Surviving Racism and Genocide: Native American Caricature Iconography and Racial Formation Projects

Abstract

Using a semi-autoethnographic layered account format, we present the voices of 16 Native American adults as they talk about their lives and Native American Caricature Iconography (NACI). First, we explore their impressions and lived experiences with “racial formation projects” such as tribal identification cards, blood quantum calculations, genocide, child removal, boarding schools, and reservations, to contextualize why some Native Americans interpret NACI as much more than “an honor,” “tradition,” or “just good fun.” Next, we explore the Native Americans' perceptions of sports mascots, cartoons, and sculpture, after exposing them to a series of eight images of NACI. We conclude that NACIs are racial formation projects as well. By unmindfully producing and consuming NACI, we fail to interrupt and reform the racial formation projects that continue to define us all.

Citation

Stone, A.J. and Rambo, C. (2021), "Surviving Racism and Genocide: Native American Caricature Iconography and Racial Formation Projects", Denzin, N.K. and Sarina Chen, S.-L. (Ed.) Studies in Symbolic Interaction (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 53), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-239620210000053007