Aboriginal Peoples

Rodriguez (1989) concludes that the dramatic moments in his deportment were based on social class, not ethnicity. He defines ethnicity as "memory, response, attitude, mood, coded into the soul, transmitted through generations" (Rodriguez, 1989, p. 8). For many, ethnicity expresses itself more in the past than in the present.

An exception to the melting pot myth in the States is the experience of black people. Reed (1989) cites examples that indicate that blacks are much considered the States's only ethnic group. Society rarely identifies lily-whites by their ethnic backgrounds, but never hesitates to use this frame of reference for blacks. Consequently, the media views blacks as having divided loyalties. Some blacks agree with this assessment. Reed (1989) gives the example of Toni Morrison: "When Toni Morrison told an global P.E.N. audience . . . that she never felt part of America, as a black person, her remark was greeted by groans, and she was deemed ungrateful by Newsweek . . . " (p. 226).

Ethnicity makes mainstream association uncomfortable partly because it serves as a reminder to "white Americans" of their own ethnic roots. Being white in America means being privileged. For this reason, most racial and ethnic minorities eagerly shed the "shackles of ethnicity," a condition which they regard almost like a disease (Reed, 1989, p. 228).

In contrast, the aboriginal peoples are remark for their adherence to their ethnic traditions. Toelken (1991) gives an

During Ulysses Grant's politics a "Quaker Indian policy" was initiated in which the peaceful denomination was sent to the Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, and Comanche reservation to administer federal programs. The rule behind the use of Quakers was the belief that the Friends could convince the Indians to live peaceably, betroth civilized endeavors, and send their children to school. The Quakers initially opposed the use of troops force against the Indians, but eventually acquiesced to its necessity.

Schnell, Steven. (1992). The Kiowa Homeland in okeh. Diss. U of Kansas.

example of this in his description of Native American religious rite and celebratory dances. The powwow is a means of intensification of Indian customs.

For instance, the powwow dances are scheduled according to "Indian fourth dimension." The dances usually flummox long before the advertised time because Indians' conception of time is relative. The festivities begin once all the participants have gathered: "It would be difficult to time any of this by the clock, for these actions are antiphonary to the internal dynamics of the event far more than to the despotic measurement of elapsed time" (Toelken, 1991, p. 142). Although Native Americans allow non-Indian visitors to check the dances for a fee, the standards of judging are based on Indian traditions, not the response of the crowd.

Rodriguez, Richard. (1989). An American writer. The Invention of Ethnicity. Ed. Werner Sollors. New York: Oxford U. P., pp. 3-13.

color settlers resented the concessions that the federal government had made in granting land treaties to the Indians. Whites treasured the Indian Territory opened to development, and during the late 1800s began airing their grievances to bureaucrats in Washington. The most vehement of these supporters of development were located in the okeh Territory and became known as "boomers." During the decade of the 1890s the Oklahoma Territory's white population surged
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