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ORDINAL POSITION AND ROLE DEVELOPMENT or: THE
FIRSTBORN AMERICAN INDIAN DAUGHTER WITHIN HER
FAMILY or ORIGIN
By

Le Anne Elizabeth Silvey

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Family and Child Ecology

1997

ABSTRACT

ORDINAL POSITION AND ROLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
FIRSTBORN AMERICAN INDIAN DAUGHTER WITHIN HER
FAMILY OF ORIGIN

By

Le Anne E. Silvey

The purpose of this study was to explore the variables that influenced
and contributed to the role development of firstbom middle aged American
Indian daughters within their families of origin. The exploration involved a
search for patterns, themes, relationships, and meanings amongst and
between the firstbom daughter, her family of origin, and what were identified
as family and parental support resources (values, emotional, financial, spiritual,
cultural, physical, and material). Semistructured ethnographic interviews were
conducted with each of the five firstbom middle aged American Indian women.
Each interview was audiotaped and transcribed verbatim, and yielded a total of
349 pages of narrative. Data analysis was based on the constant comparative
method, using open and axial coding techniques to discover main themes,
themes-within-themes, and themes-across-themes.

All seven family and parental support resources were found to influence
role development, with culture and values figuring prominently. Two additional
themes were uncovered: effects of assimilation on the parents of these women

effected how the firstbom daughters were raised, and family secrets which

directly ties in to the former. The data strongly suggest that the ecological
and self-in-relation perspectives of women’s development are central to

understanding the role development of firstbom American Indian daughters.

Copyright by
LE ANNE ELIZABETH SILVEY
1997

DEDICATION

Helen M. Ludwick
10-23-06 to 04-26-97

To my other ‘mother’, who could not wait any longer
for me to finish and who taught me the meaning of:
To teach is to touch a life forever.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is inconceivable to me how anyone could successfully complete a
doctoral studies program, least of all a dissertation, without the support,
encouragement, and love of those around her. Given this caveat, it is important
to note that the support, encouragement, and love I received during this journey
eludes any form of measurement or quantifiable value. The words “Thank You”
pale in comparison to what I have received on this challenging, at times
arduous, journey; nonetheless, there are several people who deserve to be
acknowledged.

Lillian Phenice, Ph.D., chair of my committee. guided and gently
challenged me during the six years it has taken me to achieve this end. She
has been a fervent supporter and provided me with the encouragement I
needed to challenge myself and write in my own voice, especially when I was
struggling with my abilities to do so in a meaningful context. Harriette Pipes
McAdoo, Ph.D., inspired me and encouraged me to test and develop my abilities
to teach while under her tutelage. Her nurturing and supportive manner will
always be special to me. Thank you Maxine 3am Zinn, Ph.D., and Robert
Boger, Ph.D., for challenging me to stretch myself and reach to greater heights
in the way I contextualized theoretical perspectives, and sought to give new
layers of meaning to this effort. Norma Bobbitt, Ph.D., first lit the fire within me

to fuel my passion for qualitative research methodologies. She was an inspiring

vi

mentor who encouraged me to pursue my ideas and curiosity about this
research topic in 1994, nurturing me as | excitedly conducted a pilot study for
this dissertation. Her willingness to join my committee near the end of this
journey means more to me than words can convey.

I am very grateful for the friendship, support, and debriefing sessions that
my colleagues at Grand Valley State University, School of Social Work, so
willingly gave me. Special thanks to Susanne Glynn, Ph.D., and Terry
Rosander, DSW, for tolerating my obsessive nature—the need to thoroughly
discuss matters from every possible angle. Their tireless ears and sense of
humor helped me to stay on course when circumstances tempted me otherwise.

Above all others, and most important to me, I acknowledge the
unwavering love and support of my longtime friend and confidante, Karen Ann
Ludwick, MSW, ACSW. She has seen me through the worst of times,
especially during the past year, and has shared the best of times with me. Her
steadfast belief in me did much to keep me going and strengthened my resolve
to persevere despite losing my “yellow brick road” and crashing along the way.
You have taught me more about love, internal fortitude, honor, commitment, and
integrity by example then I could ever aspire to in a lifetime. Without you, my
special friend, I could not have realized this dream and for that I am forever

grateful. Chi-Megwetch.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ x
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1
Purpose of the Study .................................................................................... 2
Objectives of the Study ................................................................................. 3
Definitions ..................................................................................................... 4
Basic Assumptions ........................................................................................ 8
Limitations ................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .................................................................... 15
American Indian Way of Life ........................................................................ 18
Historical Perspective ................................................................................. 19
Contemporary Writing by Ameriwn Indian Women ..................................... 19
Studies of Ordinal Position .......................................................................... 20
Feminist Perspective .................................................................................. 23
Summary .................................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY ..................... 36
Participants ................................................................................................. 37
Site of the Study .......................................................................................... 38
Sampling Procedure .................................................................................... 39
Time Frame for the Study ............................................................................ 44
Methodology ................................................................................................ 46
Instrumentation ............................................................................................ 48
Planning for Trustworthiness ....................................................................... 51
Data Analysis .............................................................................................. 54
Type of Analysis ................................................................................. 56
Axial Coding ....................................................................................... 56
Discussion of the Data Analysis Process ..................................................... 58
CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS ....................................................................................................... 62
Participant Demographic Characteristics ..................................................... 64
Interview Findings ...................................................................................... 66
viii

——

 

Rayna (Case #692; Interview 1) ......................................................... 67

Sariah (Case #693; Interview 2) ......................................................... 76
Barbra (Case #694; Interview 3) ......................................................... 91
Diane (Case #695; Interview 4) ........................................................ 107
Chyanne (Case #691; Interview 5) ................................................... 126
Thematic Summary .................................................................................. 152
CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS ............................ 164
Role Development and Relational Considerations .................................... 178
Role Development and Ordinal Position .................................................... 181
Practice Implications ................................................................................ 184
Methodological Implications ..................................................................... 187
Recommendations ................................................................................... 190
EPILOGUE .................................................................................................. 192
APPENDICES
A UCRIHS Approval ............................................................................... 195
B. lnforrned Consent Form ...................................................................... 196
C. Interview Guide ................................................................................... 198
LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................. 199

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - Conceptual Map ............................................................................... 32
Figure 2 - Demographic Chart .......................................................................... 63

INTRODUCTION

mm

The process by which the role of the firstbom daughter develops within
the American Indian family of origin is little known and lacks investigative study,
especially by Ameriwn Indian women researchers. Specifically, how structure,
function, culture, value orientation, and degree of family and parental support.
exist within the American Indian family of origin as well as contribute to the role
formation of the firstbom American Indian daughter. Critical exploration and
analysis are needed to ascertain whether or not each of these factors can be
attributed to the formation and ongoing development of the role of the firstbom

American Indian daughter.

Need for the Study
A primary need for this study is to explore and shed light on the variables

that influence and contribute to the role development of the firstbom American
Indian daughter within her American Indian family of origin. It is believed that an
exploratory study on the role development of the firstbom daughter, conducted
by an Amerimn Indian female researcher for, and on behalf of, American Indian
women will help to illuminate the process by which her role is developed and

thereby, further the understanding of the firstbom American Indian daughter.

2
Conducting an exploratory study of this nature adds to the sparse existing
literature on American Indian women and will aid in filling the need for
information for family studies scholars and practitioners across a range of
disciplines.

In addition, a study that explores the relationship between being a
firstbom American Indian daughter and the variables that influenced her role
development is needed to determine the interplay among variables that emerges
into a pattem of development wherein the firstbom daughter ultimately bears the
primary responsibility of and for her family of origin. Through this process, the
role development of the firstbom daughter continuously evolves and actualizes
as family matriarch. Conducting an exploratory study within this context will
provide information that may yield sufficient knowledge for the development of
grounded theory on the role development of the firstbom American Indian
daughter.

W

The purpose of this study is to explore the variables that influence and
contribute to the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
within her American Indian family of origin. The exploration will involve a search
for patterns, themes, relationships, and meanings amongst and between the
firstbom daughter, her family of origin, and what are identified as family and
parental support resources (values, emotional, financial, spiritual, cultural,
physical, and material) throughout the lifespan periods of young adult, middle
age, and elderly. However, for purposes of this particular exploratory

study, the lifespan period of middle age will be the foci of study.

3

Objectives of the Study

The objective of this research is to explore what themes emerge and how

they contribute to the role development of the firstbom American Indian

daughter within her American Indian family of origin. Specifically, answers to the

following numbered and overarching questions, will be sought. Those questions

earmarked by an asterisk ( * ) were directly asked of each interviewee in the

study.

1. What is the relationship between ordinal position of the firstbom American

Indian daughter and family of origin responsibility?

*

What kinds of support or resources did you receive from your

family?

* What had the most value or meaning for you?

2. Is it a cultural expectation, rite of passage that evolves, wherein the

firstbom daughter becomes the keeper of the family?

3. What is the relationship between ordinal position and the role of the

firstbom daughter as keeper of the culture?

*

t

t

t

t

i

i

What values were you raised with?

Who instilled these values?

Did emphasis on values change over time?

How important was culture in your family?

What were you taught? by whom?

When were you taught? what age did you begin to know?

How important is culture to you in your everyday life?

4. Does gender inequality exist in the role development of the firstbom

daughter?

4

* What role did gender, male and female, play in your family?

