In Search of the Aboriginal Self

Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson

SAGE Open, 2014, vol. 4, issue 2, 2158244014534246

Abstract: Notions of aboriginal cultural reclamation and healing presuppose the existence of distinctly aboriginal selves that were damaged or lost in a process of colonization and that those selves can be “restored†in some meaningful way. Such aboriginal healing has been done without a detailed examination of the selves of individuals to be assisted in this manner. This article examines the selves of four contemporary individuals with varying relationships to the concept of aboriginality using a method of mapping the self with elemental units of culture called “memes.†It is suggested that a spectrum of healthy selves is possible for people who either identify with aboriginality culturally or satisfy a racial definition of the concept. The co-evolution of the self and culture is discussed along with the utility of various definitions of what it means to be aboriginal in a North American context.

Keywords: aboriginal; Amerindian; self; memes; self-mapping; culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:2:p:2158244014534246

DOI: 10.1177/2158244014534246

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