A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Consumption as Assimilation: New York Times Reporting on Native American Art and Commodities, 1950–1970




AuthorsReetta Humalajoki

PublisherCambridge University Press and British Association for American Studies

Publication year2019

JournalJournal of American Studies

Volume53

First page 972

Last page996

eISSN1469-5154

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875818000993

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/36406008


Abstract

The appropriation of Indigenous cultures has sparked multiple controversies in the United States over the past decade. This phenomenon is not new, however. This article examines New York Times reporting on Native American art and commodities to demonstrate how trends in consuming “Indian” products contributed to the assimilationist federal Indian policy of termination, between 1950 and 1970. In this period the consumption of items perceived as “Indian” shifted from an elite art collectors’ activity to a widespread fashion trend. Nevertheless, Times reporting shows that throughout this era shopping for “Indian” items subsumed Indigenous cultures into the imagined unity of a national American identity.


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