The American West Center: A Forty Year Retrospective, April 2004 - American West Center

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by Dan McCool

Introduction

In 1964 two professors from the History Department, A. R. Mortensen and Gregory Crampton, conceived the idea of starting a center on campus devoted exclusively to research on the American West. Following some negotiations with the Park Building and the History Department, the Western History Center was created, later renamed the American West Center. In 1966 the Center received a generous grant from the Doris Duke Foundation to record oral histories of American Indians. This began a long tradition of serving American Indians, and focusing on oral history, that continues today. This report summarizes what has been accomplished by the Center in the ensuing forty years. I think professors Mortensen and Crampton would be proud of how the Center has performed over the decades.

Our mission today is to create and disseminate knowledge about the American West. Most, but not all, of our work has been done on behalf of American Indians and other minority groups. We also have a long tradition of working on environmental policy issues ranging from water rights, to public lands management, to modern GIS (geographic information systems) studies. Our mission also includes providing on-the-job training for students who work at the Center as researchers. In addition, the Center has compiled an enormous archive of research materials, which is stored at the Marriott Library’s Special Collections, and at the Center.

Each of the Center’s projects and accomplishments will be described, followed by a discussion of future directions and opportunities.

Projects

I. American Indian Oral History Project.

Another massive oral history program was initiated by the Center in 1965 with a substantial grant from the Doris Duke Foundation to interview American Indians. These interviews continued over many years. When the Duke Project was completed, the Center continued the Indian Oral History program, relying upon other funding sources. This program resulted in 1,814 interviews with Indians from 46 different tribes. Many of the tapes are in a native language—some of which are in danger of disappearing. A reviewer for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently wrote that this collection “Is of the highest importance to the Humanities. These oral interviews are critical resources for the study of Native American history, linguistics, literature, and potentially, a range of other fields.”Another reviewer noted that this project “seeks to literally preserve Native voice.”A third reviewer referred to the collection as “very significant” and “a large and important resource for Native American studies.”The NEH recently awarded the Center a $127,000 matching grant to digitize the 1,814 tapes of the American Indian Oral history project so that they can be preserved on hard drives and CDs for posterity.

II. Ethnic Oral Histories Project

Since its inception the American West Center has had an active oral history program that focuses on minority communities. One of our largest projects was the “Ethnic Oral Histories Project,” which compiled oral histories of the following:

Blacks in Utah: 33 interviews, conducted between December 1971 and June 1973
People of Croatian ethnicity in Utah: 42 interviews, conducted between July 1972 and August 1974
People of Greek ethnicity in Utah: 59 interviews, conducted between March 1969 and March 1976.
People of Hebrew ethnicity in Utah: 37 interviews, conducted between April 1972 and June 1982
Urban Indians in Utah: 14 recordings, made during Indian Awareness Week at the University of Utah in May 1972
Indian Unity Caravan: 5 recordings, made at West Jordan Park in August 1972 when the Indian Unity Caravan stopped in this area
Southern Ute: 4 tapes, recorded in 1969 in the Ute language with a tribal elder and then translated
White Mesa Ute: 50 interviews, conducted between March 1980 and February 1984
Santa Anna Pueblo: 17 interviews, conducted between November 1979 and March 1980
Nevada Intertribal Council: 11 interviews, conducted with officers of the Council in 1974
U. S.-Canadian Indian Curriculum Conference: 7 tapes, made of American Indian speakers and academics at this conference
Hispanics in Utah: 24 interviews, conducted between December 1971 and July 1973
Ute Curriculum Project: 19 interviews with people involved in curriculum development on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation
Oregon Anthropological Papers: 11 interviews with Conner Chapoose, a member of the Northern Ute tribe
Japanese-American Research Project: 47 interviews with Japanese-Americans, conducted in Utah and Colorado between October 1966 and November 1967
Japanese/Asian Studies Oral History Project: 76 interviews, conducted between April 1972 and July 1973
Utah Women’s Political Oral History Project: 10 interviews, conducted between May 1976 and September 1991
Walker River Oral History: 30 interviews, conducted at the Walker River Indian Reservation in Nevada between January 1974 and March 1974
Mexican Revolution Project: 3 tapes with multiple interviewees regarding the Mexican Revolution, recorded in August 1971
Mormon Colonies Project: 8 interviews with people living in Mormon colonies in Mexico, recorded in November 1970
Mexico Oral History Project: 7 interviews with Mexican historians, conducted in August, September, and November 1971
Zuni Land Claim: 9 interviews with members of the Zuni Pueblo, conducted in February 1986
Navajo: 3 interviews conducted with members of the Navajo Nation in December 1972, January 1973, and August 1979
Hupa: 14 interviews with members of the Hupa Tribe in California, recorded between January 1987 and August 1988
Indian Self-Rule: 84 tapes, made as part of a joint project between KUER and the American West Center dealing with Indian self-determination

