Book

Dependence and underdevelopment: the political economy of Cherokee Native Americans

University Microfilms International • Ann Arbor, Michigan • Published In 1987 • Pages:

By: Anders, Gary C..

Abstract

This study focuses on the factors which have contributed to Indian underdevelopment by demonstrating the relationship between the Cherokee tribal economy and the local White economy. The author suggests that long-standing U. S. government policies are the basis of Cherokee and other Native Americans' economic dependency. Such dependency he finds is characteristic of internal colonialism. The first chapter details the distribution of poverty as measured in levels of unemployment, earnings and education among Native Americans generally and compares these figures with those for other minority groups. The author then outlines dependency theory whereby nations in control of dependent populations extract economic resources from them for their own use rather than for their colonies' development. This theoretical model the author applies specifically in the case of the Cherokee and to other Indians as well. The author further defends his theoretical approach by comparing dependency theory with conventional theories of development. The middle sections review not only the exploitative side of Cherokee contacts with Whites from the 16th through the 19th centuries, but also elaborates on Cherokee achievements in education and commerce which were extensive enough to make them economically self-sufficient. Cherokee participation in U. S. affairs, especially the Civil War, helped to exacerbate internal polarities between tribal members, however. The last sections of the text concern the establishment of the Cherokee Nation after 1838. The net effect of Federal policies toward the Cherokee as well as the division between Cherokee fullbloods and mixedbloods was the consistent loss of land from the former group. The author maintains that the dispute between traditional Cherokees, who try to preserve their heritage, and the mixedbloods, who control the Indian bureaucracy and have cultural ties with the local economy in Oklahoma as well, is central to understanding Indian underdevelopment.

HRAF PubDate

2019

Region

North America

Sub Region

Eastern Woodlands

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Economist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Delores Walters ; John Beierle ; 1988

Field Date

1977-1978

Coverage Place

Oklahoma, United States

Notes

Gary Carson Anders

The first chapter, detailing the distribution of poverty as measured in levels of unemployment, earnings and education among Native Americans generally and comparing these figures with those for other minority groups, has been Indexed for 'THEORETICAL ORIENTATION IN RESEARCH AND ITS RESULTS' (121).

UM7908374

Includes bibliographical references

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Notre Dame, 1979

LCSH

Cherokee Indians