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OUDAILY
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QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY
‘Who defines who Indian people are?’ KELLI STACY • @ASTACYKELLI
T
he recent hiring of a professor in the OU Na t i v e A m e r i c a n Studies Department, followed by an anonymous blog post questioning her heritage, has rekindled questions of racial identity at OU. Though steps have been taken toward improvement before this, Native American students and professors, in particular, still face unique issues
VOL. 102, NO. 67 © 2017 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢
of race and identity. The Native Amer ican Studies Department hired Gina Stuart-Richard in May as an assistant professor specializing in indigenous mapping and cartography, as well as data sovereignty. Stuart-Richard told The Daily she is aware of the accusations and hasn’t pursued legal actions despite the “false information” the blog spread about her.
A&E
OU GRADUATES SEIZE VIRTUAL REALITY CRAZE
She said she is not an enrolled member of the band of Mississippi Choctaws, and has never presented herself as such, but is connected to the tribe through her ancestry and notes her affiliation with the tribe on her resume. The question of how people identify with their race, and who gets to decide that, is still up for debate.
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“Who defines who Indian people are? I think that goes back to a lot of t h e t r i b a l c i t i z e n s h i p,” OU Tribal Liaison Warren Queton said. “The tribes decide who’s a member of the tribe, but even those are a heated discussion because a lot of them do it by blood quantum. Who answers that question?” see IDENTITY page 7
FEATURE
LINCOLN RILEY CREDITS HOMETOWN ROOTS
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
• July 5-11, 2017
OU graduates open VR arcade OU alumni break into virtual reality gaming industry
KATRINA CRUMBACHER @KatCrumbacher
Imagine jumping off buildings without being hurt, creating 3D artwork electronically and catching criminals without leaving the safety of your home. This is what three OU graduates have done with their two virtual reality companies. They own Upward VR and Springboard VR, the largest arcade platform outside of Asia, according to the owners, and the companies are growing rapidly. Will Stackable, a 2010 graduate, started buying virtual reality headsets shortly after finishing college, looking for a business opportunity. “I got into VR kind of early on and felt strongly that it was going to be a really revolutionary technology, a new medium for stories and entertainment,” Stackable said. Brad Scoggin, a 2009 graduate, worked for an international nonprofit before joining Stackable. “A f t e r l e a v i n g t h e non-profit world, (Scoggin) moved to California and was in the process of raising money for a new startup when I called him,” Stackable said. “He was in town for some investor meetings, and I told him he had to come over to my house to try out this VR thing. He said he wasn’t really a gamer, and I said, ‘I know, but seriously, this is going to blow your mind.’” Stackable and Scoggin came up with the idea for a vir tual reality arcade
inside Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City. They were told the space where Apple once resided was open, and the duo was hooked. “We told them we would take it, and she asked us for our business name and information — which we didn’t have — and we had to come up with a name that night,” Stackable said. “We finally ended up with ‘Upward VR’ and went from there.” Stackable and Scoggin had everything they needed to start the company except software to run the arcade. They turned to Jordan Williams, a 2013 graduate with a degree in management information systems. “He was working on the business plans for a new startup when Brad and I called him and asked him if he would be interested in starting an arcade,” Stackable said. “He jumped on board, and the next week was working his normal 40-hour day job while also working 30-40 hours in the evenings working on the arcade with us.” The arcade opened in December and has been successful due to the ability for customers to manage their own VR experience, drastically reducing the amount of employees required. “It was a game changer. We were able to run eight stations with half the employees, and the customers loved the interface,” Stackable said. “Imagine putting on the headset and all around you is this 360-degree, Netflix-like menu with floating tiles with game thumbnails on them,” Stackable said. “You can hover over each game and it previews a few seconds of the game. Then you can launch any game and when you
get bored, come back to the menu and choose again. It also allows customers to hit a button in-game that calls the front desk for help.” They’ve seen first-time participants “scream in terror as zombies chase them,” paint in 3D and get dizzy while standing on the virtual buildings. Guests can choose from various games and activities in an easy to use format. Stackable said he understands their software seems simple, but it’s the most important part of the experience, and other arcades are signing up to use it. “We talked to other arcades that wanted to use it, and we quickly realized that every other VR arcade in the world was going to want this, so we launched a new company called Springboard VR,” Stackable said. “That’s when everything really took off for us.” Springboard VR owns approximately 30 percent of the virtual reality arcade software market. Nearly 100 arcades in more than 20 countries are signed up to use their software. The VR market is worth approximately $13.9 billion and is expected to increase to $143.3 billion by 2020. “Getting to be at the forefront of an emerging industry that will impact every facet of our lives in the near future is an opportunity that I may never have again,” Williams said. “There are needs in the VR market all over the place right now, and the fact that that we built a highly needed service for this niche is amazing.” Katrina Crumbacher
katrinacrumbacher@gmail. com
PHOTO PROVIDED
Brad Scoggin, Will Stackable and Jordan Williams pose outside of the Upward VR arcade in Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City.