5. How is the role of the firstbom daughter prescribed?

* How were responsibilities assigned or given to you while you were
growing up?

* Were these responsibilities assigned or given to you primarily by
your parents or by others?

6. Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the firstbom daughter

and quality of life?

* How has being the firstbom daughter shaped the quality of your
life?

* How has the role of firstbom influenced your life and shaped your
goals?

* Are there any positives to being a firstbom daughter?

Det'LrLiLorfi

1)

Family structure is defined as relatives and nonrelatives who resided
together with the firstbom American Indian daughter in her family of
origin. It was determined by the firstbom American Indian daughter self-
identifying relative and nonrelative members who resided together while
she was growing up.

2) Firstbom daughter is defined as the firstbom surviving American Indian

daughter.

3) Family and parental support is defined as the level and type of

resources the firstbom daughter received from family members whom she
resided with while growing up.

A)

B)

4)

A)

5
Resources are defined as values, emotional, financial, spiritual, cultural,
physical, and material as energy sources utilized by family members to
provide a means of support to the firstbom daughter.
Family and parental support was determined by asking the firstbom
daughter a series of open-ended and semistructured interview questions
which elicited self-identified meaning these resources held for her.
Family function is defined as the instrumental and expressive activities
carried out by individual members and how these roles cultivated,
combined, conflicted, mediated, and evolved as a means of supporting or
maintaining the dynamics of the members as a unit.
Instrumental activities are task oriented and assigned to either or both
female and male family members, whose purpose was to be the primary,
if not sole, provider of the family’s socioeconomic needs (Kingsbury and

Scanzoni, 1993).

B) Expressive activities are ascribed to either or both female and male

family members and are person-oriented to the extent that the female or
male family members are responsible for child rearing, nurturance, and
the enhancement of emotional relationships among family members

(Kingsbury and Scanzoni, 1993).

C) Cultivate is to promote the development or growth of (Webster‘s New

World Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1976).

D) Mediate is defined as the process of negotiation and reconciliation.

5) American Indian family is defined as fictive and nonfictive members who

reside together, and who are of American Indian descent.

A)

6
Fictive kin are defined as nonblood related members who have a special

bonding relationship significant enough to allow incorporation into the

blood related family as a member (Red Horse, 1980).

B) Nonfictive kin are defined as biologically, blood related family members.

6) American Indian is defined as any individual who is tribally affiliated and

who was born within the continental United States. The firstbom
daughter had to self-identify as an American Indian by stating her
specific tribal affiliation, providing either or both the paternal and
maternal line(s) of descendancy and be recognized as an American

Indian by her community, or be a member of a federally recognized tribe.

7) Middle age is defined as the chronological period of the lifespan of being

not less than 40 years of age, and not more than 54 years of age.

8) Ordinal position is defined as the numerical birth order position held by

9)

the firstbom daughter in the structure of her family of origin. Ordinal
position was determined by a series of structured questions in which the
firstbom daughter was asked to identify her birth order position, how
many siblings she had, and to identify the structural spacing that existed
between siblings by providing the number of years between each birth. A
calculation was then done to determine the overall number of years
between the birth of the oldest child and the birth of the youngest child.
Urban area is defined as the boundaries of an inner city and the greater
suburban metropolitan areas which are noncountry, rural, or reservation
in description. Residence in an urban area was determined by obtaining

the current residential address of the firstbom daughter, inclusive of the

city and county of residence.

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

1e)

17)

18)

7
Ethic of care is defined as the anchoring of self in a world of
relationships and the experience of self to activities of care and
connection; the tie between relationship and responsibility (Gilligan,
1993)
Role development is defined as a dynamic, evolving process where
skills are acquired to engage in a combination of instrumental and
expressive activities throughout the lifespan.

Values are defined as attributes, characteristics, or things that are
intrinsically valuable or desirable; of general worth and importance.

Emotional is defined as being prone to emotion, or feelings, which
symbolize the affective aspect of consciousness and the physical
reaction subjectively experienced as aroused or agitated in feeling.

Financial means of or relating to money; money matters that effect an
individual.

Spiritual is defined as an incorporeal or immaterial being, consisting of
or relating to sacred matters.

Cultural is defined as the attitudes, behaviors, values, belief systems,
customs, traditions, language, artifacts, and norms characteristic of a
particular group or class of people.

Physical is defined as things of or relating to the body; namely, birth,

death, illness, physical attributes and skills, and phenotypic
characteristics.

Material is defined as relating to or concerned with physical as opposed

to spiritual or intellectual things; tangible things that are not related to

financial or monetary matters.

8
Basic Assumptions

It is important for the reader to know and understand the bases for the
suppositional statements enumerated and discussed below. These
assumptions are predicated on the tacit, or personal, and professional
knowledge and experiences of the author. On a personal level, the author is an
American Indian as well as a firstbom daughter. Moreover, on a professional
level, the author has pursued scholarly knowledge of and has direct practice

experience working with, as well as among, American Indian people.

1) American Indian family structure incorporates fictive and nonflctive
membership (Red Horse, 1980; personal and professional experience).
The structure of American Indian families is often misunderstood and
confusing to nonAmerican Indian people. The expansive nature of the family
structure, inclusive of extended family systems, is confusing because of the
number of nonblood related members inherent in the family. Not all members
may be primarily of American Indian descent, or of the same tribal affiliation. A
nonblood or fictive member may be an elder who is referred to by other
members as an uncle, but who in fact has no biological relationship to other
members. Confusing to the nonAmerican Indian is the number of people who
reside together and the fact that you cannot necessarily tell by looking at

members which ones are fictive and nonfictive.

2) “Interactions between families and environments are guided by two sets of

rules: physical and biological laws of nature ..... and human-derived rules,

9
such as social norms, that are related to use and allowtion of resources,
role expectations, and distribution of power” (Bubolz and Sontag, 1993, p.
426).

The goal of family and parental support, within the context of the
American Indian family of origin, is to foster interdependence. The family
serves as a facilitator in the development of its members and does so
according to family or cultural role, not necessarily according to age (Red
Horse, 1980). Family and parental support encompasses cultural and spiritual
maintenance, satisfaction of physical and emotional needs, and the themes of
providing care, being cared for, and preparing to care for, throughout the
lifespan. In this regard, the family is strengthened and lifelong
interdependence among members is fostered. This approach to familial
support contrasts with EuroAmerican family support in that the goal of the latter

is independence of members rather than interdependence among members.

3) Inherent in American Indian culture is an interdependence with the
environment, a harmony or balance with nature.

From personal and professional experience, I have learned that the
transactional milieu of American Indian culture is intimately connected with the
forces of nature, with the living and nonliving environment. The cultural
concept of the “Circle of Life” translates into all living beings are in harmony
with nature. Another way of saying this is “What goes around comes around”.
Interdependence between family members and nature is paramount. The
fusion of American Indian spirituality and philosophy is interconnected with the

environment and all transactional processes beMen members is reflective of

1O

nature in one form or another.

4) The term American Indian is preferred over the term Native American.

The term Ameriwn Indian has become the politically correct term to use
in identifying Indian ethnicity in recent years. My personal experience has
reinforced my belief in this assumption. When I first heard the term being
used by fellow American Indians, I inquired as to why this term was preferred
over the term Native American. The explanation I was given was very
simplistic, but it caused a major impact on me in terms of my own identity and
thought process. The rationale given to me was that anyone can be a Native
American regardless of whether you are of Indian descent or not; Native
American means native to America In contrast, the term American Indian
signifies that you are an indigenous member of America, you are tme
American Indian. Both terms are used interchangeably by Indian and
nonlndian alike. However, my own personal preference—as well as what my
personal and professional experience has been-is to be identified as American

Indian, not as a Native American.

5) American Indian societies are gynocratic in nature. Specifically, “American
Indians have based their social systems, however diverse, on ritual, spirit-
centered, woman-focused worldviews” (Allen, 1986, p. 2).

Admittedly, it wasn’t until I read Paula Gunn Allen’s book “The Sacred

Hoop” that I gave any thought to the perspective that American Indian culture

is woman-focused, at least for the majority of tribes in existence today. After

reading Allen’s book, the concept of a gynocratic society made legitimate

1 1
sense. The role development of the flrstbom American Indian daughter
meshes well with the concept of a gynocratic society. The role development of
the firstbom daughter is embedded within the context of American Indian
culture and historical accounts of American Indian family development.
Between the culture, historical accounts, and the concept of a gynocratic
society, it becomes easier to see and understand the emerging role of the

firstbom daughter.

6) As indigenous people, American Indians and their culture lend themselves
to ethnographic study.
The study of American Indian families is a study of diverse cultural
groups. In this regard, a qualitative approach was utilized in the study of the
role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her

American Indian family of origin.

7) American Indian culture is full of diversity, with many distinct languages,
groups, and identified tribes.

Throughout the continental United States, there are over 500
recognized tribes, bands, or groups of American Indians. There is no uniform
language, dress, religious practice, tribal membership criteria, or traditional
cultural customs practiced on a daily basis. Rather, the term American Indian
is commonly used as a general identifier that does not speak to the diversity

inherent in this population.

8) Not all American Indian families of origin have a firstbom surviving

1 2
American Indian daughter.

