Tag: Kevin Hatfield

The Brokeback Mountain Controversy: Converging Identities of Queer Masculinity in the American West

Presenter: Dorothea Mosman

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Social Science

Major: English, Political Science

“If John Wayne were alive, he’d be rolling over in his grave!” Thus came veteran actor Ernest Borgnine’s assessment of Brokeback Mountain at the height of the 2005 media frenzy it spurred. So declared hordes of conservative pundits, liberal film critics, and American viewers: “that gay cowboy movie” was, at worst, an abomination, and at best, an outlandish fiction with no grounds in the reality of the Wild West. The de-heterosexualization of the mythic cowboy, essentially the age-old archetype of American masculinity, threw audiences into a tizzy. But are “the homosexual” and “the cowboy” as incongruous as mainstream American thought would indicate? Serious investigation into historical subcultures of the American West, underscored in cowboy poetry, records, and folklore, reveals a thriving—if enigmatic—gay community. Even those like early twentieth century Wyoming poet laureate Charles Badger Clark who outwardly fulfill the stereotypes of the classic masculine cowboy may simultaneously display queer undertones in their poetry and verse. Brokeback Mountain seems, then, not a condemnable bastardization of the “real” Wild West, but a convincing modern Western with a prescient message: that homosexuality and the West can and do mix, and that queerness does not, as Ernest Borgnine would maintain, negate the masculinity of the cowboy.

The Plow in a Land of Sand and Sagebrush: Agrarian Ideology as an Agent of Assimilation on the Warm Spring Indian Reservation, 1850-1870

Presenter: Kiara Kashuba

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Social Science

Major: Planning, Public Policy, and Management

This paper examines how Euro-American agrarian ideology was an agent of oppressive assimilation and acculturation of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in central Oregon. My research establishes agriculture at center stage, reexamining it as a paramount assimilation tactic rather than an afterthought. My secondary sources discuss agrarian ideologies such as Jeffersonian Agrarianism, the Yeoman and the Fee-Simple Empire, and Manifest Destiny, and my primary research draws from treaties, annual reports, diary entries, letters between government officials, and interviews with tribal elders.Most interestingly, throughout the course of my research I discovered a great deal of documentations of the failure of agriculture on the Warm Springs Reservation. Soil quality and weather deemed the region almost entirely unfit for agriculture, and yet, fully aware of the land’s inability to produce crops, the government relentlessly forced the indigenous tribes to adopt an agrarian lifestyle. Thus my research reveals that agriculture on the reservation was about more than just growing food, it was about assimilation and fulfilling Jeffersonian Agrarian ideals.

Slavery, Captivity, and the Fate of Northern Paiutes after the “Snake” War: A Case Study of the Expedition of 1871 and William McKay: Exterminator and Emancipator

Presenter: Catherine Jaffe

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Social Science

Major: Biology, Environmental Science

Lasting from 1855 until 1868, the “Snake” War was a devastating conflict during which many individuals from the Northern Paiute tribe were taken captive and inducted into an inter-tribal slave trade. In 1871, the U.S. government commissioned Dr. William McKay, a leader of the violent “Snake” war expeditions, to locate and liberate these displaced Paiutes. The fundamentally dehumanizing effects of enslavement and captivity have led to the near erasure of these captured Paiutes and their experiences from historical narratives. As a result, the events of McKay’s expedition and the fates of Northern Paiutes captured and enslaved in the war have been largely un-researched. Given the scarcity of secondary literature on this topic I draw on extensive primary sources from the McKay Papers: a collection of letters and government documents relating to Dr. William McKay housed in the University of Oregon microfilm collection. Using the unusual 1871 expedition as a case study, I argue that the effects of slavery, captivity, acculturation, and oppression were still vividly present during this “liberation expedition” and strongly informed the objectives of William McKay and the U.S. federal government. I further argue that primary documentation of this expedition reveals that government policies served to reinforce pre-existing perceptions of the Northern Paiute as less-than human and so undermined the sovereignty of these independent and complex peoples. Unearthing hidden histories like that of the 1871 expedition can help build a new understanding of these historical narratives that takes into account the sovereignty of the Northern Paiute people. The combined repercussions of intertribal slavery and government driven acculturation still linger with the Northern Paiute people, yet most significant is the fact that these peoples have survived such oppressive forces to continue their culture today.

