Volume 9 Number 3
May 1970

John E. Friesen
Louise C. Lyon

UNIQUE to any culture are the patterns of social life adopted by its members, the nature of dwellings, methods of food-gathering economic conditions, and possibly even the language. It seems feasible to conclude, for example, that the Indian reservation environments of Southern Alberta have demonstrated a particular kind of culture, in marked contrast to the urban environments of surrounding cities. Of special concern to students of Indian culture are attitudes to social change demonstrated by Indian people, especially in light of recent data about migrations from the reservations to larger urban centers. If indeed this phenomenon can be delineated in any significant way as comprising problematic dimensions for Indian people, several observations become pertinent.

This article will identify and briefly discuss various aspects of the contemporary Southern Alberta Indian situation. These observations are based on a "depth-interview" study conducted by the authors (see Note 1), and this paper is an elaboration of several issues raised therein. The study included both Indian (60) and non-Indian (37) respondents, the former from the Blackfoot, Blood, Peigan, Sarcee, and Stony Indian bands, and the latter, though non-Indian, from various walks of life that permitted them to have access to and information regarding Indian life. The survey was broad in nature, and sought the opinions of respondents on a variety of topics. Topics researched in the large study and dealt with here pertain to the following: 1) the continued existence of Indian culture patterns; 2) concepts of self-government; 3) ideas regarding education; and 4) Indian values-foci and value-conflicts.

The study also investigated specific aspects of Indian ways, and a majority of the Indian respondents indicated that such aspects as Indian dances, stories, myths, and societies still tend to be present today. NonIndian respondents concurred with percentaged answers varying only slightly.

A further probe regarding Indian cultures demonstrates, in sociological terms, that present-day minority culture-maps may be fragmented depending on the nature of pressures experienced. As diffusion of elements foreign to a culture occurs, new patterns of behavior center about new artifacts or concepts. Frequency of contact with people outside of a particular culture contributes to an exchange of ideas and views on current matters and, though sometimes considered reciprocally, there is an indication that minority groups seem more likely to be influenced than to influence. Most significant, perhaps, as far as cultural change is concerned is the role of the mass media--newspapers, magazines and radio, but especially, television. Few minority cultures, and this includes Southern Alberta Indian people, are free from "middle-class" influences as these are presented by the media (see Note 2). If Indian culture is vanishing, possibly by merging with dominant society, then it could be predicted that an investigation of the role of the mass media may demonstrate to a large extent the nature of this transformation.

In answer to the question, "Do children learn the ways and myths of their people?" a chi square significance of 5.64 @ .02 level was found indicating that both Indian and non-Indian respondents tend to believe that Indian myths and ways of behavior are still being transmitted; however, non-Indians seemed more inclined to believe this than did the Indians interviewed.

The configuration of statistics tabulated on the culture question demonstrates that no ready solution is accessible for remedying the dilemma of cultural existence for Southern Alberta Indian people. For some respondents, really a small minority, the concept of cultural renaissance was appealing--bringing back in toto, the ceremonies, adult societies, stories, myths, arts, and languages of past days. Equally important, some respondents, including both Indian and non-Indian, felt the need to integrate Indian people into dominant society as fast as possible. This approach, if the popular media of newspaper opinion assessment is correct, implies cultural genocide in the views of some Indians (see Note 3). With regard to a compromise measure, an admixture of integration and pluralism, this research, exploratory in nature, did not unveil with clarity what kinds of measures should be taken to ensure happiness and the greatest welfare for Alberta Indian people. It did establish however, that the cultures seem to be disintegrating and that unless some appropriate measures are undertaken by individuals involved, governmental or outside group measures will be practically futile. The solution to this cultural dilemma then, will be individually determined, conceptualized, and, hopefully, successfully accomplished.

A search into the internal consistency of the bands revealed that authority, historically at least, was centralized in leadership comprising a small council represented by a chieftain. It may be borne out, sociologically, that when the numbers in a group decrease, internal consistency can be expected to increase, especially when the organization is based on such concepts as respect for others, group consensus, and cooperation. This study demonstrated that although numbers are increasing, a high regard for individual rights persists: including regard for cooperation, family cohesiveness, and tolerance. The Blackfoot nation, it should be noted, functioned historically as a loosely-linked band system with regard for kinship systems and other forms of relationships not only within the nation but among member bands of the confederacy. The Sarcee, Blood and Peigan bands, also parts of the Blackfoot Confederacy, functioned in similar ways. These people were held together by rudiments of beliefs stretching back into ancient mythology (see Note 4).