Many American Indian families of origin are composed of fictive and
nonfictive kin, which may or may not include male and female children. For
example, some families of origin are composed of fictive kin from other
American Indian families, as well as members who are nonAmerican Indian. In
other cases, the firstbom daughter may have died at some point during the

lifespan.

9) Among American Indians, the lifespan period of middle age commonly
refers to a chronological age of not less than 40 years, and not more than
54 years of age.

It is common practice within the American Indian community to regard
individuals who are 55 years of age and older as an elder. Exceptions to the
lifespan period of middle age are rare. However, in special circumstances an
individual who chronologically fits the lifespan period of middle age may be
ascribed the status of an elder based on wisdom, spiritual leadership, or

esteemed reverence by the community.

10) Each of the five women who participated in this study were forthright in
the information provided to the Principal Investigator during their
interviews.

All five of the firstbom American Indian daughters interviewed by the
Principal Investigator volunteered to participate in the study. Given the
womens’ interest and willingness to participate in the study, the Principal
Investigator believed the women answered the interviewer truthfully. The

integrity of the findings and conclusions of this study are based on the

13

interviewees answers.

Limitations

Given the fact that the nature of this qualitative study focused on the
firstbom American Indian daughter within her family of origin, the cultural
specificity precludes generalizing to nonAmerican Indian populations as well
as to American Indian families of origin that are not comprised of female
daughters. Moreover, the interview conducted with each of the five women
was bounded by targeting specific areas as opposed to being open-ended. As
a result, the information obtained from the women was limited to the
semistructured interview guide designed to elicit information on particular
areas of interest to the author, namely, the preconceived categories which fall
under the construct of family and parental support resources (values,
emotional, financial, spiritual, cultural, physical, and material). Admittedly, had
the interview format been free flowing and completely open-ended, the data
collected would be substantially different, as would the findings and
conclusions.

The type of selection procedure used and the criteria for participation in
the study further limit the scope and generalizability of the research. A
selective, snowball sampling technique was used to secure the participation of
five women for the exploratory study. The selective nature of the sample size
and the absence of randomness effected the breadth of and the ability to
generalize to a target population of all firstbom American Indian daughters in the
continental United States.

Another limitation is noted in the selection of the site for the interview that

each participant was given the opportunity to select. Of the five participants,

14
only two of the women were interviewed in their own homes; two women were
interviewed at their place of employment and one woman was interviewed at a
local American Indian organization. This difference in the settings of where the
women were interviewed creates a limitation as the settings were heterogenous
as opposed to the preferred homogenous nature of the setting. Comparatively
speaking, the interviews held with the two women in their own homes provided a
rich and insightful context for getting to know these women, as well as
understanding and appreciating more fully the meaning voiced by the women in
relation to their own life experiences. What is lost in the process of interviewing
the participants in settings other than their own homes is experiencing the
participant within her own home—the insights gleaned about the artifacts
contained within the home setting and the richness of observing the participant
in the context of her own home—the nature of the sharing within and the
reference to her own home during the interview process.

Furthermore, in order to participate in the study, the women had to
conform to the lifespan period of middle age, reside full time in an urban area
within three specified counties in Michigan, self-identify and be recognized as
American Indian in their community, or be a member of a federally recognized
tribe. The women could not be adopted, an only child, or born outside of the
continental United States. As a result, both the selection of the women and the
parameters inherent in the criteria for participation by the women in the study
predetermined the applicability and generalizability of the research.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction

The theoretical foundation used to inform this exploratory study of the
role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her family of
origin is Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecology of human development model. The
ecology of human development model involves four structural systems within an
individual family’s environment. The four structural systems are the
microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. The microsystem is
the smallest unit of analysis for studying the individual’s development in context,
of which the family is the primary context or source within which to study the
development of the individual.

In light of Bronfenbrenner’s conception of human development as
development in context, this model readily lends itself to the study of the role
development of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her family of
origin. The role of the firstbom American Indian daughter does not develop in
isolation from her family of origin anymore than it develops in isolation from
other structural systems in her environment; namely, the mesosystem,
exosystem, and macrosystem. Instead, development is viewed as a process
that does not occur in stages or series as other developmental psychologists

have held (for example, Gesell, Piaget, and Kohlberg). Bronfenbrenner sees

15

1 6
development as the goal of the active organism who seeks a progressive and
mutually accommodating transactional relationship with the environment. As a
process then, development is seen as a gradual, evolving and incremental
phenomenon that occurs over time. For purposes of this exploratory study,
development equals the role development of the firstbom American Indian
daughter (the active organism) within her family of origin (the environment as
context).

However, the ecology of human development model is not adequate by
itself in exploring the role development of the firstbom American Indian
daughter. While this model focuses on individual developmental processes
within the family over time, the concepts of time and space demand more
emphasis in the study than this model alone can provide. Specifically, the
chronosystem model developed by Bronfenbrenner (1986) which deals explicitly
with the dimension of time in studying the ecology of human development, and a
structural perspective which emphasizes ordinal position and spacing between
siblings in the family of origin, are viewed as relevant additions for this study.

Since development is described as gradual and evolving over time,
Bronfenbrenner proposes how one can study human development in time
dimensions that are either short term or long term in nature. For example, short
term developmental studies may involve specific points in time and revolve
around ecological transitions, such as the birth of a sibling or the death of a
parent. Another form of studying the dimension of time as it relates to
development in human ecology is to study over the long term, or the course of
the lifespan. The latter approach allows one to focus on the cumulative effects
of ecological transitions on development, while the former allows one to study,

assess, and gather data before the ecological transition (up to that point in time)

1 7
and then do the same after the ecological transition occurs so that the process
of development and development in context can be analyzed.

In exploring the role development of the firstbom American Indian
daughter within her family of origin, development is viewed as a gradual,
evolving process that occurs over time. The firstbom daughter’s role
development can be explored by studying her role at a particular point in time
(as a young adult, middle age, or elderly firstbom), or by studying her role
development over the lifespan retrospectively, beginning with any of the
aforecited points in time. The advantage of a chronosystem model is to focus
on development as it is impacted by various life changes or circumstances, from
biological demarcations such as menarche and puberty to structural transitions
of divorced parents, loss of a parent or sibling. Factors in development, such as
these, over the lifespan allows for the study of stability versus instability in
developmental trajectories, and whether the changes that the developing person
makes are carried over to different settings and different times.

Central to the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
is the structural perspective inherent in ordinal position. The ordinal positions of
siblings within the family of origin have characteristic response patterns
associated with each position, as well as the concept of space inherent between
the ordinal position of each sibling in the family. For example, the ordinal
position of the firstbom is commonly associated with being adult-oriented,
responsible, mature for one’s age, and a leader (Sullivan, 1983).

According to Sullivan, while the firstbom proceeds through life being
adult-oriented, the Iast-bom commonly yearns to remain a child. Since parents
tend to place significantly more expectations on their firstbom child because of

the importance and newness of their experiences as parents, the firstbom

1 8
typically carries the responsibility of setting an example for siblings that follow.
In this regard, the stmctural perspective inherent in ordinal position lends itself
to deepening the breadth of this exploratory study of the role development of the
firstbom American Indian daughter within her family of origin.

In addition, the incorporation of a feminist perspective further augments
the ecology of human development model for the study of the role development
of the firstbom daughter. A feminist perspective offers a standpoint
epistemology to the study of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her
family of origin. The standpoint epistemology is best described as the study of
the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter by, for, and from
the voices of firstbom American Indian daughters. This perspective reifies a
strength of the ecology of human development model in that it places a premium
on the perceptions of the developing person, the firstbom American Indian
daughter, in the context of human development. Coupled together, this
approach is based on the reality of individuals (firstbom daughters) and families
(family of origin context) in their everyday lives as individuals perceive and
construct their own reality, and where one person’s perceptions can be another
person’s misperceptions. The perceptions of the developing person (firstbom
American Indian daughter) enable one to understand the context of her
development as well as the context of the meanings that she holds about her

environment.

Amerign Indian Way of Life

In conducting a cursory review of the literature dealing with American
Indian family life and culture, from 1975 through the present, the one thing that
can be said for certain is that there is a dearth of literature that specifically

1 9
addresses American Indian women. More importantly, what literature is
available has virtually been written by nonlndians, from the perspective of the
dominant culture, and with a particular focus on men and tribal societies
(Kidwell, 1979; LaFromboise, Heyle, & Ozer, 1990). The tendency of nonlndian
researchers over the past decades has been to focus on Indian men and
superimpose their findings on women (LaFromboise, Heyle, & Ozer, 1990). As
a result, this research has only served to contribute to and reinforce unhealthy
stereotypes of American Indian culture generally, and specifically to the status

of American Indian women as inferior.

Historical Persmwe

There is a plethora of literature that addresses American Indian culture
from a historical perspective, and what literature that does exist relevant to
American Indian women in particular tends to compare them to their male
counterparts and white women (Hanson, 1980; Mathes, 1975). In the written
work that addresses family structure and family behavior, American Indian
women are often viewed in the context of expressive roles; namely, child
rearing, domestic tasks, and the overall emotional concerns of the family
(Hanson, 1980; John, 1988). Further, work on the structural context of the
family is immersed in history and traditional cultural values (Red Horse, Lewis,

Felt, and Decker, 1978; Red Horse, 1980).

