The Transgressive Identities of African Native Americans: Art as an Act of Resistance

1. The Transgressive Identities of African Native Americans: Art as an Act of Resistance 2012 Student Creative Arts and Research Symposium April 17, 2012 Denton, Texas Frances Reanae McNeal Mentor Dr. AnaLouise Keating Doctoral Student in Women’s Studies Texas Woman’s University

2. African Native Americans “African Native Americans”is a term that refers to people of African-American descent, usually with significant Native American ancestry, who also have strong ties to Native American cultural, social, and historical traditions.

3. Art as an Act of Resistance “For many of us the acts of writing, painting, performing, and filming are acts of deliberate and desperate determination to subvert the status-quo. Creative acts are forms of political activism employing definite aesthetic strategies for resisting dominant cultural norms and are not merely aesthetic exercises. We build culture as we inscribe in these various forms.” Gloria Anzaldúa

4. African Native Americans: We Are Still Here Moonfire, SeminolePaw Paw, Carnarsie Kaiyentowah Rose, Cherokee/Shinnecock Rainmaker, Lenape/Munsee

5. African Native Americans: We Are Still Here Yellow Corn, Cherokee Spirit Walker, Caribe/Seminole Eastern Dove, Cherokee Red Dawn, Cherokee

6. Challenge Dominant Narratives that African Native Americans Do Not Exist • Laws passed to protect land that colonial settlers had appropriated (Allotment Act, Dawes Act, One drop of “Black Blood” Ideology) • The image of the “Hollywood Indian” as the “Real Indian” • Land theft: Indigenous People harboring escaped enslaved African people which ended in the loss of tribal status, thereby nullifying their treaties with the U.S. government and forcing them to relinquish all claims to their land. • Refusal to sign Census Rolls, register with Indian Affairs 18th and 19th Century, and be removed to Indian Territory in Oklahoma (all Indians do not live on reservations) • Intermarriages between African-Americans and Native-Americans • Indigenous people listed themselves as Negro or mixed to stay with the land

7. The Transgressive Identities of African Native Americans Challenge • The black/white racial binary in this country • Beliefs in racial "purity“ • Black nationalism/Red nationalism • Black power/ Red power • One drop of Black blood ideology • Blood quantum

8. The Validation and (Re)creation of the Transgressive Identities of African Native Americans “What sets American Indian cultures apart from many others is our attitude toward life. Simply stated, we believe we were not born ON this Earth, we were born OF this Earth. In other words, the Earth is our mother and we would no sooner mistreat her than you would the woman who raised you. This is the primary ingredient in the cultural glue that holds us all together.” Eve Winddancer Young

9. Kinship Based on Worldview and Cosmology • Spiritual names in addition to names that appear on their birth certificates • Naming ceremonies for their children • Speak Indigenous languages • Dance at pow wows wearing full regalia • Fast on the full moon according to ancient religious beliefs • Proud of their mixed heritage

10. Research Questions • How can adopting more inclusive categories assist us in engaging in more healthy ways beyond rigid racial identities? • In what ways can transgressive identities assist us in healing our histories? • How can art used as resistance by marginalized groups transform dominant narratives?

11. Works Cited Anazaldúa, Gloria. “Haciendo caras una entrada: An introduction.” Making Face, Making Soul Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color. Gloria Anzaldúa, Ed. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1990. xv-xxviii. Print.

12. Special Thanks Special thanks to my mentor Dr. AnaLouise Keating for her continued mentoring and guidance in my scholarly pursuits.