NEWS
July 5-11, 2017 •
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OU senior constructing King Kopy store sued for being tiny house on campus late on rent pay Vernell Crittendon hopes to avoid debt via minimalist life KENDRA MANN @kendra_mann7
An OU senior and his wife are building a “houseon-wheels” on campus, committing themselves to a minimalist lifestyle upon graduation. The couple, Vernell and Morgan Crittendon, both 25, will move into the tiny home by October 31, when their current lease ends. The tiny home is 232 square feet, including a loft as their bedroom. Once completed, the home will include the amenities needed to live comfortably in a small space. It is currently 14 feet tall, eight feet wide and 22 feet long; however, the couple plans to add onto their tiny home once they
VERNELL AND MORGAN CRITTENDON begin a family and need more living space. The idea for the home came from Morgan after she watched the Minimalism documentary on Netflix. With Vernell’s background owning a repairing business in California before the
SHANE BYLER/THE DAILY
Senior administrative leadership major Vernell Crittendon and his wife, Morgan Crittendon, inside a small house they are constructing with help from the Innovation Hub.
move to Oklahoma, he had experience with building and construction. This experience made building a tiny home possible. Once the idea was agreed upon, Vernell, with the approval from the Hub’s director, used his access to the OU Innovation Hub as the place to build the home. The Innovation Hub provides OU students, faculty and staff an opportunity to allow creative ideas to come to fruition by supplying tools, space and workshops for training, according to the Hub’s website. In this case, the Hub provided the Crittendons space and tools to build their tiny home, which allowed the couple to save a lot of money. “We knew we didn’t want to be in debt. Our parents, they have really good jobs, and they are, like, 60 years old and still trying to pay a
house off,” Morgan said. The Crittendons are not waiting until their house is complete to begin living a simple life. “This has been budget 101 for us,” Morgan said. “We do more now with $200 than we did before we had a project.” The Crittendons eat beans and rice to save extra money. Most of their money is put toward the tiny home, which has only cost them $3,500 out of pocket as of now. It is common for newlyweds to become new home owners ; however, these newlyweds hope to never have a mortgage. Although they receive criticism from their family, they continue with their plans. “Our parents think we’re absolutely nuts,” Morgan said. “They say, ‘there is no way you can beat the system. You have to have a mortgage.’”
The Crittendons said they will probably have to get a small loan on a property when they decide to find land to place their tiny house permanently. According to a Washington Post article, because many college students and young adults have higher debt when they graduate from college, millennials are less likely to own homes, opting to rent or live at home with their parents instead. Morgan and Vernell are convinced there are options for people like themselves who want to live a debt-free life. Yo u c a n f o l l o w @ t i nyhousegiantpeople on Facebook for updates on their tiny house. Kendra Mann
kendra.m.mann@ou.edu
SHANE BYLER/THE DAILY
The King Kopy printing store on Campus Corner is being sued for owing more than $60,000.
Campus Corner shop owner faces restraining order JADYN WATSON-FISHER @jwatsonfisher
A popular Campus Corner printing and business store is being sued for late rent. King Kopy owes $63,000 in rent, interest, fees and other expenses, according to Asp Street Investments. Cleveland County district judge Thad Balkman also granted a temporary restraining order against King Kopy owner Aisha Ali on June 23. Ali and her employees are forbidden from
removing any items from the business. “The court finds that it clearly appears from plaintiff ’s evidence that plaintiff’s property and financial interests will be irreparably injured if defendants are allowed to remove personal property off the subject property,” the court document said. Ali, the Campus Corner Association board president, will have the opportunity to explain why the restraining order should be revoked at the hearing today, according to Cleveland County. Jadyn Watson-Fisher jwatsonfisher@ou.edu
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SPORTS
• July 5-11, 2017
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley before the Red and White game on April 8.
