Ezekiel Choffel
AL 891
Dr. Powell Prof Andrea
March 11, 2012
Native Rhetorics and Economics
For this assignment I chose economics as my field of study, as I knew this would be an
interesting perspective to take when dealing with Native culture. Economics is not what one
would immediately associate with Native studies and as a result of such thinking there was a
great disparity in “academic” work that deals specifically with this topics. There is however what
I would personally consider academic work being done in the field of Economics relating to
Native culture. As our most recent class reading, Research is Ceremony by Shawn Wilson, sates
Native scholars often have to defend the research paradigm of Native culture, and as such, I
believe this is why it was hard to find pieces on Native economics that were written by Native
scholars, and more importantly it was extremely difficult to find academic journal pieces written
by Natives through the E-resources provided by MSU. I did however find work that fits the
paradigm provided by Wilson. (Wilson)
One thing I noticed throughout all of the three articles I found was the enforced
connection to Native economics and land use. I tried to find a different array of articles to cover
as much ground as possible, but in some instances these pieces overlap so heavily that it is
essentially a conglomeration of specific aspects of Economics presented in a Native context. The
only atypical piece I looked at were a series of job listings dealing specifically with different
Native communities. The reason I chose this piece was to see if job postings were listed in a
consistent manner with the rhetorical tools we as a class have discovered throughout this
semester.
The first article I found was Native American Tribes and Economic Development By
Annette Alvarez. This article deals directly with the economic concept of land use while
maintaining an Indigenous research paradigm. Alvarez begins by establishing her relationship to
earth as more than an economic resource by relating how pre-contact Natives used the land in
contrast to how the colonizers used the land. Familiar topics that are presented consistently are:
the relationship Native people have to the land, the process of conversion from public lands to
“private” lands, the furthering of colonial values through the lens of the Dawes Act, and the
current process of decolonialization the land where Native peoples are running businesses and
playing an active role in determining what the land should be used for. This piece is slightly
problematic in some aspects such as every time a land amount is mentioned it is acres then
converted to hectares but this is read as for example: “ holding over 50 million acres (20 million
ha)”. (Alvarez) Personally for me this broke the concepts of credibility as there were no sources
as to where these numbers come from. This is also difficult to understand due to the fact that
there are different sources that include different numbers as to the actual amount of land
available or talked about; this ha could then also be read as the numbers Alvarez presents are the
“true” numbers and the numbers in parenthesis represents the numbers that are found by the
Federal Government, thus ha could be interpreted in a negative manner. Hectares should have
been previously defined before being used as an abbreviation such as ha, when this could easily
be read as a mocking gesture, due to the fact, as we learned in class, the actual amounts of land
have been disputed from the moment the treaties were signed until the present day.
Alvarez does, however, maintains a Native voice throughout the piece, insofar that she
ends with the same concepts she begins with. This use of, as stated by Wilson, circular logic
allows the article to make connections that a linear pattern would otherwise prevent.
Additionally, Alvarez also relates the laws of the Federal Government directly to the impact they
have had on the Natives on Reservation lands. Alvarez uses the “web” approach when relating
the topics of Native culture and Economics, for example as stated in the Reservations section of
the article and the Land: Part of a Complex Web section, many Native held lands are isolated and
do not possess the resources necessary to survive and maintain their cultures without Federal aid.
(Alvarez)For Alvarez, the processes of colonialism are far reaching, but not the only cause of
disparity on Native Lands.
Native American Economic Development on Selective Reservations: A Comparative
Analysis by David L Vinje deals primarily with effects of gambling on Reservation lands and
peoples. According to Vinje the main economic issue with gambling on reservations is the fact
that most reservations and tribes have no way of knowing how many casinos or other gambling
outlets these lands can maintain. Vinje covers most of the continental U.S. with his analysis, with
the Mid-West being the only region without a major appearance. With this I could be slightly
mistaken, but Vinje does not give a Western reference of where exactly these tribes and
reservations are located (as in map location) unless this reference is included within the name of
the reservation. Vinje follows what Wilson would describe as a hybrid approach to his analysis.
In Vinje’s defense, this article was written primarily in the 90’s during a time, as Wilson
describes, where this approach was typical as the Native Paradigm was(is) still in the process of
being accepted by the dominate society.