A Chronicle of the Health Conditions among the Burns Paiute Colony, 1900–1955

Presenter: Victoria Carroll

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: General Science

Native Americans have experienced the spread of disease and sickness ever since they were colonized by Euro- Americans. In the 19th century, the establishment of reservations introduced public health problems that were previously unknown to native communities. Particularly dramatic changes in the lifestyle, culture, and health of indigenous communities occurred during the Post-allotment Era from 1900–1955. This paper discusses the living conditions and health issues faced by the Northern Paiutes living outside of the town of Burns in Eastern Oregon during this time period. The lifestyle and living conditions, including sanitation, disease prominence, medicinal choices and healthcare availability will be discussed to shed light on the previously unknown conditions faced by the Paiute people. Additionally, an analysis of the correlation between legislature and public health status will show the direct impact that policy and administration had on the conditions experienced by the Paiutes. Specifically, this paper investigates how legislative changes such as the Indian Reorganization Act and Johnson O’Malley Act had an impact on the lives of the Paiutes and their health. This paper examines how public health among the Burns Paiute improved through changes in administration, influential politicians, increases in funding, and the development of new medical treatments. Thanks to the documents from the National Archives in Seattle, this paper will contribute to the record of public health among the Burns Paiute.

The Network of Resistance: Northern Paiute Opposition to Imprisonment at Yakima Reservation, 1878–1884

Presenter: Augustine Beard

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: History

After the Bannock-Paiute ended in 1878, General Howard and the US army led approximately 550 Northern Paiute Indians on a trail of tears from Oregon Great Basin to the Yakima Reservation in southern Washington with intent for them to remain there permanently as prisoners of war. While at Yakima, the Northern Paiutes faced discrimination from the Yakima Indians as well as mistreatment by Indian Agency that failed to provide them with adequate food, shelter, and clothing. The Northern Paiutes refused to accept internment in Yakima and engaged in resistance, primarily through civil disobedience, in attempt to return home to Oregon. This paper investigates the nature of the Northern Paiutes’ resistance while at Yakima between their arrival in 1878 and departure in 1882. The current understanding of this history focuses on Sarah Winnemucca’s lectures and activism, and the role of the individuals in the Department of War and Department of Interior in advocating for the Northern Paiutes. I demonstrate that the Northern Paiutes refused to be passive victims, and that their resistance was one of the primary reasons for their return home as well as the Yakima Indian Agent James Wilbur’s resignation. I introduce a resistance network framework, which better accounts for the plurality of actors and motives. I use primary sources mostly in the form of correspondence between government officials, and partly from the existing body of secondary literature. Additionally, I draw upon sources from “resistance studies,” a critical theory on non-revolutionary acts of resistance, for an understanding of how resistance is typically discussed in history and anthropology.

“The Chieftain’s Weary Daughter”: The Feminist Legacy and Mainstream Appropriation of Sarah Winnemucca

Presenter: Sophia Albanis

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Social Science

Major: Women’s & Gender Studies

To say the least, Sarah Winnemucca of the Northern Paiute was controversial: she was a collaborator with the United States Army, she was an outspoken Native American rights activist and public figure, and she was, of course, a woman. This project investigates the political legacy of Sarah Winnemucca through the lens of her womanhood, employing as comparative tools the often-contrasting critical theories of “mainstream” feminism and Native feminism(s). Relying upon the understanding that Sarah Winnemucca constantly juggled a series of conflicting identities—and utilizing the theory of intersectionality to investigate those identities and their impact on her work—this research effort emphasizes the aspects of her identity that are often overlooked in the assumption that she was a “feminist heroine.” Popular imaginings of Sarah Winnemucca—like those found in the writings of her contemporary biographers—are often idealistic, oversimplified, and heavily influenced by feminist modes of thought that are distinctly white. Including the voices of Native feminists in the ongoing scrutiny of Sarah as an indigenous woman and thinker is necessary, both in understanding the real implications of her actions, and in doing justice to the narratives and perspectives of the Northern Paiute. Sarah Winnemucca was a mediator between settler society and the Paiute community, between the public realm and her traditional heritage, and between political assertiveness and conventional forms of femininity. Thus, in comparing mainstream feminism’s and Native feminism’s perceptions of Sarah Winnemucca, the complexity and contentiousness of her political legacy and modes of advocacy offer distinctive insight into what it means to be Native, female, and radical.

