White American Historical Memory and Support for Native Appropriation

Abstract

Research demonstrates that appropriation of aspects of American Indian cultures, pseudo-culture, and ethno-national identities is harmful to American Indians. Yet, when American Indians strive to eliminate this appropriation, they are often met with resistance from White Americans who are attached to the appropriation. Using a survey of 517 White Americans, we explored whether settler colonial collective memory was associated with this attachment. More specifically, we examined the associations between five ideologies that are part of this memory—glorification of U.S. colonialism, nationalism, militarism, masculine toughness, and White identity pride—and support for American Indian mascots and other types of appropriation. We found that these five ideologies are associated with each other, as well as with support for American Indian mascots and the other types of appropriation. In addition, we found that glorification of U.S. colonialism mediated between belief in each of the other four ideologies and support for appropriation. We situate our findings in the context of settler colonial collective memory and discuss how our findings can inform change.