The basis of this research is seated in empirical research, as most Economics is. Hard
numbers are what generate the speaking points, by using census numbers and earnings formally
published, Vinje then uses these points as a branching off point to establish credibility while
attempting to incorporate a Native rhetorical approach as to what these points mean. For
example, Vinje uses the Navajo nation as an example of where Native peoples are weary of
placing their economic dependence on gambling due to what negative effects gambling has on
the people of their Nation.(Vinje) Vinje maintains the relational aspects of analysis by
maintaining the need of Native peoples to have control of their economic destinies. Where Vinje
departs from relations, there is an understandable reason. How else can one find the numbers out
themselves of over 12 Nations who all have casinos or other gambling organizations? It would
be impossible for Vinje to go to each of these nations and count all of the people, all of the
resources available, the number of people for these organizations, the number of people against
these organizations, and lastly “sound” economic analysis of these lands as standard economic
terms and processes are determined as a very Western ideal. Vinje acknowledges these points
and sates that this would not be the way a Native person would approach these issues, but states
further that there is a sincere lack of current Native scholars in the field of economics which
would allow for a better Native form of analysis. Vinje is not apologetic in the statement of these
facts, which in my opinion lends itself towards his credibility, but since this article ranges from
the 1970’s until the 1990’s and covers statistics from over 12 tribes, some of which have
separated or have combined, this situation makes analysis even more difficult. This article is very
heavily situated in Western concepts, but acknowledges them where the occur and attempt to
break them where possible.
Lastly, I looked at a job board posting for jobs in the Native community from USA.gov.
This job board is very much a mixed bag. In only a few instances is there any direct
acknowledgement towards a Native mindset or Native understanding. This, in and of itself, is
very problematic. Personally, I was not very surprised by this though as this job board is hosted
by the Federal Government, not Native people themselves. I do, however, think this is one way
that common held beliefs of the Western world are perpetuated. The job description are written
in a very inhumane way, with descriptions focusing on tasks not the community and there is a
stark reality that must be faced when finding that most of the jobs on this job board require a
higher degree level than the same jobs in a Western community. For example: to be a
“councilor” for a native support program a masters degree is required, while on a different
section of the same website only a bachelors degree is required for an intercity school support
system.(USA.gov) In both cases there is no relation built with either the job or the applicant, nor
is there specifics as to what reservation/where these jobs are placed.
This whole site is problematic for me on a personal level because there is no sense of
community or togetherness in these job applications. If these are the jobs available and there is
no mention of Native principals it is then no wonder why in Vinje’s analysis tribal jobs were
held “more often than not” by Westerns. If Native peoples cannot get jobs in the community they
are from, or if these jobs are not presented in a Native fashion, there are direct consequences on
the economic viability of working within the reservation system.(Vinje) These jobs do not
directly relate to Economics, but one can draw a myriad of conclusions as to what the economic
consequences are from this approach by the Federal Government, such as: Native scholars and
workers leaving the reservation lands as soon as they can, thus removing that potential capital
from the reservation’s economic system; employees who will not be able to reach their
population based due to misunderstanding the needs of the community, which will result in high
turnover that is then reflected in the unemployment reports of reservation lands; and a breaking
of the relational option of the community choosing who will be hired for an open position, thus
resulting in a disconnection and method of employment that will not work in Native spaces. Each
of these consequences are rhetorical in their nature, but explicitly and implicitly as they break the
relational aspects of the Indigenous Paradigm. This paradigm extends far beyond research,
because it is a way of belief as much as a way of conduction research.
These three documents, two written by Native people and one hosted by the Federal
Government, show how Native rhetoric is applied in Economics. In many cases, until the 1990’s
it was an afterthought, but authors such as Alvarez and Vinje are bringing economic rhetoric and
Native rhetoric together. This symbiosis is not, nor at this point can it be, perfect as there are still
factors that have not been research under a Native paradigm. But as seen by Alvarez’s article, not
all economic analysis has to be tested, sometimes all one has to do is look around at the uses of
relations and community to understand this paradigm while discussing a topic of Western decent,
such as economics.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Annette. "Native American Tribes and Economic Development." Urban Land. 19 April
2011: n. page. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
<http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2011/Mar/AlvarezNative>.(Alvarez)
“Native American and Tribal Education, Jobs, and Economic Development." USA.gov (2011): n.
pag. USA.gov. Web. 11 Mar 2012. <http://www.usa.gov/Government/Tribal/jobs.shtml>.
(USA.gov)
Vinje, David. "Native American economic development on selected reservations: a comparative
analysis." PBS Business Library. (1996): n. page. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0254/is_n4_v55/ai_18910969/pg_2/?tag=content;
col1> (Vinje)
Wilson , Shawn . Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Winnepeg: Fernwood
Publishing, 2008. Print. (Wilson)