July 5-11, 2017 •
LINCOLN RILEY: HOMETOWN HERO MULESHOE, TEXAS — There are 62 individual pictures of former players hanging on the light gray walls of the Muleshoe High School football locker room. Above those pictures the words “Wall of Fame” are painted in black. On the top row, seventh from the right, is a picture of a young man wearing shoulder pads too big for his body, sporting the No. 12. That young man is Lincoln Riley — Oklahoma’s new head football coach. “He’s always been this kid that believed in himself,” Muleshoe head football coach David Wood said. “Everyone’s a hero in a small town. And that’s what Lincoln was.” Fast forward 15 years. Now, he’s the youngest head coach in college football, leading one of the most prominent football programs in the country. But even in his new role, Riley hasn’t forgotten his roots.
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SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY
Growing up in a town of just over 5,000 people, Riley quickly became a known figure around town w ith his confident, but humble personality. He was a solid athlete, but the classroom is where Riley really excelled. “He wouldn’t sometimes do all his homework, but he didn’t have to — he was
bored with it,” Wood said. “He was not a bookworm — he was just so brilliant, and he could just see it. Listen to a lecture in class and take the test and ace it.” Riley continued his classroom excellence in high school, and became a promising football player making the varsity team as a defensive end his sophomore year. He made the transition to quarterback his junior year, and led Muleshoe to its first ever state semi-finals appearance, helping turn around a program that hadn’t seen a winning season in years. “He wasn’t a blue-chipper, but for us he was very good,” Wood said. “He was a big part of that transition, and that team put Muleshoe on the map as far as football goes.” But Riley was also still just a “good ole country boy,” according to Wood. After beating their rival Friona, he and a couple teammates spray painted the score of the game on the town’s water tower. R i l e y ha d b e c o m e a n embodiment of Muleshoe. He was unselfish and had a quickness for including others in his success. Young kids around town flocked to Riley, hanging on him and asking quest i o n s a f t e r e a c h g a m e. Riley started new traditions at Muleshoe, like taking blades of grass from the opponent’s end zone after
an away victory. “It’s growing up in that close-knit environment in a town where just about everybody knew everybody,” Riley said. “There was just a sense of community, and I think a lot of my values came from that. I’ve said a lot that I’m thankful for the place I grew up.”
“I think in a young man’s life, the high school coaches were so influential and so important. I was so fortunate to have a ton of great ones. They made a great impression on me.” LINCOLN RILEY, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
When it was time to leave the small town that built him, Riley had a decision to make. He could go to a small school and play, or follow his dreams and walk-on at a Division I s c h o o l . He c h o s e t h e latter and walked-on at Texas Tech, 68 miles from Muleshoe. With a roster full of quarte rba cks, R i l e y q u i ck ly found out he would never s e e t h e f i e l d i n a Te c h uniform. Then-coach Mike Leach offered him
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Head coach’s success began in small town GEORGE STOIA • @GEORGESTOIA
a student coaching job, seeing his potential. Riley traded his helmet for a headset and never looked back. “I thought he would (become a good coach),” Leach told The Daily after Riley was hired as Oklahoma’s head coach. “He’s a smart guy, eager to learn, and willing to use common sense and independent thinking along the way.” Wo o d r e c a l l s w a t c h ing Texas Tech on TV and seeing Riley right next to Leach the entire game. “Ever y time you saw Leach, Lincoln was right beside him on the sideline just following him, just soaking it all in and bouncing ideas off of him,” Wood said. When Muleshoe decided to switch to a spread offense in 2006, Wood went to Leach hoping to learn his offensive w izardr y. But when Wood arrived, he soon found out Riley had become a mastermind himself. Leach had been talking to Wood for five minutes when he turned to Wood and his staff and said, “You know what, I’m just going to let Lincoln talk to you guys, he knows this stuff better than I do.” Wood thought Leach was blowing him off, but quickly realized Riley knew what he was talking about. The student had become the teacher.
