Doctoral Dissertation Research: Knowledge Systems and Social Networks: The Delaware Nation and Its Neighbors

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

0240056 Jackson / Fair This dissertation research project of a cultural anthropologist investigates the different types of knowledge, traditional and non-traditional, that exist within an American Indian community in Anadarko, Oklahoma. This community forms a social network containing members of the Delaware Nation and expands to include members of the Caddo and Wichita tribes. The primary hypothesis is that people who are more central within the community have a higher level of traditional knowledge. However, these same individuals may not always have less familiarity with non-traditional knowledge systems, (such as science or non-Native ways of speaking). For example, traditional tribal knowledge and science might exist as complementary ways of knowing. In order to test these statements, the researcher, will map out the social network of the Delaware, Caddo, and Wichita community. Next, the traditional and non-traditional knowledge levels of individuals will be assessed using quantitative and qualitative measures. Correlating individuals' position in the social network with their levels of traditional and non-traditional knowledge will demonstrate where knowledge in located in the social network. The results of this project will clarify several important issues in the anthropological study of knowledge and social systems. First, the study addresses the manner in which communities maintain and preserve traditions over time and within regional social networks. Second, the project investigates the impact of historical circumstances on the creation and re-creation of traditions. Finally, it will revise and refine existing models of cultural change in American Indian communities. Current models, developed in the 1950s and 1960s, generally posit the deterioration of tribal and community specific traditions in the face of pan-tribalism and assimilation. Newer research suggests that these models are grossly inadequate. The broader impacts of this project include a newer, more sophisticated understanding of contemporary American Indian social and cultural life. The new knowledge created by this project will help undermine popular stereotypes about Native American traditionalism and its presumed opposition to Western knowledge. Furthermore, the results of this project will assist tribal governments in more efficiently allocating funding and resources for cultural preservation programs. In addition, the project contributes to the training of a young social scientist.