III. Saving the Legacy

The most recent oral history program at the American West Center is called “Saving the Legacy: An Oral History of World War II.”We have interviewed 433 veterans (filling nearly 600 tapes), including all branches of service, in both theaters of the war. This project receives no financial support from the University. It has been funded by generous contributions from the veterans themselves, and from grants from Utah Historical Society, the Wheeler Foundation, the Quinney Foundation, and the Dee Foundation. In 2002 and 2003 we received grants from the Utah Humanities Council to interview minority veterans and women who worked on the home front in the defense industry (“Rosie the Riveter”). Thus far we have interviewed thirty-eight women and ten minorities.

IV. Tribal Histories

The Center has produced hard-bound tribal histories for sixteen Indian tribes. These books are used in reservation schools, and provide a history of Native peoples as told by tribal elders from their own Native perspective. The titles of these books are listed below:

Stories of Our Ancestors: A Collection of Northern Ute Indian Tales
Our Home Forever: A Hupa Tribal History
Acoma: Puebloin the Sky
The Southern Utes: A Tribal History
Santa Anna: The People, the Pueblo, and the History of Tamaya
Sharing the Desert: The Tohono O’odham in History
The Zunis: Self-Portrayals
Dine Ji Nakee Naahane: A Utah Navajo History
A History of the Northern Ute People
Nu Wuvi: A Southern Paiute History
Numa: A Northern Paiute History
Was She Shu: A Washoe Tribal History
Newe: A Western Shoshone Tribal History
Walker River Paiutes: A Tribal History
Ute People: An Historical Study
Ute Mountain Utes: A History Text

The American West Center also produced the first study of Navajo Code Talkers, They Talked Navajo (1971), and an edited volume of the Utah Historical Quarterly devoted exclusively to American Indian history (1971). In 1995 the Center compiled a twenty volume water inventory for the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center with funds from the Ford Foundation.

In addition, the Center produced a series of “occasional papers” from 1971 to 1981. These papers primarily dealt with American Indian policy. One of these papers was turned into a hard-bound book titled Utah: A Hispanic History, by Vincent V. Mayer, and has been used extensively in public schools.

V. Litigation Support

The Center has a long history of historical research in lawsuits involving Indian tribal claims to water and land, and hunting and fishing rights. The Center played a major role in a land claims cases for the Zuni Pueblo, a jurisdiction case involving the Northern Ute Tribe of Utah, and numerous hunting and fishing claims of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho. We are currently working on a new project for the Shoshone-Bannocks. The Center engages in these projects because they help fill a void in the historical literature, provide a more complete and accurate picture our past relations with American Indians, and give Center personnel the opportunity to engage in scholarly research with the potential for future publication.

VI. SCERP Tribal Environmental Project

A multi-year federally funded grant from the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy was awarded to the Center in 1999, and renewed for the following two years, to complete a digitized environmental baseline for the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. The Center sub-contracted with the DIGIT lab to produce a series of maps that were distributed to the Nation and each of its eleven districts in May 2002.

VII. The Floyd A. O’Neil Scholarship

The Center administers the Floyd A. O’Neil Scholarship, established to honor the director emeritus of the Center. Recent winners include:

Chris Peterson, Political Science graduate student
Michael Van Wagenen, History graduate student
Marianne T. Watson, History undergraduate
Jason Robison, Political Science undergraduate
Jarret Wicker, Political Science undergraduate
Tracy Marafiote, Communications graduate student
Tracylee Clarke, Communications graduate student
Dan McConkie, History undergraduate
Dylan Esson, History undergraduate
Natasha McVaugh, Environmental Studies undergraduate
Steven Danver, History Graduate student
Brenda Whitehorse (Navajo), History undergraduate

VIII. The Red Rock Institute

The Red Rock Institute was founded in 2003 on the principle that environmental conflicts cannot be resolved without a fundamental understanding of the stakeholders and the resources. This is best accomplished by experiencing the land and the issues first-hand. The Institute offers classes that delve into environmental and social issues in the American West, with a focus on Utah. Each class includes a field component that takes students to the contested areas of Utah, providing each student with a unique in-situ learning experience. The Institute is designed to attract students from universities in other states and countries. This brings together students of diverse backgrounds and cultures, and gives them the opportunity to study and interact while visiting areas of critical environmental concern.

