Textual Representations of the Cultural Other and the Interdisciplinary: A Changing Conception For the Study of Native Americans

There has been an increasing amount of literature recently published by writers within Anthropology which is self-critical of the discipline. In addition, in the study of Native American groups there has been a movement towards interdisciplinary work and away from purely ethnographic work. This thesis reviews an element of this self-critical literature. This element calls for increased attention to the crafting of ethnographic texts. Included in this are such concepts as dialogic, self-reflexive, and post-modern presentation. In addition, the thesis attempts to draw connections between this concern for text and the interdisciplinary movement in the study of Native Americans. Finally, two examples of ethnographic experimentation are provided which attempt to use concepts drawn from the recent concern for textuality. These examples utilize ethnographicinterviews with Blackfeet tribal members. The topics of the interviews revolve around current reservation conditions and current efforts to maintain traditional culture. The emphasis of the thesis is on the presentation of this data, however, not on the data itself