Traditionally in Southern Alberta, each Indian tribe operated under the leadership of a chief and council. Membership on the councils required approved achievements of some kind, usually based on successes attained in war. The manliness and capability of younger men, for example, was judged on the basis of their conduct and involvement in inter-tribal conflicts. On this basis they were admitted to "full citizenship" or even to membership on the council itself.

Some Siouan bands had complex systems of government with arrangements for civil or "peace" chiefs, war leaders, and ceremonial leaders. Although in some cases less highly structured, Algonkian-speaking bands also tended to have effective means of managing their own affairs, i.e. chiefs and councils, kinship systems and age-graded internal societies (see Note 5). In all bands, the patterns of interaction were fixed by communication mores foisted on the individual, comprising privileges and restraints regarding whom he might speak to or what he might say. These communication arrangements indicated to members of society "where they stood" with each other, and endured effectively for some 11,000 years (see Note 6). Only in recent decades have they seemed to be less effective in resistance to non-Indian ways.

With these observations as a basis, the study explored the ideas of Indians today regarding the way in which they might prefer to have their affairs handled. Of the 60 Indians surveyed, 48% responded that they desired some form of self-government; 22% favored Federal control and 15% expressed preference for Provincial Government control. Non-Indians basically offered similar responses with 35% suggesting local control as best, 16% favoring Federal control and 26% recommending Provincial Government involvement. Though these figures indicate the general trend of the interviews, specific comments helped to ascertain reasons why such approaches were preferred.

Regarding the rationale for Indian responses about control of their affairs, it is to be noted that in this survey Indians, for the most part, tended to favor self-government. They favored Provincial control less than Federal; this preference was partially backed by the idea that if control has to change, it will not be any better simply to change hands from one governmental level to another. Preference for Federal control was indicated by a small percentage of Indian people, and where this was the case, the argument was based on hesitancy to admit that Indian people could handle their own matters capably if given that responsibility, without essential leadership training. Some observations were made too, regarding the concept of "second-class citizenship" of Indians today which would not be rescinded unless other administrative arrangements would indicate confidence in Indians to take care of their own governmental functions.

The study probed concepts which Indians hold regarding the future of Indian education. Historically, the establishment of the small one-room school, despite the Indians’ reluctance to "give up the freedom of nature’s teachings for hard-bottomed benches," did mark a beginning of education to non-Indian ways. The reserve school, usually run by religious agencies, came into being as a means to encourage Indian children to come to a local school, and to advance along with the non-Indian world. Capable Indian leaders today bear testimony to the success of such educative attempts, in that most appear to have developed their abilities on the basis of reserve school training. More recently the trend to educate Indian children in integrated schools has reached a proportion that, in Alberta in 1968, 5,055 Indian students attended provincial schools and 3,571 attended federally-run schools. The phasing out of denominational and independent schools, as recommended by the Hawthorn report, apparently has been in progress (see Note 8). This survey attempted to investigate what respondents believed regarding the form which education for native children should assume in the future. Regarding the future cultural identity of Indian youngsters, Indian respondents answered as follows: 65% expressed their desire to have Indian children "be Indian," 12% suggested that they might become "like white men," and 22% expressed the idea that native children should be "able to function in both worlds." Concepts expressed by non-Indian personnel revealed a similar pattern.

Regarding Indian educational needs today, both Indians and non-Indians endorsed the idea of high school and college education as essential for the modem Indian: 23% advocated a minimum of high school education and 43% added college training as mandatory. When positive generalized statements such as "Indians need as much education as any Canadian," were added to the tabulations, some 81% of the combined respondents indicated the desirability for higher education. Only 13% of Indians under 40 suggested vocational education as a major objective for Indian youngsters and about the same number of those over 40 concurred with this. About one-half of the Indian respondents over 40 and 43% of younger Indian respondents endorsed college as preferable for Indian youth. The analysis indicates that education is seen as a vital factor to Indian success today and that more youth with Indian background will be taking advantage of opportunities given them for training. No dissatisfaction with integrated schools as the method of education at the elementary level was expressed by the respondents; however, 78% of the Indians indicated that such education should take place both on and off the reserve.