Contemmragy Writing by American Indian Women

In more recent work, American Indian women have been attempting to fill
the well with contemporary research and have taken on the task of studying

American Indian women from an ethnographic and feminist perspective (Allen,

20

1986; Brayboy & Morgan, 1993; Powers, 1986). Allen (1986) has written about
American Indian women from a historical and feminist perspective, cast in the
context of a gynocratic society where the centrality of the culture is born in
women. The idea of a gynocratic society espoused by Allen is not a universal
concept across all tribes in the United States. For example, the status of
women of tribes in the west and southwest is of lesser regard than the status of
women of tribes from the east and south. Moreover, as carriers of culture
women are not suppressed but the same cannot be said for American Indian
men. The cultural context of the outside, larger society has negatively effected
the role and status of the American Indian male compared to that of the
American Indian female. From a historical perspective, the net result over time
has evinced a cultural context of adaptation and evolution in the role and status
of American Indian women and men, as opposed to tradition.

Brayboy and Morgan (1993) have conducted ethnographic research on
Awhat it means to be a traditional and contemporary American Indian woman.
Powers (1986) used a biographical approach in her ethnographic study of
Oglala women which examined the roles, duties, and pleasures of women and
. their relations with men by focusing on the effect of gender on the organization
of Oglala society. The recent advent of contemporary research conducted by,
and for, American Indian women will hopefully serve to captivate and encourage
others to conduct research that will help to transform how American Indian

women are viewed in the future.

Studies of Ordinal Position
A similar review of the literature pertaining to ordinal position reveals

studies that have focused on the effect of ordinal position in relation to a wide

21
range of themes. Manson and Gonnan (1976), in a study which examined
female achievers with special focus on the connections between the structure of
the family of orientation and female occupational achievement, found that
female achievers were from small families, least likely to be only children, and
were disproportionately eldest children. Leadership training was the focus of a
study by Newman, Pettinger, and Evan (1995). Their study found that while
gender does not influence the relevance of birth order for leadership, it does
influence the level of political leadership attained. Newman, Pettinger, and
Evan’s offer support for their finding by citing how women obtain their leadership
training within the family by being assigned responsibility within the family,
especially older sisters. As a result, women’s experiences related to birth order
predeterrnine assumption of political leadership only in smaller entities that
enable women to emulate those qualities of leadership fostered within their
families of origin.

In 1995, Travis and Kohli explored the relationship between ordinal
position and academic achievement of women and men from various
socioeconomic backgrounds. They provide an example of research conducted
by Chenan in South Africa to illuminate the resource-dilution hypothesis, which
is often used to explain the connections between sibling structure and
educational outcomes, by emphasizing unequal distribution of resources among
children. Based on this research example, Travis and Kohli conclude that
ordinal position effects are shaped by cultural norms which regulate family
stnIcture, much like the way in which the sibling context one is born into shapes
intellectual fate.

A recent inquiry into why, within the same family, some children conform

to authority whereas others rebel, was the foci of study by Sulloway (1996). In

22

his study of human development, Sulloway examined the interplay between birth
order, family dynamics, and creative lives by using the work of Darwin and
evolutionary psychology as guidelines for understanding family life, especially
as it relates to why siblings are so different. Sulloway found that one source of
sibling differences lies in the competition for family [and parental] resources. A
firstbom child grows accustomed to being the focal point of parental attention
and resources until the birth of additional siblings, wherein the firstbom no
longer has exclusive domain over family resources. In order to maintain their
special status as a firstbom, firstbom children develop adaptive strategies to
elicit parental favor as a means to compete for family [and parental] resources.

Frequently cited in the literature as characteristic response patterns, the
adaptive strategies of firstboms tend to include such factors as identification
with power and authority, maintaining the status quo, conservatism, ambition,
and achievement orientation among others. Amording to Sulloway (1996), “A
Danivinian approach calls attention to the constant interaction between nature
and nurture, doing so, moreover, within a developmental framework. In
addition, Danivinian evolution highlights the uniqueness of the individual” (p. 89).

In a book written some 11 years before Sulloway’s, Dr. Kevin Leman
(1985) discusses many of the same themes that were featured in Sulloway’s
1996 book. As a practicing psychologist, Dr. Leman has used his training and
research on birth order to help clients over the past two decades. According to
Dr. Leman, “The relationship between parents and children is fluid, dynamic,
and all-important. Every time another child is born, the entire family
environment changes. How parents interact with each child as it enters the
family’s circle determines in great part that child’s destiny" (1985, pp. 11-12).

Within the family, there are dynamic relationships that exist between

23
family members. Birth order is one factor that helps to answer the differences
found among and between family members who reside together in the same
environment, provided you are aware of the variables that effect each family
constellation. For example, variables such as the sex of each child, the number
of years or spacing between children, phenotypic differences, the birth order
position of the parents, any blending of families as a result of divorce or death,
and the relationship between the parents, all contribute to differences found in
the relationships between family members. To illustrate this point, Dr. Leman
offers ‘a context which supports his contention that being a firstbom has its
perks: "A common characteristic of a firstbom person is [her] confidence in
being taken seriously by those around [her]. This comes from [her] childhood,
when adults took [her] seriously and [she] knew it. It’s no wonder that firstboms

often go on to positions of leadership or high achievement” (1985, p. 49).

Feminist Persggtive

The scholarly work of Janet Mancini Billson (1995) offers a refreshing
and insightful view into the lives of women from seven distinct cultures, women
who represent cultures that have seldom been given voice to provide meaning
to their own life experiences in social science research. Billson conducted a
qualitative, ethnographic study of the lives of women who represented rural,
immigrant, native, and women of color who reside outside the mainstream of
white, middle class North America. This study centered on exploring women’s
lives within their distinct cultures, their roles, and how the balance of power
between women and men has been altered as the context of their communities
has shifted from traditional to more contemporary lifestyles. By using the life

stories and voices of these women, Billson allows the reader to see how these

24
women have struggled to maintain the positive aspects of their cultures that
provide identity and closeness transgenerationally, while at the same time
eschewing those aspects of their cultures that stand in the way of forward
progress.

Of the seven distinct cultures that Billson lived among and explored,
three represented women of First Nations; namely, the Iroquois, Inuit, and
Blood. According to Billson (1995), “The Iroquois had the most clearly woman-
centered traditional system, one of the few in the world that closely
approximates a matriachate (a society ruled by women)” (p. 17). For the
Iroquois woman, the traditional role of being keeper of the culture, the faith, and
the home is still a key role in contemporary life. Her life continues to be shaped
by the traditional image of a good woman as “the anchor of her family, keeper of
the faith and the culture” (p. 23). Much like the concept of a gynocratic society
advanced by Allen (1986), culture and family are at the heart and center of
being an Iroquois woman.

The ethic of care espoused by Gilligan (1982/1993) is critical to the study
of ordinal position and role development of the firstbom American Indian
daughter within the family of origin. Gilligan’s research on psychological theory
and women’s development is based on three studies whereby interviews
conducted with women focus on conceptions of self and morality, as well as
experiences of conflict and choice. The central assumption of Gilligan’s
research is “that the way people talk about their lives is of significance, that the
language they use and the connections they make reveal the world that they
see and in which they act” (Gilligan, 1993, p. 2).

According to Gilligan, the study of women’s lives produces different

developmental constructs which informs a different description of development

25
based on women’s conceptions of self and morality. As a result, Gilligan (1993)
found the following

In this conception, the moral problem arises from conflicting

responsibilities rather than from competing rights and requires

for its resolution a mode of thinking that is contextual and

narrative rather than formal and abstract. This conception of

morality[,] as concerned with the activity of care[,] centers moral

development around the understanding of responsibility and

relationships, just as the conception of morality as fairness ties

moral development to the understanding of rights and rules. (p. 19)
Perhaps it is the case that nowhere is women’s conceptions of self and morality
as the ethic of care more evident than in the lives of firstbom American Indian
daughters within the family of origin. Since women are the heart of the culture
and the center of the family, giving women voice to their life stories as firstbom
American Indian daughters within the context of their family of origin provides
testimony for an ethic of care, the connection between relationship and
responsibility.

While Gilligan (1982/1993) broke ground on her research in women’s
mode of moral development as differently constructed and conceptualized than
men’s development, Miller’s (1976/1986) seminal work on women’s
development of psychological qualities that had been previously characterized
as dependencies and weaknesses by conventional psychoanalytic theorists or
practitioners, certainly paved the way for viewing the psychology of women in a
new light. In a similar vein as the ethic of care espoused by Gilligan, Miller
discusses how women’s activity—in relation to others—is more aptly depicted in

language such as “being able to encompass the experiences and well-being of

26
the other“ (Miller, 1986, p. x). According to Miller, if we really stop to look at
what women have been doing in life, we discover that a great deal of what
women have been doing can be described as “active participation in the
development of others” (pp. xix->00. The “active participation” that Miller refers
to occurs on a daily basis as women interact with adults and children they
engage in a relational connection.

If we look at the conventional ways women have been socialized to carry
out the expressive activities and functions of the so-called female role—that is,
wife, mother, nurturer, responsible for child rearing and the private sphere of
home—one can readily ascertain that these expressive activities are focused on
serving others’ needs. To put it another way, “women’s reality is rooted in the
encouragement to ‘form’ themselves into the person who will be of benefit to
others” (Miller, 1976/1986, p. 73). For women, then, ties to others represent
affiliations based on an ethic of care: the connection between relationship and
responsibility.

