Book

Dependence and underdevelopment: the political economy of Cherokee Native Americans

University Microfilms InternationalAnn 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.
Subjects
History
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
External relations
Public welfare
Acculturation and culture contact
Real property
Government regulation
culture
Cherokee
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