More information is available at: www.redrockinstitute.utah.edu.

IX. Archives

Over the years the Center has generated a massive archive of research materials. Much of this material has been donated to the Special Collections Department of the Marriott Library. However, a considerable archive is still kept at the Center so that it is immediately accessible to staff and researchers. This archive is used extensively by both staff and members of the community. For example, in the past year we have provided materials to the Northern Ute Tribe, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Two novelists have used our archives; one was writing about the Utes, and the other about the Navajo Code Talkers. In 2002 a historian for the National Park Service utilized our archives to document a decision as to whether the “Capitol Reef shields” should be repatriated to the Navajo Nation. The Center has created fourteen tribal archives for various tribes across the West by providing them copies of materials we have in our archive, along with a cataloguing and reference numbering system.

X. Student Training

The Center has hired literally hundreds of students over the years. Our staff consists of a combination of regular staff and part-time student employees. Part of the mission of the American West Center is to provide opportunities for students to gain knowledge by working on our many research projects. In our forty years of operation we have employed approximately 370 staff, nearly all of them students; Included in that number are 167 women, 26 Hispanics, 24 American Indians, 10 Asian-Americans, and one Black. Several of our former student employees have become quite successful. The American West Center is quite proud of these “alumni.”It is our hope that the time they spent working at the Center contributed to their education and subsequent successes. A partial list of notable alums includes:

Vincent Mayer, an Hispanic, has worked as a historian at the U. S. State Department for over thirty years.
Thomas Hunt King, an American Indian and noted novelist. He is currently a professor of English at the University of Guelph, Ontario.
John Alley, Ph.D. is currently the editor of Utah State University Press.
Sharon Austin, a Navajo, is completing her Ph. D. in Anthropology at Stanford University.
Larry Burt, Ph. D., is a professor at the University of Oklahoma, Chickasha.
Carter Blue Clark, Ph. D., A member of the Creek tribe, is a professor at Oklahoma City University.
Dennis Defa, M.A., is a human resources administrator at Central Washington University.
Ann Hanniball is a curator at the Utah Museum of Natural History
E. Richard Hart is the founder and president of Hart West & Associates, a private historical research firm.
Ron Holt, Ph.D., is a professor at Weber State University.
David Rich Lewis, Ph.D., is a professor at Utah State University.
Kathryn MacKay, Ph.D., is a professor at Weber State University.
Winona Manning, A Shoshone, is a tribal administrator.
David Moore , M.D., is in practice in Salt Lake City.
Robert Morgan, M.A., is the director of the Utah State Natural Resources Division.
Phillip Norianni, Ph.D., is the director of the Utah Division of State History.
Martin Seneca, a member of the Seneca Tribe, is an attorney in Washington, D.C.
Mary Ellen Sloan, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe, is an attorney for Salt Lake County.
Gregory Smoak, Ph.D., is a history professor at Colorado State University.
Veronica Tiller, Ph.D., is a Jicarilla Apache and a consulting historian in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Floyd Wyasket is a tribal judge for his tribe, the Northern Utes.

These are just a few of the people who apprenticed at the American West Center and then went on to make a significant professional contribution.

The Next Forty Years

In recent years the American West Center has experienced dramatic budget cuts and personnel reductions. Just a few years ago the Center had a full-time director, a part-time assistant director, two hard-funded staff positions, and a budget for part-time staff. This has been whittled down to a half-time director, no hard-funded positions, and no funding for part-time staff, primarily due to a 75% budget cut in 2003. Despite this dramatic reduction in support from the University, the Center has continued its long tradition of working with American Indians and other minorities, and environmental research and teaching. In the past five years the Center has generated approximately $300,000 in funded contract research. Our plan for the future envisions a combination of traditional programs and several new ventures, but we will continue our long tradition of serving American Indians and other minorities, engaging in funded research, and enhancing the teaching mission of the University through innovative teaching programs.