Miller’s seminal work captures the essence of women’s psychological
development as proceeding, not according to the male model of development
but, on an entirely different basis than previously thought or characterized.
Miller describes women’s development as follows

One central feature is that women stay with, build on, and

develop in a context of connections with others. Indeed,

women’s sense of self becomes very much organized

around being able to make and then to maintain affiliations

and relationships. Eventually, for many women the threat

of disruption of connections is perceived not as just a loss

of a relationship but as something closer to a total loss of

27

self. . . . What has not been recognized is that this psychic

starting point contains the possibilities for an entirely

different (and more advanced) approach to living and

functioning - very different, that is, from the approach

fostered by the dominant culture. In it, affiliation is valued

as highly as, or more highly than, self-enhancement. More-

over, it allows for the emergence of the chz that for

everyone -- men as well as women - individual develop-

ment proweds only by means of connection. (1976/1986, p. 83)
VIewed from this perspective, Miller’s work does nothing short of recognizing,
re-defining, and understanding the day-to-day lived experience of women.
Ultimately, Miller’s book, Toward a New Psycholggy of Women, details the path
of women’s development as one where “women are geared all their lives to be
the ‘carriers’ of the basic necessity for human communion” (1976/1986, p. 86).

An evolving theory of women’s development, variously referred to as
“self-in-relation theory“, the “relational self”, or the “Stone Center model” of
development, has been advanced by a group of women practitioners who are
affiliated with the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies at
Wellesley College in a book called ngen’s Growth in Connection: Writings
F rgm the Stone Center (1991). In their book, authors Judith Jordan, Alexandra
Kaplan, Jean Baker Miller, Irene Stiver, and Janet Surrey articulate a
perspective on women’s development that more accurately portrays women’s
experience. This evolving theory of women’s development furthers the familiar
themes previously discussed in the review of Gilligan (1982/1993) and Miller's
(1976/1 986) work.

Rather than accept the overarching or male model of human

28

development which emphasizes separation, individuation, and autonomy as the
core of human development, these Stone Center authors make the argument
that, for women, the organization and development of self occurs in the context
of important relationships. In other words, the primary experience of women’s
self is relational, through connection with others. Women’s development is not
seen as lived experience centered around efforts to separate and individuate, or
to be autonomous, as it is portrayed and recognized in men’s development.
Instead, these Stone Center authors (1991) advocate a theory of women’s
development that is based on the following

The notion of the self-in-relation involves an important shift in

emphasis from separation to relationship as the basis for

self-experience and development. Further, relationship is

seen as the basic goal of development: that is, the

deepening capacity for relationship and relational

competence. The self-in-relation model assumes that

other aspects of self (e.g., creativity, autonomy, assertion)

develop within this primary context. That is, other aspects

of self-development emerge in the context of relationship,

and there is no inherent need to disconnect or to sacrifice

relationship for self-development. This formulation implies

that we must develop an adequate description of relational

development in order to understand self-development. (p. 53)
Simply stated, “self-in-relation” is women’s core self-structure in that “the ‘self’ is
discovered, experienced, and expressed in the context of human bonds and
relationships” (p. 246).

In the late 1970s, a group of women psychologists interested in human

29
development became concerned with why women students spoke so often
about the problems and gaps they experienced in their learning, as well as their
tendency to doubt their own intellectual competence. As a result of their
concern, psychologists Mary Belenky, Blythe Clinchy, Nancy Goldberger, and
Jill Tarule collaborated on a research project that involved in-depth interviews
with 135 women in an effort to discover why women students felt the way they
did. Their work culminated in a ground breaking book entitled Mmen’iWafi
of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind (1986/1997).

In their examination of women’s ways of knowing, the authors’ delineate
five different perspectives from which women view reality and draw conclusions
about truth, knowledge, and authority (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule,
1986/1997). One of the five perspectives described by Belenky et al. has to do
with procedural knowledge which is characterized as separate and connected
knowing. Here again, a common theme emerges in relation to women’s
development: an orientation toward relationship, connection to others. The
authors’ refer to this epistemological orientation as “connected knowing” and
one “in which truth emerges through care” (pp. 101-102).

As Belenky et al. (198611997) describe it, connected knowing is “the
building of knowledge based on empathic connection” (Coll, Cook-Nobles, &
Surrey, 1997, p. 191). Empathic connection arises out of the way in which “the
connected self experiences relationships as ‘response to others in their tenns’”
(Lyons, 1983 as cited in Belenky et al., 1986/1997, p. 102). Ultimately, then,
procedural knowledge known as connected knowing stems from an orientation
toward relationship based on care and empathy in “response to others in their
terms" (p. 102).

In a recent publication of papers emanating from the Stone Center,

30
Jordan (1997) reviews and expands on the Stone Center relational model. This
model stresses the centrality of connection in women’s lives and purports that
women grow by interacting in relationships that foster growth. As Jordan states,
“Growth occurs because as I stretch to match or understand your experience,
something new is acknowledged or grows in me” (Jordan, 1986 as cited in
Jordan, 1997, p. 3). VIewed in this context, the relational connection
established between self and other is fluid, dynamic, and interactive wherein
growth in one helps to foster or shape growth in the other.

*Compared to the traditional paradigm in psychology which conceptualizes
the self as a bounded, discrete, and self-sufficient entity organized around self-
development, “the relational perspective stresses ‘being in relation,’ an
interactional, ongoing ‘process of being’ rather than a static structure dedicated
to increasing self-sufficient functioning” (Jordan, 1997, p. 29). The Stone Center
relational model stresses the importance of relational development, as opposed
to self-development, in understanding women’s development. Inherent in the
relational perspective is the concept of empathic mutuality. In order to grow and
actively participate in the development or growth of another, Miller (1997)
postulates “that all growth takes place within mutually empathic and mutually
empowering relationships, and problems follow fiom the disconnections that
occur in nonmutual relationships” (p. 28). Mutuality, then, is created when both
people share a respect for and desire to nurture the relationship, the connection
that is central to women’s development (Jordan, 1997).

The aforecited discussion of the feminist perspective is steeped in a very
rich alternative paradigm-as compared to the dominant paradigm which is
essentially based on studies of white, middle class men-and as such, has

proven to be highly relevant to the study of firstbom American Indian daughters’

31
role development within the context of the American Indian family of origin. The
American Indian way of life is predicated upon interdependence, mutuality,
reciprocity, and strong affiliative connections. American Indian womens’ role
development is contextualized within the self-in-relation perspective, ethic of
care, and an orientation toward relationship based on care and empathy in
response to others known as connected knowing, within the family of origin. In
effect, this alternative paradigm is critical to the exploration, discovery, and
understanding of the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
within her family of origin as her development evolves into her role as keeper of
the family and keeper of the culture.

In order to illustrate the role development of the firstbom American Indian
daughter within her family of origin, a conceptual map was conceived during the
pilot study conducted in 1994. Based on the current exploratory study, this
conceptual map undenivent further development and refinement in order to add
clarity and a visual guide to the role development of the firstbom American
Indian daughter within her family of origin for the reader. The conceptual map is
a visual depiction of the fluid, dynamic, and interactive nature of the firstbom
American Indian daughter’s role development based on relational
connectedness, ethic of care as the center of activity, connected knowing,
American Indian culture and value orientation within the context of the family of

origin. (See Figure 1).

Role of Firstbom Dau1hter

Middle

FIFO”

ll Stru t
Yam 0y. Noggre.

.Ctl Ire
x fi.
0

D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T

 

Figure l - Conceptual
Role Development of Firstbom American Indian Daughter

33
m

The literature reviewed indicates that the process by which the role of the
firstbom daughter develops within the American Indian family of origin is little
known and lacks investigative study, especially by American Indian women
researchers. Specifically, how structure, function, culture, value orientation, and
degree of family and parental support (resources), exist within the American
Indian family of origin as well as contribute to the role formation of the firstbom
American Indian daughter requires critical exploration and analysis. The
purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate these variables by giving voice
to the retrospective life stories of five firstbom American Indian daughters and
the meaning that their development holds for them within the context of their
family of origin.

In order to support the contention that each of these variables can be
directly attributed to the formation and ongoing development of the role of the
firstbom American Indian daughter, this exploratory study relied on an
integration of several theoretical perspectives. These theories informed both
the research design and the interpretation of findings. The theories which were
most useful in guiding this exploratory study were: a) the ecology of human
development model; b) the chronosystem model; c) ordinal position or birth
order theory, and d) self-in-relation theory.

The ecology of human development and chronosystem models, as
explicated by Bronfenbrenner (1979) and (1986) respectively, has provided the
fiamework for this study about the nature of the firstbom American Indian
daughter’s role development in context while explicitly dealing with the
dimension of time. The development of the firstbom American Indian daughter

has been studied in the context of her American Indian family of origin,

34
otherwise known as the microsystem. The microsystem is the smallest unit of
analysis for studying the firstbom American Indian daughter’s development in
context, of which her American Indian family of origin is the primary context or
source within which to study her development. Likewise, the dimension of time
has guided this study through the examination and tracing of the firstbom
American Indian daughter’s development as it evolves over time. In this study,
the dimension of time studied was from birth through the lifespan period of
middle age; the latter of which extended from the period of 40 to 54 years of
age.