Riley grew during his time at Tech, and when Leach was let go in 2009, he was given an opportunity to show he was ready for the big stage. Interim head coach Ruffin McNeill — now Riley’s new defensive line coach — promoted 26-year-old Riley to offensive coordinator for the Alamo Bowl, setting Riley up with the audition of a lifetime. Riley’s offense exploded in a 41-31 victory over Michigan State, giving him the chance to take the next step in his career. Now a proven offensive coordinator, Riley followed McNeill to East Carolina w h e re h e b ro k e re c o rd after record. During his five years at ECU, Riley’s offense set more than 50 team or individual records, including recording the top five passing seasons in school history. Big schools took notice and began calling Riley, hoping to hire the young offensive genius. At the time, Oklahoma was in desperate need of a spark, coming off a dismal 8-5 season with an offense that hadn’t been the same since offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson’s departure in 2010. Oklahoma went straight to Riley, hiring him as their offensive coordinator in 2015. Now three years later, the good ole country boy who painted his rival high s chool’s water tow er is the head coach of one the all-time greatest college
football programs. “We sure are proud of him here, and people sure are in awe of what he’s accomplished,” Wood said.
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Riley has a big task in front of him — trying to replace the program’s alltime winningest coach in Bob Stoops — but he says he feels ready. He’s had plenty of people in his life help him prepare for this m o m e nt, i n c l u d i ng h i s high school coaches. “I think in a young man’s life, the high school coaches were so influential and so important,” Riley said. “I was so fortunate to have a ton of great ones. They made a great impression on me.” From Muleshoe to Lubbock, then Greenville, and now Norman — many can’t believe the quick jump Riley has made in the coaching ranks. But the people of Muleshoe always knew Riley was going to do special things. “I knew he would be successful with whatever avenue he took. With a mind like him, he could have gone and done anything, h e r e a l l y c o u l d h a v e ,” Wood said. “Engineering, science, NASA, astronaut — you name it, he could have done anything like that, and I knew he would have been good at it.” George Stoia
george.s.stoia-1@ou.edu
PHOTOS BY GEORGE STOIA/THE DAILY
ABOVE: Pictures of Lincoln Riley from his days at Muleshoe High School. Riley took Muleshoe to its first ever state semi-finals appearance in 2000.
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CLASSIFIEDS
• July 5-11, 2017
OU DAILY
Kelli Stacy
Emily McPherson
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HOROSCOPE By Eugenia Last
Copyright 2017, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last Question everything and everyone. It’s important to make sure that you have a full understanding of what’s happening around you this year, both at work and at home, if you want to get ahead. Don’t lose touch with people; reach out to them and discover exactly what’s required to excel. CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Good fortune awaits if you are willing to do things a little differently. Don’t rule out partnering with someone who comes from a background quite unlike your own. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Take part in activities and events that are geared toward positive change, personal gains and physical improvements. Try to keep up with the latest trends. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Emotions will mess with your ability to get things done. Stay focused and do your best to resolve unfinished business so that you can move forward and achieve your goals.
honest about your feelings, don’t say anything at all. Empty promises will lead to a bad reputation and will upset your plans. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Children, a friend or loved one will raise emotional questions. Listen to what’s being revealed, but don’t take what you hear as being the gospel truth. Do your own fact-finding. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Your desire to be a humanitarian can lead to trouble if you are gullible. Find out if someone is playing you or has legitimate grievances before you offer him or her assistance or money. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -Emotional matters will escalate if you or someone you are dealing with uses manipulative tactics. Stick to the truth and be articulate about your objectives. When in doubt, ask. ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Home improvements can be made, as long as you have the required budget. Don’t go into debt trying to keep up with your social group. Self-improvement is favored.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Take a serious look at your choices in order to discover a way to build greater prosperity by collaborating with someone who can provide any skill or experience you are lacking.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Do something to boost your morale or update your appearance. Discuss personal matters with a loved one to find a way to improve your lifestyle and relationship.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Make a point to be frank about things that have happened in the past that don’t sit well with you. The only way to bring about positive change is to address your concerns.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Express your feelings and find out where you stand. Romance will improve your personal life and give you the confidence to make changes to your living arrangements.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- If you cannot bring yourself to be
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ACROSS 1 Mail org. 5 Ballpark figs.? 9 Underneath 14 Sound of a heavy sitting 15 Behind everyone else 16 Some angles 17 “Clean� phrase and word 20 The big blue 21 Pub kin 22 It can be shot on a range 25 Hole card, sometimes 26 Scream from a pirate? 28 Sing one’s praises 32 Smartalecky know-it-all 37 Total creep 38 Three clean words 41 Condensed, memorable saying 42 Like the most effective knife 43 Decays 44 Fashionable Calvin 46 What a polygraph will disclose 47 Skirts of the South Pacific 53 Resurrected 58 Painting style that teases the eyeballs
