Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This anthropology thesis examines the concepts of identity of the five state-recognized tribes in North Carolina and looks at how each tribe's concept of identity was manifested in its presentation of itself in the exhibits at the North Carolina Indian Culture Center (near the town of Pembroke). Data was gathered through opinion surveys and participant-observation. Marks found that due to common desires for federal recognition,each tribe did not insist on distinctive material culture markers. Rather, the tribes manifested a desire for a regional identity. Provides useful background information on definitions of ethnicity and panethnicity, the history of Native Americans in North Carolina, and history of the North Carolina Indian Cultural Center. Some of the survey questions Marks used included: What sort of artifacts and information should go in an exhibit or program about your tribe? What is it that makes you a member of your tribe? How are you different from other Indians? What are some common misconceptions people have about your tribe? Marks summarizes responses and in at least one case (important tribal concerns) compares Lumbee to non-Lumbee responses.