Ordinal position or birth order theory also has guided this study by
providing a perspective that sheds light on the characteristic response patterns
associated with being the firstbom daughter, as well as with the ordinal positions
of her siblings in the context of her family of origin. The concept of space
inherent between the ordinal positions of each of the siblings of the firstbom
American Indian daughter also plays an important part in the context of her role
development by shaping and influencing the interplay among and between
family members. The interaction of all these factors associated with ordinal
position directly effected, shaped, influenced, and culminated in the role
development of the firstbom American Indian daughter as she developed and
evolved over time in the context of her family of origin.

The final theory utilized was the self-in-relation or relational theory
developed and explicated by Miller (1976/1986, 1991, 1997) and her colleagues
from the Stone Center (Jordan, Kaplan, Stiver, & Surrey), located at Wellesley
College. This perspective develops an overview about women’s identity
development that shifts the emphasis from separation to relationship as the

basis for self-experience and development. In this context, self-in-relation or

35
relational theory provided guidance in understanding the development of the
firstbom American Indian daughter in that her relational self is her core self-
structure. Moreover, for the firstbom American Indian daughter, her “self” is
discovered, experienced, and expressed in the context of human bonds and
relationships; that is, within the context of her family of origin. In summary,
these theoretical perspectives have provided a guiding framework for this
exploratory study about ordinal position and role development of the firstbom

American Indian daughter within her family of origin.

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Introduction

The current study used an exploratory, descriptive illustrative case study

approach to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the role development

experience of firstbom American Indian daughters from women’s perspective.

The purpose of this study has been to answer the six principal questions raised

in Chapter I and the findings are presented in Chapter IV. The research

questions introduced in Chapter I were:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)
(5)

What is the relationship between ordinal position of the firstborn
American Indian daughter and family of origin responsibility?

Is it a cultural expectation, rite of passage that evolves, wherein the
firstborn daughter becomes the keeper of the family?

What is the relationship between ordinal position and the role of the
firstbom daughter as keeper of the culture?

Does gender inequality exist in the role deveIOpment of the firstborn
daughter?

How is the role of the firstborn daughter prescribed?

Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the firstborn
daughter and quality of life?

36

37

It has been grounded in an epistemological post positivist mix and shares
some characteristics of both the interpretive and emancipatory paradigms for
inquiry. Qualitative methodologies-suited to the particular participants, their
individual contexts, and the research questions as they have unfolded in the
course of this investigation-were chosen for their capacity to reflect the
multiplicity of views and the contextual and interactive components of meaning.

The study utilized semistructured ethnographic interviews to
retrospectively capture the life stories of a selected sample of firstbom American
Indian daughters to further explore and shed light on the variables that influence
and contribute to the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
within her American Indian family of origin. Specifically, the study explored the
relationship between the variables of structure, function, culture, value
orientation, and degree of family and parental support, in order to determine how
the interplay among these variables creates a pattern of development wherein
the firstbom daughter ultimately bears the primary responsibility for her family of
origin (keeper of the family). Ethnographic methodology was employed as a
means of capturing and conveying firstbom daughters’ voices, in the forms of

contextualized meaning and self-revelation that their experiences held for them.

Particignts
The participants for this study were five firstbom American Indian

daughters who were born in the continental United States. They are recognized
in their communities and by their respective tribes as having American Indian
ancestry. Each of the participants have both older or younger siblings, and
each participant lives in an urban residence full time, bounded by a tri-county

area of central, southeastern Michigan. Approval for the project was secured

38
from the Institutional Review Board for the University Committee on Research
Involving Human Subjects, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, Michigan

State University on June 14, 1996 (see Appendix A).

Site of the Stuck

There was no specific site for this study. The intent was to Ieam from
women experiencing their role development as a firstbom American Indian
daughter within their family of origin. In an effort to maximize the women’s
comfort and convenience, the “sites” were varied and preferentially selected by
the women participants. Two of the women chose to be interviewed in their own
homes, located within a distance of 185 miles of my own. One woman asked for
a more neutral meeting place as this would allow her to reconnect with a setting
she had not been able to spend time in; we met in the auditorium of an
American Indian Center located in a contiguous county of the participant’s own
residence. The other two women preferred to meet at their place of work during
regular business hours. As a result, I met with one participant in her office at an
elementary school in the county where she resides, while the other participant
and I met in a vacant office at a suburban American Indian organization which
also was located in the county where she resides. All interviews were
conducted during the day, on week days and weekends, and were located
within a maximum distance of 200 miles of my own residence.

Privacy was maximized and distractibility was minimized. Interruptions
and distractions were limited to unexpected people dropping in (in the case of
one participant’s own home and another participant who was interviewed in an
American Indian organization’s vacant office) and the intermittent comings and

goings of people in the auditorium of the American Indian Center. The latter

39
was due to an election day voting site, although the participant and I were
seated at a table some distance away in a comer of the auditorium which helped
to minimize distractions from noise or people happening by to see what we were

doing.

mound Procedure

The selection of participants was based on a selected sample involving
the technique known as snowball sampling. The rationale for this selected
sample grew out of previous experience in conducting a pilot study for this
particular exploratory research. In the pilot study, an assistant was used to
secure a firstbom participant who was well known in the American Indian
community in hopes that this participant could become an assistant for future
research on the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
within her family of origin. While the subject for the pilot study was a firstbom
daughter, she also was an only child. Since the literature is replete with studies
that document significant differences between only children and sibling
compositions in families of origin (Kiev & Sidar, 1993; Leman, 1985; Marzollo,
1990; Sulloway, 1996), only those firstbom daughters with siblings comprised
the selected sample and all others were excluded. In addition, firstbom
daughters who are an only firstbom daughter do not provide the opportunity to
study the interactive dynamics sought between the firstbom daughter, her
siblings and family, for purposes of exploring the firstbom daughter’s role
development within her family of origin.

The sample was selected on the basis of using the participant from the
previous pilot study as an assistant to obtain the initial participant for the

sample. Thereafter, it was planned that the initial participant would be asked to

40
act as an assistant to refer another potential participant. The technique of
snowball sampling was used to secure a minimum sample size of five subjects,
with built in flexibility to add an additional one or two participants to the study. A
sample size of five was deemed sufficiently large enough to yield quality
information and variability of data for exploratory purposes.

The selected sample was comprised of the minimum of five firstborn
American Indian daughters selected on the basis of meeting the following
criteria: firstbom daughter must have siblings; firstbom daughter cannot be the
product of adoption; must be born in the continental US; must be an urban
resident residing in a tri-county area located in the central, southeastern side of
the state; and must reside full time in an urban setting and not be a part-year
reservation resident. The rationale for residing full time in an urban setting is
based on the fact that it is common for many American Indians of central,
southeastern Michigan to cross the border and spend the summer months living
in Canada on or near the reservation. Further, conventional studies of
American Indians have been conducted within the context of reservation
settings as opposed to urban or greater metropolitan settings (Billson, 1995;
Linderrnan, 1932, 1972; Powers, 1986).

In addition, the firstbom daughter must self-identify as an American
Indian firstbom daughter _al_ng be recognized as an American Indian by her
community, gr be a member of a federally recognized tribe. There are many
people who self-identify as American Indian but who do not actively live or
practice their culture. By requiring that the firstbom daughter be recognized as
an American Indian by her community, this criteria further substantiates self-
identification and actively living or practicing the culture. Further, since middle

age was the lifespan category of focus for this exploratory study, the firstbom

41
American Indian daughter had to meet the middle age criteria of being not less
than 40 years of age, and not more than 54 years of age. The rationale for the
middle age criteria is based on the belief that those American Indians aged 55
and above are considered elders in the American Indian community and,
therefore, would fit the lifespan category of elderly.

As I had originally planned, the participant from the pilot study conducted
in 1994 was utilized as an assistant, or nonsample facilitator, to select the first
participant for the current exploratory study. The rationale behind this plan was
based on a familiar concept in American Indian culture known as the “moccasin
telephone line”. The moccasin telephone line is symbolic of the way in which
information is transmitted and shared among American Indians on an informal
basis. For example, in the case of the nonsample facilitator, the author
discussed the purpose and nature of the study and the need to identify firstbom
daughters that met the sample criteria. The nonsample facilitator would then
embark on a mission of discussing the study with other American Indian women
in an effort to identify and recruit potential firstbom participants. Much in the
same way as the snowball sampling technique works, these American Indian
women would spread the information around to other American Indian women
and in this manner, the moccasin telephone line is established.

Contact was made by telephone with this first participant, pseudonym
Case #691, to verify her willingness to participate, to discuss the nature of the
research, issues of confidentiality and anonymity, and to establish a date and
time to conduct the interview. A follow up call was then placed within 24 hours
of the scheduled interview to reconfirm the time, verify her willingness to

participate, and to obtain directions to the interview site selected by the
participant.

42

Case #691 was scheduled to be interviewed during business hours at her
place of employment in mid June of 1996. Upon arrival for the scheduled
interview, I Ieamed that this participant was not expected to return to work for
some time due to an emergency hospitalization the previous night. As I left the
interview site to drive back to my home, I felt defeated, frustrated, and full of
anxiety. Part of the reality for any researcher undertaking a study is the
possibility of the unexpected, unpredictable circumstance which creates an
obstacle in your research process. I had Ieamed this lesson all too soon and
realized that I had not prepared for the unexpected circumstance, especially for
the first participant interview.