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59 Three clean words 62 Resolute about 63 Brief rounds? 64 Doily material 65 Talks like a stereotypical gangster 66 “___ better believe it!� 67 Very gradual DOWN 1 Type of violin stroke 2 Piece of cake 3 Things a world apart? 4 Watermelon-hittingpavement sound 5 Santa’s helper 6 Cheer sound 7 On the 20-Across 8 WWII prison camp 9 Soak 10 ___ Park (L.A. neighborhood) 11 Hawaiian shindig 12 Mayberry’s heavy drinker 13 “___ number one!� 18 The loneliest number 19 Walesa of Poland 23 Risque or titillating
24 Drug cop, briefly 27 Be a good recycler 28 Challenge for a speech coach 29 Really long? 30 Mandolin relatives, briefly 31 Verb sometimes with “thou� 32 Have on 33 Prefix with “China� 34 Plane reservation 35 Divisions of joules 36 Mature 37 Knight’s address 39 That alternative? 40 Carvey or Delany 44 Show affection, in a way
45 Margin of freedom or space 46 Creditor’s legal claims 48 Part of a spreadsheet 49 Some gems 50 Port in Brazil 51 El ___ (Spanish artist) 52 Toss about, as seeds 53 Former Communist country 54 Type of bargain 55 Maze creatures 56 Perched upon 57 Showroom sample 60 Large flightless bird 61 Place for two peas?
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7/4 Š 2017 Andrews McMeel Syndication 6/28 Š 2017 Andrews McMeel Syndication www.upuzzles.com www.upuzzles.com
CLEANING UP By Timothy E. Parker
Previous Solution
Monday- Very Easy Tuesday-Easy Wednesday- Easy Thursday- Medium Friday - Hard
Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.
NEWS
July 5-11, 2017 •
IDENTITY: Continued from Page One
In an attempt to improve Native American relations on campus, OU President David Boren announced a series of initiatives in October 2015, including making the Native American Studies Program a department in December 2015. As of July 2016, 9.2 percent of Oklahomans identified as “American Indian or Alaska Native alone.” In 2010, Oklahoma had the second largest number of people in the nation identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native with 482,760. At OU in fall 2016, 460 first-time students, 218 full-time and 166 part-time employees at the Norman campus identified as American Indian or Alaska Native. Being in a state rich in Native American heritage with a sizable population of Native American students, faculty and staff, Boren said growing the Native American Studies department and increasing inclusivity was paramount. “From the very beginning of the University, we have been extremely proud of our Native American heritage which has permeated our entire university,” Boren said in a statement in 2015. The latest development came when the department expanded in May with the hiring of three professors.
Roughly a month after Stuart-Richard’s hiring, a blogger named Sam wrote a post claiming that Stuart-Richard isn’t Native American. OU and the Native American Studies Department have no policy requiring a professor hired to the department to be Native American, as that would be against the law. The blog, Ancestorstealing. com, said Stuart-Richard, who identifies as Mississippi Choctaw, isn’t an enrolled member of the tribe, nor does she have any ancestors who were members of the tribe. The blog’s information comes by way of genealogical research through sites such as Ancestry.com and Familysearch.com, as well as U.S. census records. “As an assistant professor of Native American studies, I teach my students about the unfortunate reality that there are three groups that are asked to show proof of their heritage: show dogs, racehorses and American Indians,” StuartRichard said. “In this case, I don’t believe that my personal family history has any place on an anonymous blog, and I will not be providing them with that information.” The chair of the Native American Studies Department, Dr. Amanda Cobb-Greetham, said the department is aware of the allegations made against StuartRichard and does not believe there to be any truth behind them. “It is not our practice to
• Indigenize OU makes request for recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day and the end of “Boomer Sooner” • Boren supports Indigenous Peoples Day, rejects end of “Boomer Sooner”
SEPT. 2015
engage in conversation with an anonymous blog,” CobbGreetham told The Daily. “That, in and of itself, to me, is a serious discussion to have. I hope that is something that OU Daily and everyone on campus is interested in ... the extent to which anonymous, unsourced blogs can present information. That is the form of allegation we have, and it is not our practice to engage with anonymous sources.” Cobb-Greetham said that if the accusations were true and Stuart-Richard were pretending to be Native American, it would be serious. “It would have quite an impact,” Cobb-Greetham said. “This is serious for all of us in Native American studies because, for many of us, it is very personal. Also, because it is a subject area within our field, honesty and ethics are critical.” The blog is run by approximately eight Native Americans who remain anonymous for their safety and to avoid legal action, according to blog spokesperson Keely Denning. Their goal is to end the exploitation of their culture by outing those who pretend to be Native American. Stuart-Richard is one of those people, Denning said. “It’s very disturbing for me to see any university hire a fake and present them as real,” Denning said. “I don’t expect all the universities to know, but I do expect — especially OU — to at least check on the person. Ask them for
• Indigenous Peoples Day is passed • Boren issues statement listing improvements for Native Amaerican relations on campus: - Search for tribal liaison - Indigenous Peoples Day - Native history included in diversity training
OCT. 2015
an enrollment card. Don’t present these people to me as Indian people without just having some basic stuff on them.”