Informal statements, often hard to collate in any exact manner, did indicate some element of displeasure with current educational arrangements. Some respondents expressed the thought that educational experiences children receive in integrated schools are not related to reserve life situations; others stated concerns about their children’s reception in integrated settings: still others indicated concern that opportunities for Indian children might not be the same as for others after completing particular courses of training (see Note 9). Of greatest concern, perhaps, is the fact that educational accomplishments of Alberta Indian youngsters are not yet as successful as they might be; though many more pupils attend schools, and even more regularly than previously, the high dropout rate seems still to persist (see Note 10). The optimistic concept of the advantages education might have for Alberta’s future Indian adults seems offset by the actual progress made by those currently enrolled.

Indian values have been investigated in anthropological studies and patterns of basic values and mores have been modestly set forth based on monograph studies of several Canadian Indian tribes.

In a general way, and among the oldest of reliable studies, are the writings of Robert H. Lowie on Indians of the Plains. In prefacing Lowie’s work, Harry L. Shapiro cautions that the nature of Plains Indian culture has too often been taken as "typical of the Indian way of life," when, in essence, it was no more typical than the culture of the Navajo, the Hopi, or the Iroquois" (see Note 11). Harold E. Driver, in delineating the various Indian culture areas of North America, identifies the way of life of the Plains people as comprising Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas (see Note 12). In support of Shapiro’s hypothesis that the Plains Indians have been stereotyped as depicting the Indian way of life, Driver mentions that the Plains culture is perhaps the best known to the public as such.

More to the point are the observations made by John Melling, dealing with the problems confronting Canada’s native people today, when he notes that the "Puritan attitudes of the affluent and culturally dominant white group usually imply a strong adverse judgment of those of a different heritage and ethnic background when the latter fail to support themselves . . ." (see Note 13). Melling brings out the basic contention induced by the differing value-orientations of Indian and non-Indian communities. The present study attempted to deal with a portion of "the value problem."

Although no attempt was made to derive a configurational pattern of Indian values for a particular geographic area of Alberta, several questions were asked in the study in an attempt to determine general differences between Indian cultural aspirations and those of non-Indian society. The basic probe designed to get at a specific point of difference pertained to the idea of cultural exchange -respondents were asked what aspects of non-Indian culture might appeal to Indian people. The question was asked in a reversed fashion as well, and with regard for aspects of Indian culture which might be diffused into non-Indian life. The results of the probe indicated interesting differences. The highest percentages of Indian people selected the following items: from the non-Indian world: education, 35%, other, 32%, and financial elements, 15%. The "other" column indicated such phrases as: "Work and homes, cleanliness, democracy, ways of life, etc." Non-Indians selected education, 25%, technological facilities, 22%, other, 17%, automobiles, 13%, and financial, 13%. Such items as "housing" and "clothing" received only small percentaged choices. Of course it cannot be determined to what extent Indian respondents selected items because they might have felt these choices were considered desirable by the non-Indian; however, the use of Indian interviewers was believed to have offset such conditioning of thought.

When the question was reversed and the idea probed regarding advantages the Indian world has for that of the non-Indian, the percentages tabulated from Indian responses dropped. The highest numbers indicated were 9.52% for the concept of "togetherness," and 4.76% for each of the following: "easy way of life, sharing, respect for one another, and loyalty." Non-Indian respondents were more optimistic and selected the concept of togetherness, 20%, easy way of life, 19%, respect-loyalty, 18%, and sharing, 8%.

An interpretation of these findings is not easily accomplished, especially since on the latter question, a portion, 28%, of the Indian participants did not choose to answer the question. It is interesting to note however, that the interview-questionnaire at this point was exploratory in that respondents were not asked to fit their responses into prepared categories of values. Rather, such items as "easy way of life, togetherness, sharing, kindness to one another, and respect-loyalty" emerged as perceived expressions of the Indian way of life. These were similarly derived from the responses of both Indian and non-Indian participants. In like manner, the non-Indian world was depicted in terms representing a more materialistic kind of culture, with such items as "money, education, technological facilities, automobiles and housing" expressed as indicative of non-Indian society. Although it might well be argued that these are not exactly valuational in nature but rather artifacts and structural cultural elements, it should be noted that those pertaining to the Indian world are of a more affective nature indicating an entirely different kind of value construction and value orientation. Small wonder that Melling writes of a cultural conflict between a dominant Canadian society and a minority which, in terms of the dominant concepts, does not meet the requirements of everyday life (see Note 14).