Now that my first scheduled participant interview had been immeasurably
delayed by the unpredictable circumstance, a major obstacle was thrown into
my sampling procedure. Since Case #691 was unavailable and, therefore,
unable to act as an assistant for selection of a second participant, I had to fall
back on my alternative plan for acquiring my sample. In the event that a
participant was unable to serve as an assistant for referring me to another
potential firstbom participant, I had devised an alternative method that entailed
the use of a nonfirstbom American Indian woman I had used to secure the
participant in my pilot study in 1994. This pilot study facilitator was a well
known American Indian woman in the greater metropolitan Indian community
and was willing to assist me as an external recruiter to refer potential firstbom
participants for this study.

I began working with the pilot study facilitator to solicit potential firstbom
participants by discussing my research plans and the specific criteria that
participants had to meet to be a part of this study. After nearly a month had
passed, I received a telephone call fiem the facilitator with news that she had

43
located a potential participant who met the study criteria. I obtained the name
and telephone number of this potential participant and proceeded to contact her
at her place of work to discuss the purpose of my research, my research plans,
and to verify her willingness to be a participant. She, Case #692, was eager to
participate so plans were made to interview her at her place of employment
during business hours near the middle of July, 1996.

Although the final sample of five firstbom middle aged American Indian
daughters was selective in type, the sampling procedure was transformed into
a mix of external facilitator (facilitator from the pilot study) referral based and
snowball from the participants themselves. For example, Case #692 was
referred by the external facilitator and was unable to refer another potential
firstbom participant. The second participant interviewed, Case #693, was again
referred by the external facilitator, but in this instance, Case #693 was able to
refer me to another firstbom potential participant. However, she (Case #695)
was unable to be interviewed right away due to her traveling schedule so the
external facilitator was again used to refer another firstbom. The third
interviewed participant, Case #694, referred me to other potential participants
but upon contacting them, they were eliminated because they did not meet the
sample criteria. The fourth firstbom daughter, Case #695, was interviewed
upon return from her travels and was referred by Case #693 I had previously
interviewed. Case #695 was unable to refer me to another firstbom daughter.
Rather than contact my extemal facilitator for another referral, I decided to
contact the woman I was initially scheduled to interview who had been
unexpectedly hospitalized, Case #691. She was able and willing to be
interviewed in her home where she was recuperating on medical leave from her

job. Fortunately, Case #691 who was initially referred by the participant turned

44
nonsample facilitator from my 1994 pilot study was able to be a willing
participant in this exploratory study some five months after my originally
scheduled interview with her.

Participation in the interviews was strictly voluntary. Neither the external
facilitator nor the women participants themselves were paid for their
involvement in this research, which made all participation strictly voluntary.

After the purpose of the research was explained, written consent was obtained
from each woman participant. It was anticipated at the outset that some of the
participants recruited by the external facilitator or through the snowball
sampling technique would also be women known to this researcher. This
turned out to be the case as Case #695 was casually known to the researcher
through informal contact at various American Indian social and organizational
functions in the past. However, no contact was had between this researcher
and Case #695 since the mid to late 1970s, and prior to the telephone contact
to schedule the interview. Case #691 was known to the researcher from past
employment during the eariy 1980s, as well as through informal contact at
various American Indian pow wows in the state during this same time period.
As with Case #695, no contact between the researcher and Case #691 was had
since the early 19805 and prior to the initial telephone contact to schedule an

interview in June of 1996.

Time Frame for the Study
Participants were interviewed over a five month period, beginning in July,

1996 and ending in November, 1996. Two of the participants were interviewed
at their place of employment, two were interviewed in their own homes, and one

was interviewed at a local American Indian organization. The interviews were

45
conducted during the day and occurred during the week as well as on
weekends; two of the interviews took place on a Sunday morning and on a
Sunday afternoon. Each interview took from one and a half hours to two and a
half hours, depending on the elaboration each participant provided to the
questions. Opportunity was provided for participants who wished to talk at
greater lengths to schedule a second interview, or to place a collect call to the
researcher at her own residence. Where this was not feasible, participants
were encouraged to contact the external facilitator and leave any information
they chose to with her and the extemal facilitator would then forward such to the
researcher. All interviews were conducted in English by the researcher.

Prior to the interview, the participants were provided with two
opportunities to decline participation in the research. Upon making initial
contact with the participant, the researcher verified the interviewee’s willingness
to participate in the study and once verification was obtained, scheduled an
interview at a site determined by the participant. Within 24 hours of the
interview, a follow up telephone call was placed to the participant to reconfirm
the previously scheduled interview, and the interviewee was given the
opportunity to decline participation in the study. On the day of the scheduled
interview, and immediately prior to the interview, the interviewee was asked a
second time whether she wished to participate in the research. Again, the
participant could have declined. If at any time during the interview the
participant felt uncomfortable, reluctant or hesitant to disclose information or to
discuss a specific topic, the participant was free to tell the researcher that she
did not wish to disclose information or discuss a particular topic. Moreover,
participants were free to request that the researcher stop the interview at any

time, for any reason, without fear of repercussions. With the participants

46
permission, the interviews were audiotaped. The participants were given the
opportunity to request that the researcher shut off the micro cassette recorder
at any time, for any period of time, or for the duration of the interview. If the
researcher perceived any form of discomfort, reluctance, or hesitancy on the
part of the participants at any time during the interview, the researcher offered
to end the interview or directed the interview to a different topic.

It was possible that some portions of the information offered by the
participants could elicit emotionally painful memories. In light of the
retrospective nature of the semistmctured interview process, the information
disclosed could entail some risks of either or both social embarrassment and
harassment to certain participants if their identities were disclosed. Every effort
was made to minimize any possible negative effects on the participants by: (a)
providing at least two opportunities for the participant to decline participation in
the research; (b) providing both written and verbal assurance that information
from the findings will not identify them by name; (c) use of each participant’s
actual transcript as a means to clarify the researcher’s own perceptions in line
with the information provided by each individual participant; and (d) providing
the participants with a copy of the findings as a way of acknowledging their role
as participants and not as objects of research. A copy of the informed consent

form is listed in Appendix B.

Methodolggy
The primary method utilized in this research was ethnographic semi-

structured interviews with each participant. As the U.S. Office of Educational
Research and Improvement (1991) has noted, the case study method is a

particularly appropriate method of systematically “looking at what is happening,

47
collecting data, analyzing information and reporting the results” (p. 1). In this
regard, such case studies are especially well suited for generating, rather then
testing, hypotheses.

Illustrative case studies are descriptive, utilizing one or two instances to
show what a situation is like. This helps interpret other data, especially when
there is reason to believe the readers know too little about a particular
phenomenon. Illustrative case studies serve to make the unfamiliar familiar,
and gives researchers and readers a common language about the topic (Office
of Educational Research and Improvement, 1991 ).

The interview focused on exploring the relationship between participant’s
role development as a firstbom American Indian daughter, within the context of
her American Indian family of origin, and family of origin responsibility (keeper
of the family). Embedded in this exploration was a focus on discovering the
relationship between participant’s role development and the firstbom daughter
as keeper of the family, keeper of the culture, and the firstbom daughter’s
perception of her quality of life as it relates to her ordinal position. Furthermore,
the researcher explored how the role of the firstbom daughter was prescribed
and to what extent, if any, did she perceive gender inequality in her role
development as a firstbom daughter.

Each interview was tape recorded with the permission of the participant.
All interviews were transcribed by the author within 48 hours of the interview.
Each participant was given a participant number and pseudonym in place of a
name to protect the woman’s right to confidentiality and anonymity.
Pseudonyms were also used for the county of residence and geographical
areas.

Along with the semistructured interview, the researcher also made field

48
notes about each interview with the participant’s permission. These field notes
consisted of recording the participant’s affective state, nonverbal messages, and
any other salient features of the interview that were not captured through tape
recording. In addition, field notes were also generated aside from the interview
context. For example, the researcher often made initial impression notes during
preliminary telephone contacts with the prospective participants, as well as any
aside comments or particular affective cues that resonated during the course of
the interview itself. More often than not, these field notes were made by the
researcher in her car as she prepared to drive back to her residence. On
occasion, the researcher also made field notes of something recalled after
arriving back at her residence, or added further detail to any sketch notes made
in the car. Field notes were identified by noting each participant’s given number

and pseudonym in place of a name to further protect confidentiality.

Instrumentation

The primary instruments for data collection were the human participants:
the researcher and the women interviewed. Mechanical instruments, such as
the micro cassette recorder and a transcriber, were ancillary and served to
augment, clarify, and refresh memory lapses. The primary procedure used for
gathering information was the one-to—one interpersonal and interactive interview.
The researcher also made field notes during the course of each interview. For
example, any salient information provided by the interviewee during the
customary social chit-chat prior to the start of the formal interview was noted, as
well as any words spoken by the interviewee during the changing of a micro
cassette tape. In addition, the ambience of the selected setting for the interview

was noted; for example, Case #695 was interviewed in her home and I noted

49
the pleasant sound of water gurgling from the aquarium she had in her
livingroom. Conscious and persistent vigilance in the use of interview processes
that were dialogic, reciprocal, and negotiated characterized the procedures
employed.

