Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Descendants' Organizations and Cultural Heritage in Kiowa Society

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

A core finding of recent research on heritage and historical consciousness is that interpretations and representations of the past are rooted in the contemporary moment. Their significance is seen as lying not in the past, but rather in the cultural work that they are made to perform in the present. Previous studies have focused on the role of heritage and historical consciousness in large scale nationalist and separatist movements. Far less is known about how they are deployed in smaller but still culturally distinct social settings. This research will fill that gap. Graduate student Michael P. Jordan, supervised by Dr. Daniel C. Swan, will undertake research on the ways in which heritage and historical consciousness are brought into the social dynamics and internal politics of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized American Indian tribe with headquarters in Carnegie, Oklahoma. Nineteenth century Kiowa society was stratified and social rank continued to influence tribal politics into the mid-twentieth century. To examine the uses of the past today, the researcher will focus on recently created formal descendants' organizations, groups organized by lineal descendants to commemorate their nineteenth century ancestors. He will employ a mixed methods approach, combining the study of inter- and intra-group interaction, analysis of the discursive and material aspects of performance events, and informal and formal interviewing. This investigation of this interesting case will provide a window into the larger phenomenon of how consciousness of the past is deployed in the present. The research is important because the phenomenon under investigation is found world wide. The research will contribute to theory about how and why contemporary social groups continue to make use of highly localized distinctions despite globalization. In addition, assessment of the ways in which descendants' organizations utilize intellectual property associated with 19th century historical figures will contribute to social science understanding of cross-cultural variation in intellectual property systems. The research also will contribute to the education of a graduate student.