...
Queton said identity is difficult for Native Americans because “we don’t see ourselves as a race or ethnicity but as a sovereign nation and a political status that is different from any race or ethnicity in this nation.” Native Americans can identify in many different ways, according to Cobb-Greetham. A person can identify through politics (tribal enrollment), race (ancestry) and culture. “Indigenous identity fraud and cultural appropriation are extremely serious issues with which our discipline grapples,” Cobb-Greetham said. “As scholars in our field, we know that Indigenous identities have complex political, cultural and racial components, and there is a difference between and among being ‘enrolled’ in a federal, state or unrecognized tribal polity, being ‘unenrolled’ but of tribal heritage or descent, and in making something up out of whole cloth.” The stigmas surrounding people who have little Native American blood compared to those who have more aren’t always accurate, Queton said. Just because someone isn’t an enrolled member doesn’t mean they aren’t knowledgeable in their tribe’s culture. “You have people who
know that they have Indian ancestry, but they really don’t know about the culture that comes with it, so they want to learn,” Queton said. “They want to come into the community and learn more about their Native heritage, and then you have people who are born and raised in the culture and the heritage, learning all of the things that go along with what it is to be an Indian person, so they are very well taught about who they are as a people. “Then you have people who may be a full blood tribal member, but yet because of their family situation or the way that they were raised they may not have anything to do with their Native ancestry, so there’s different levels that people negotiate.” The Daily reached out to Indigenize OU for comment via email and Facebook, but didn’t receive a response before publication. The levels people negotiate are part of a spectrum of race that individuals can fall anywhere on. George Henderson, the director of the advanced studies program in the Department of Human Relations, as well as the author of “Race and the University: A Memoir,” said there are no pure races, which makes defining people by race arbitrary. “Race is a fiction of our imagination, and I underscore pure because we are the composite of many different racial groups or peoples,” Henderson, who is African American, said. “There are no
pure races, but there are pure racists-People who believe in the fiction of race and believe that they are superior to others in that fictional belief.” Henderson, who’s been at OU since 1967, said race is still an identifying factor at OU — despite it being fictional — so there’s still the the stigma that people act “too much” like a certain race or “too little” like their own. The hiring of Stuart-Richard only exemplifies the issues of identity: To some she’s seen as not Native American enough to claim her tribe. To Henderson, the concept of race and how people identify with it is a touchy subject, but it shouldn’t be. Instead of focusing on differences, people should be focusing on how they treat one another. “I find the interaction with people who have different compositional backgrounds more meaningful to me, and a common denominator for me is to treat them fairly — to treat them in ways that they deserve — with dignity, respect and to have opportunity to succeed or fail based on their ability, not their race,” Henderson said. Stuart-Richard will begin at OU in fall 2017, where she will teach a class on Native peoples and sustainability, according to Cobb-Greetham. Jadyn Watson-Fisher and Robyn Craig also contributed to this report. Kelli Stacy
kelliastacy@ou.edu
TIMELINE OF IMPROVEMENT IN NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS ON CAMPUS • Native American studies moves from a program to a department
DEC. 2015
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• Native American studies department expands with three news hires
MAY 2017
8
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