The Infrastructure of Settler Colonialism: Roads, Dams, and Sawmills on the Warm Springs Reservation

Presenter(s): Seth Temple − Mathematics

Faculty Mentor(s): Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Panel Session 1M

Research Area: Humanities

Most Americans think of military skirmishes with the Native tribes and the spread of small pox among the Indigenous population when they consider how the United States colonized the West. These images tell a part of the settler colonialism story; they do not tell the full story. Building infrastructure in the American West promoted the extraction of natural resources, made spaces for American settlers to occupy, and enabled the American military to restock on supplies and quickly traverse foreign landscapes. Roads, sawmills, dams, townships, forts, and other infrastructure changed the physical landscape of central and eastern Oregon during the 19th and 20th centuries. This paper provides case studies of Highway 26, the Powell Reregulating Dam, and the Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, contextualizing the infrastructure projects alongside Northern Paiute history. Creating infrastructure requires an author, a purpose, an implementation, and continued maintenance. Early infrastructure projects in the Oregon frontier came from white settlers and the federal military with the aim being to extract resources from Northern Paiute lands and subdue any resistance from the Indigenous peoples. In contrast, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have exercised agency in the stewardship of reservation lands and natural resources since the mid-20th century. Though the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs now play a more significant role in the authorship, objectives, implementations, and maintenance of infrastructure projects on reservation lands than they once did, there is still evidence of the settler colonialist nation controlling some infrastructure on the reservation for its own pursuits.

Inter-Tribal Dynamics of the Warm Springs and Grand Ronde Reservations: A Historical Legacy of Discrimination, Prejudice, and Settler-Colonialism

Presenter(s): Clara Gorman − History

Faculty Mentor(s): Jennifer O’Neal, Kevin Hatfield

Oral Session 1M

Research Area: Humanities

Funding: Vice President for Research and Innovation Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2017)

In 2016, Northern Paiute tribal elder Myra Johnson-Orange stated, “Before the coming of the white man, there were peaceful feelings among the tribes that are now, what I call, inter-tribal racism.” Myra’s statement seamlessly captures the central research question I am pursuing, comprised of two interconnected components. The first part examines how Oregon’s tribal history of the Western Slope and Northern Great Basin regions, specifically historical tribal animosities and alliances, has shaped and characterized contemporary inter-tribal dynamics on the Warm Springs and Grand Ronde Reservations. The second part explores what these contemporary inter-tribal dynamics look like in regards to cultural fusion, tribal and inter- tribal identity, cultural politics, and inter-tribal discrimination. There currently exists little academic or historical research that specifically examines the cultural inter-tribal dynamics of either The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs or The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. With the creation of the Indian Reservation System, historically hostile tribes are forced to live together as one representative sovereign nation. The dominant discourse assumes that inter-tribal dynamics are characterized by a notion of unity and a semblance of tribal equality. However, this widespread assumption fails to recognize the individuality of each tribe and tribal member, limiting equal tribal representation on a political, social, and cultural  level. In an attempt to record Native history from an exclusively Native perspective, I plan to conduct my research using a methodology of oral history within a framework of decolonization. Ultimately, my research will be discussed in a comparative framework, examining similarities and differences in tribal history and contemporary inter-tribal relations that exist on the two Reservations. I anticipate that the different geographic locations of each Reservation and the various levels of historical tribal engagement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs will indicate some degree of existing inter-tribal prejudice and discrimination in both communities.

Points in Play: Reacting, Student Engagement and the Evolving College Classroom

Presenter(s): Kyley Canion Brewer—History

Faculty Mentor(s): Kevin Hatfield

Session 3: The Way We Were

Reacting to the Past, known colloquially as ‘Reacting’ is a role-playing pedagogy used in higher education that flips the classroom and encourages students to take a more active role in their education . At present some twenty historical role-playing games are currently in print and available to educators’ world over . However, rather than acting as a conclusion, the success of this new pedagogy provides us with a platform to further improve the experience of these games . This project takes an existing Reacting game: “Red Clay, 1835: Cherokee removal and the meaning of sovereignty” and seeks to adapt and make it more accessible to the college classroom . This project is conducted as a case study with particular amendments being applied to a specific game in an attempt to further develop the reacting pedagogy . The existing systems of ‘points’ used within Red Clay act as an infrastructure through which the contextual aims of each student’s role are framed . By changing and streamlining the points system the aim is to allow more students to better understand, and thus further engage with not only their roles on an individual level but also the historical premise of the game as a whole .