It was noted in the study that Indian respondents seemed somewhat reluctant to express views contrasting their own culture with non-Indian culture. The reasons for this are not clear, and might involve some invasion of a very private aspect of life, even though the majority of Indian interviews were conducted by Indian interviewers. The point made here, however, seems quite succinct. A difference in the nature of Indian-non-Indian cultures exists. That this difference needs to be recognized and alterations and compromises made is a fact which has only recently received serious attention on the Canadian scene. Certainly investigations such as this ought to yield some idea as to procedure in order to facilitate better understandings. Among areas to pursue in this connection would seem to be the following:

1. Appreciation needs to be developed for the concept of cultural pluralism, the idea that several different cultures and subcultures of varying distinctiveness can exist in close proximity to each other without one becoming unduly enterprising in terms of seeking to obliterate or stymie the processes of the other. The fact that in western Canada many subcultures, especially the Indian, are having a difficult time in adapting to emerging patterns of life, needs not only to be recognized, but a way created to lessen the burden of adaptation for those in this predicament. The lines of mobility and transition from one cultural stage to another including distinctions of individual competencies need to be continually developed and permitted.

2. Although the present circumstances, based on data accumulated in this research, do not indicate with clarity a set pattern for emerging Indian governmental forms, no hasty action or policy ought to be formulated which, if not suitable for changing conditions of a particular band, could only create new problems if found to be inappropriate.

3. Indian education will need to be looked at with a view to altering present trends of totally integrating children in schools when such policy interferes with particular aspirations of Indian people. Although education is being assured for an increasing number of Indian youth, its nature and location ought to be determined as much as possible by committees designated for that purpose on the reservations. For education to be successful, an increased sense of personal involvement, belongingness, and responsibility will need to be developed.

4. Indian culture incorporates unique value-orientations. In addition to seeking to identify these, there is needed an attitude of tolerance and appreciation for such differences. Such differences should, most of all, be permitted to endure and develop in their own uniqueness. The day for cultural imperialism must end if national identity and the Canadian "myth of cultural equality and plurality" is to have meaning.

1. Louise C. Lyon and John W. Friesen, Culture Change and Education: A Study of Indian and Non-Indian Views in Southern Alberta. New York, Selected Academic Readings, Inc. 1969.

2. Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Toronto, Ontario. A Signet Book, The New American Library of Canada Ltd. 1964, pp. 23-35.

3. Rene La Mathe, The New Indian Policy, Edmonton, Alberta. The Native People. A publication of the Alberta Native Communications Society, Vol. 2, No. 3, August, 1969, p. 4.

4. Grant McEwan, Tatanga Mani: Walking Buffalo of the Stonys. Edmonton, Alberta, M. G. Hurtig Ltd., 1969, p. 17.

5. Harold E. Driver, Indians of North America. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1961, pp. 340-347.

6. Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. The Indian Heritage of America. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, p. 111.

7. Calgary Herald, June 25, 1969, pp. 1-2.

8. H. B. Hawthorn, Editor, A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada, Volume II. Ottawa, Indian Affairs Branch, October, 1967, p. 15.

9. In 1969, 8,543 native children are attending Grades 1-12 in Alberta, 3,527 are attending school on reserves and 5,016 are in provincial schools. 472 children are in Grade 9 and 552 are in Grades 10-12. This is an Increase of almost a hundred students in high school over the previous year. (See "Native Education--an Interview with E. R. Daniels, Regional Superintendent of Indian Schools, Alberta" in The Native People, Vol. 1, No. 7, Edmonton, Alberta, January, 1969.)

10. Major reasons given which might cause a student to leave school were assessed by the Frontier Collegiate showing as reasons: age 16 (48%) and job opportunity at the present (32%). Students indicated that English and Social Studies were the areas of greatest difficulty. They admitted that the lack of interest was one of the chief reasons why they wished to discontinue school. The Frontier Collegiate drop-out in Gillam (85% Metis) had succumbed to "the lure of the ‘togetherness’ of a weekend among his own kind." (See pages 14, 29, 7 respectively, of A. C. Goucher, The Dropout Problem Among Indian and Metis Students, Dome Petroleum Teaching Fellowship, Published at Calgary, Alberta: Dome Petroleum Ltd., 1968).

11. Robert H. Lowie, Indians of the Plains. Garden City, New York, The Natural History Press, 1952, p. ix. Foreword by Harry L. Shapiro.

12. Driver, op. cit., p. 16.

13. John Melling, Right to a Future: The Native Peoples of Canada. Don Mill, Ontario: T. H. Bates Printing Co., 1967, p. 41.

14. Ibid.