Research Symposium

BIO

Lucas Wixted is currently an undergraduate freshman at Florida State University, hailing from Fruitland Park, FL. While he is an aspiring physicist, Lucas has had a long interest in Anthropology and learning about Indigenous cultures. Lucas has also previously worked on similar studies surrounding Indigenous cultures through his time in the AP Capstone program at The Villages Charter High School. Off-campus, he's an avid Table Tennis player and a developing guitarist. Lucas enrolled in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program in order to refine his research experience and hone additional skills to one day be a professional researcher.

Modern Solutions to Age-Old Problems Indigenous Cultural Integrity and Perseverance

Abstract

Due to the ongoing consequences of colonization, the issue of cultural preservation within Native American spheres has become an escalating priority. In an attempt to highlight current cultural preservation initiatives, this research hopes to guide the development of a museum exhibit that will be developed by Dr. Kowal’s museum studies class, and prompt the awareness of the examined cultures. For the purposes of this research, three groups were selected: the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Pima Tribe, and Haida Nation. A qualitative case study of these three groups was conducted in order to understand previous history regarding cultural integrity and their modern approaches to cultural preservation. Information was collected via academic databases (such as Gale and JSTOR) as well as museum and tribal websites. This data was analyzed to find any changes in treatment or ideologies on the issue of cultural integrity in each tribe. The results have found that all three Native American tribes have had a positive changing trend to greater appreciation and acceptance of their culture through cultural integrity movements. Modern examples of these movements (i.e. partnering with academic institutions or anthropological research and promoting Indigenous produced media) have continued to benefit the legacy of each Tribe’s culture. While this is a step in the right direction, future awareness either through modern or new innovative methods, along with continued acceptance and collaboration is needed to preserve cultural integrity for centuries to come.

Keywords: Indigenous, Cultural Perseverance, Cultural Awareness