Cultural Reference

A relocation Indian, also known as an urban Indian, is a Native American whose family was encouraged to leave its reservation during the 1950s. Initally focusing on the Navajo and Hopi tribes, the idea was introduced in the late 1940s as an effort to reduce the U.S. government's obligation to subsidize living conditions on reservations by assimilating Native Americans into mainstream U.S. culture. By the mid-1950s, the program was extended to all Native Americans. A large number of Native Americans volunteered and were enlisted to fight in World War II, while others left their reservations to work in factories producing goods for the war. At the end of the war, large numbers of Native American veterans chose not to return to their reservations, due to feeling uncomfortable on the reservation, yet many of them were no more comfortable in the outside world. Additionally, others who had worked in factories during the war never returned to the reservation, where wage labor jobs were hard to find. Ultimately, over 30,000 Native Americans relocated as a result of the Indian Relocation Act, which was officially passed in 1956.

The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 has been critiqued as a continuation of the Indian termination policy first enacted by the U.S. government during the 19th century. In the case of the Indian Relocation Act, however, termination was executed as an expression of cultural genocide rather than mass murder. In the generations that have followed the initial urban migration of Native Americans, rates of poverty, substance abuse, and cultural assimilation due to racial and class discrimination have continued to increase in urban Indian populations. In essence, the Indian Relocation Act resulted in the isolation of relocation Indians from their communities and cultural practices.

The policy was terminated in 1962 after an outcry by Native Americans and special interest groups, who argued that the act in effect stripped Native American groups of their tribal sovereignties, with a resulting degradation of Native American lifeways as a result of increased poverty, disease, and unemployment, despite the earlier promises made by the act toward Native Americans. The effects of the act, however, persist.

This term could refer to the New York, New Jersey, New England, or Pennsylvania Mafiosi. Mafia are organized criminal syndicates with a hierarchical structure generally focused on a certain family. This ranking system includes such roles as the Don (head of family), Consigliere (advisor), Underboss (second in command), Captain (in Italian "Capo"), Solider, and Associate. The early years of criminal activity by the East Coast Mafia focused on bootlegging, loansharking, and importing drugs across the border from Canada.

The first year of undergraduate education after having graduated from high school. This year is often associated with awkwardness, alienation, experimentation, and self-discovery.

Also known as Ha'wi-k'uh, the ancestral village of the Zuni was founded in the 1400s. It was the largest of the Zuni pueblos, and the first pueblo to be seen by Spanish explorers. Originally thought to be one of the fabled gold Cities of Cíbola, Ha'wi-k'uh was conquered by Coronado in 1540 and served as his headquarters for several months. Ha'wi-k'uh was permanently abandoned after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. In its prime, Ha'wi-k'uh had up to 150 rooms surrounding a central plaza and stood four stories high, with multiple numbers of kivas and a population between 500 to 700 individuals. Although Ha'wi-k'uh is now a series of ruins that run along a ridge several miles south of the current thriving pueblo, it remains an important cultural site for the Zuni and is an integral component in many of their migration and origin stories, ceremonies, and prayers.

The ruins of Ha'wi-k'uh were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Also known as Shulawitsi or Deputy to the Sun, Little Fire God is one of the titles for the role a young Zuni man performs when participating in the Shalako ceremony, which takes place around the winter solstice. The winter Shalako marks several days of concentrated spiritual observance and ritual practice meant to invite protective spirits into the community, so that sustenance and fertility are ensured. The main ceremony lasts a full night, and involves trained dancers wearing masks and personating the kachina spirits. In the Zuni belief system, the dancers do not simply impersonate the gods, they in fact become the gods for the duration of the dance. The Little Fire God is one of these dancers, and his duty is to follow the righteous path laid out by the Sun Father deity, praying for rain, health, and prosperity for the people. The Fire God is usually a young novice being initiated into the sacred rituals of the Zuni. Preparations for serving his duty include purifying the body, the heart, and the mind of interfering influences by observing celibacy and refraining from negative thoughts and emotions such as anger and aggression.

A formal or prescribed set of observances that make up a regular practice, especially one carrying spiritual significance. A ritual can be performed alone or in small or large groups. Most communities around the world, have recurring gatherings, celebrations, or commemorations that are always performed in the same way according to agreed-upon standards. Such behaviors and events become ritualistic traditions that are often carried out through decades, centuries, or even millennia of repeated practices.

Archaeology is a sub-field of anthropology. This sub-field is focused on studying, understanding, describing, and conserving the material culture (physical remains) of humans and past activities during both prehistoric and historic times. An archaeologist is a practitioner of archaeology.

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, actor, and poet who is the author of some of the world’s most famous plays. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England during the Renaissance. He authored 154 sonnets, 38 plays, and other poems and verses. The plays touched on such topics as comedy, tragedy, and historic persons and events. His most famous plays include: Romeo and Juliet; The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; The Tragedy of Macbeth; The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice; and King Lear. Shakespeare was the partial owner of the playing company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, and they had exclusive rights to perform his plays. This company was later renamed The King’s Men upon the coronation of King James I, after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare died in 1616 in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

A sub-field of anthropology that focuses on the study of human cultures, including their religion, laws, worldviews, food, and folklore.

A European word and concept used to describe a member, often male, although the term is often considered gender neutral, of the same genetic or relational group.

The Navajo kinship system, similar to other indigenous cultural groups, is based on clans. Because Navajo culture is matrilineal, children belong to their mother's clan, while they are born for their father's clan. For the Navajo, the idea of kinship and the extended network of clansmen is broadened by taken into consideration their maternal and paternal grandfathers' clans.