger-than-life image?  Not very much, according to Shepard Krech.

The Ecological Indian surveys North American environmental history to explore the relation between humans and the rest of nature before and after the arrival of Europeans, addressing such fascinating questions as:  Were Pleistocene-era humans responsible for the extinction of large mammals like the mastodon?  Did the Hohokam of Arizona destroy their society by overirrigating and ultimately oversalinating their crops?  What role did Native Americans play in the near-extinctions of the deer, the beaver, and the buffalo?  How did they use fire?  Was the natural "Eden" that awed the first European visitors just a feature of very low-population density?  Shedding invaluable light both on conservation and ecology in Native America and on fierce contemporary debates, this groundbreaking book is essential reading for all who care about the environment, humans, and their history together. 

2:30-4:00 p.m. -- Concurrent Sessions

Re-settling the Indian:  Art, Inhabitation, and the Western Landscape 

Moderator:  John Dorst, Professor-American Studies

• "The Indian Yesterday, The Indian Today: Maynard Dixon's new Deal Murals for the Bureau of Indian Affairs" — Erika Doss, University of Colorado-Boulder

• "Plains Geometry: Surveying the Path from Savagery to Civilzation"— William Truettner, Smithsonian Museum of American Art

• "Erosive Images: Indians, the Dustbowl, and FSA Photography"— Jason Weems, Stanford University

Indigenous Resource Management, Views from the Past 

Moderator:  Veronica Gambler, American Indian Studies

• "Zuni Agriculture: 2000 Years of Conservation Farming"—Celeste Illgner Havener, Wyoming EPSCoR; Stephen E. Williams, University of Wyoming

• "The Role of Native American Fires in Shaping Ecosystems"—Stephen R. Johnson, William Penn University, Iowa; Mary Stark, Central College, Iowa

Photo from the collections of the American Heritage Center

4:00-4:15 p.m. -- Break

4:15-5:15 p.m. -- Session

The Ecological Indian, A Discussion 

Moderator:  Michael Harkin, Associate Professor-Anthropology/American Indian Studies

• "European Imaginations and Indigenous Reality: Evidence and Argument in ‘The Ecological Indian’" —Raymond Pierotti (Commanche), University of Kansas

• "Inventing Shepard Krech and the Politics of Representation: Historicizing Academic Anthropology in the Age of Ecocide" —Darren J. Ranco (Penobscot Indian Nation), University of California-Berkley

5:15-6:00 p.m. -- Reception (Loggia, 2nd floor)

6:00-7:30 p.m. -- Panel Discussion (Stock Growers' Room, 2nd floor)

Closing Thoughts and Conference Critique.  A discussion by American Indian panelists (Curly Bear Wagner, Charlotte Black Elk, and Raymond Pierotti).

Sponsored in part by:

The American Heritage Center Associates

The Wyoming State Historical Society

The University of Wyoming:

• American Indian Studies
• American Studies Program
• Anthropology Department
• Arts & Sciences
• History Department

A Special Thanks to Our Planning Committee:

• Judith Antell, Director-American Indian Studies
• John Dorst, Professor-American Studies
• Rick Ewig, Interim Director-American Heritage Center
• Bill Gribb, Associate Professor-Geography & Recreation/American Indian Studies
• Michael Harkin, Associate Professor-Anthropology/American Indian Studies
• Brian Hosmer, Associate Professor-History/American Indian Studies
• Frieda Knobloch, Assistant Professor-American Studies
• Sally Sutherland, Executive Staff Assistant-American Heritage Center