Indigenous Governance Database
national identity
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![Authenticity: Ethnic Indians, non-Indians and Reservation Indians Authenticity: Ethnic Indians, non-Indians and Reservation Indians](/sites/nnigovernance.arizona.edu/files/styles/resources/public/resources/Screen%2520Shot%25202016-10-06%2520at%252010.45.35%2520AM.png?itok=thSWugc2)
Authenticity: Ethnic Indians, non-Indians and Reservation Indians
Authenticity is a puzzling feature of contemporary Indian life. Growing up on an Indian reservation, I rarely encountered challenges to one’s identity as an Indian person. People within the reservation community knew most of the families. If they didn’t know the family connections of a specific…