An Interview Guide with open-ended questions, probes and follow up
questions was used in this exploratory study (see Appendix C). In format, this
Guide contained six overarching questions aimed at discovering the relationship
between the ordinal position of the firstbom daughter and her role development
as it relates to each of the following themes: keeper of the family, keeper of the
culture, gender inequality, role prescription, and quality of life. A series of
supplementary questions were used to augment the overarching questions
related to the themes of keeper of the family, keeper of the culture, gender
inequality, role prescription, and quality of life. These supplementary questions
served as avenues for probing and follow up in order to obtain elaboration and
clarification of contextualized meaning(s) these themes held for the women.
Each participant was also asked about her personal history as it relates to
general demographic information.

The Interview Guide was originally developed by the researcher for use
in the pilot study conducted in 1994. Based on field work experience gained
conducting the pilot study, the Interview Guide was subsequently modified and
refined; for example, changing the arrangement or ordering of the questions
and adding the additional theme of gender inequality. In addition to the
researcher field experience, other resources were consulted which contributed
to the development of this Guide. These included a “Guideline for Interviews”
utilized by Billson (1995), in her ethnographic study of women’s lives in seven
distinct cultures, Fetterrnan’s (1989) “Ethnography Step by Step”, and

50
Spradley’s (1979) “The Ethnographic Interview”.

Prior to implementing the formal Interview Guide with each participant, a
casual dialogue was initiated in order to establish comfort and obtain shared
meaning; that is to say, mutual understanding and mutual agreement. Evidence
from the researchers field experience and tacit knowledge suggested that one
does not begin by formal means of addressing the purpose of your visit without
first engaging in casual, interactive dialogue with individuals of American Indian
descent. It is a cultural practice to exchange greetings and engage in casual
conversation as a way to establish comfort, trust, and set the stage for more
important conversation. To do otherwise is a sign of lack of respect and
disinterest in the total value or intrinsic worth of the individual.

Once the casual dialogue took place, usually 10 - 15 minutes in duration,
the researcher then moved into asking each participant about her personal
history as it relates to general demographic information. This phase served to
enhance rapport with each participant and in a prepared fashion, guide each
woman into the more formal phase of interviewing. The combination of casual
dialogue and inquiry pertaining to the women’s personal histories were intended
as relationship and trust building efforts so that exploration of information
related to the six overarching research questions could be approached in a
more direct manner. The data gathered from these questions was analyzed for
the purposes of providing a comprehensive profile of each participant.

The proposed open-ended Interview Guide was used only as a tool to
guide the interviews, not as a questionnaire (Fettennan, 1989). The purpose of
the Guide was to serve as a springboard for discussion. As Fettennan (1989)
aptly states, “In exploratory work, letting the participant control the
communication flow is most useful” (p. 57). Tacit knowledge and experience

51
informs the researcher that the tradition of oral storytelling in American Indian
culture parallels Fettennan’s point; enabling the participant to control the
communication flow serves to uncover a wealth of invaluable information without
necessitating intrusion by the researcher in the form of asking questions to
garner the same depth or breadth of information. As such, slight modifications

were necessary as the Guide was used under field conditions.

Efinni:ng for Trustworthirgss

‘The research design incorporated elements and procedures outlined in
Lincoln and Guba (1985) as follows: use of the human instrument and the
natural setting, tacit knowledge and qualitative methods, selective sampling,
inductive data analysis, the use of grounded theory, field notes, a case report,
and idiographic interpretations. In naturalistic inquiry, the terms “auditability”,
“credibility“, and “fittingness” replace the corresponding terms of reliability,
internal validity, and external validity of measures and procedures associated
with traditional empirical research (Rudestam and Newton, 1992). Lincoln and
Guba (1985) refer to the issue of “trustworthiness” as a general term to reflect
corresponding terms of importance to traditional empirical research cited above.

The researcher was the primary instrument for the collection of data.
The data consisted of language reports—verbal and written, nonverbals
(gesture, tone of voice, body relationship with physical surroundings, etc), and
unobtrusive participant observation measures. Given both human beings and
their experiences as the foci of inquiry, the use of the human instrument as a
filter for these data allowed for greatest flexibility, adaptability, and
responsiveness in the research setting. Different realities exist for different

women but all of the female participants’ life stories were channeled through

52
one human investigator: me. This process is no guarantee of truthfulness, but
allows for consistency of interpretation. The use of the human instrument
further encourages a holistic approach, utilizing both tacit and propositional
knowledge. Interactive dialogic interviewing offers the opportunity for ongoing
negotiation of meaning, immediacy in processing (ambiguities can be
recognized and clarified immediately), recurrent features of feedback and
summarizing features, and gives the researcher the chance to explore atypical,
unusual, or idiosyncratic responses.

Mechanical instruments, while lacking the ability to capitalize on the
above features, are used as an auxiliary means of authenticating the veracity of
the interview account. Audiotape recordings were made of all interviews and
formed the basis for the verbatim transcripts of each interview. The use of the
researcher as the primary data collection agent also made it possible to carry
out participant observation of the nonverbal responses of the participants, as
well as to form impressions of the natural setting in which interviews were
conducted.

The “natural” setting denotes the absence of any contrived or
experimentally determined arena. As Lincoln and Guba (1985) point out, all
meaning is contextual and inexorably inseparable from its context. Therefore,
in a study which aims to capture the phenomenological flavor of the role
development of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her family of
origin, it is necessary that the design maximize tmst and rapport between the
researcher and participants; participant’s choice of preferred setting is but one
manifestation of this direction. A cultural feature of this design, used to
maximize trust and rapport between the researcher and participants, was the

use of tobacco. At the conclusion of each interview, the researcher gave each

53
women a box of Carter Hall tobacco as a sacred gesture of thanks. In American
Indian culture, it is customary to give tobacco, regarded as a sacred material, to
another when there is something important you wish to discuss or in cases
where you are soliciting advice and wisdom. It should also be noted, however,
that the use of tobacco has broader meaning than what has been cited above.
Tobacco is a sacred material that is customarily used in various rituals,
ceremonies, and at pow wows. For example, I have been present at state
government meetings attended by Indians and nonlndians alike. In this type of
forum, tobacco was often used to bless those in attendance and to promote
unity and harmony as attendees gathered in common purpose. Participation in
this study and sharing one’s life story is equivalent to the women providing
significant information of importance, advice and wisdom. The author
acknowledged the women’s individual importance and contribution to the
research and gave thanks by presenting a box of tobacco to each woman at the
conclusion of the interview.

Triangulation was incorporated into the research design (Brewer &
Hunter, 1989). Qualitative data gathering procedures relied on negotiation of
meaning and triangulation of the source and method of data collection. Another
form of triangulation, what Lincoln and Guba (1985) call “peer debriefing” which
is akin to peer consultation in social work practice settings, was used by the
researcher. Colleagues and peers who are not directly involved in the
exploratory research at hand but who possess knowledge of the philosophical
basis for a post positivist inquiry, understanding and an ability to manipulate
qualitative methodologies, and a general willingness and capacity to appreciate
the parameters of the area of study, were frequently consulted by the

researcher. They can be, and in my case, were very helpful at all stages.

54
Various debriefing sessions or consultations were held between the researcher
and a few colleagues and peers for purposes of checking out, sharing, and
exchanging ideas related to this exploratory study. This process adds another
dimension to the numerous attempts at increasing the “truthfulness” of the
study. Colleagues and peers can often act as devil’s advocate, constructively
challenge theoretical assumptions, and assist the researcher in the uncovering

process.

Data Analysis

The process of data analysis . . . is essentially a
synthetic one, in which the constructions that
have emerged (been shaped by) inquirer-source
interactions are reconstructed into meaningful
wholes. Data analysis is thus not a matter of
data reduction, as is frequently claimed, but of
induction. (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 333)

In any post positivist inquiry employing qualitative methodologies—not
unlike this exploratory study—data analysis is an ongoing process, interactive
with data collection. As Lincoln and Guba (1985) have observed, “WIthin the
naturalistic paradigm (and in updated versions of the conventional paradigm as
well) data are not viewed as given by nature but as stemming from an
interaction between the inquirer and the data sources (human and nonhuman)”
(p. 332). Data analysis commenced with the conclusion of the first interview. It
began with mental constructs and ideas, sketchy notes by the researcher to
flush out partializing notions, and discussions with a peer colleague who
assisted in numerous debriefing sessions. Later, as interviews were transcribed
and copies made, analysis formally began with reading through these transcripts

and jotting down preliminary ideas on separate pages of notes. Through this

55
process, once tentative and provisional analyses gradually took shape and
formed into subcategories, categories, and integrative theoretical nets with
elastic but firm grounding in both the empirical data and the negotiation process.

Various approaches to qualitative data analysis were explored. Spradley
(1979) traces the developmental research sequence from selecting a social
situation for investigation to making a “componential analysis” and eventually
“writing the ethnography”. Fettennan (1989) observes that “ethnographic
analysis is iterative, building on ideas throughout the study” and involves a
variety of useful techniques to help the “ethnographer to make sense of the
forests of data” (pp. 88-89). Among these techniques are “triangulation”,
“maps”, and “statistical software packages”. Brewer and Hunter (1989) discuss
multimethod research as a synthesis of styles, including “verificational studies”
and “validation studies” as approaches to construct validation; a synthesis of
two different but complementary multimethod approaches. Glaser and Strauss
(1967) and Strauss (1987) develop the “constant comparative method”.
Riessman (1993) encourages the “analysis of poetic structures” in conducting
narrative analysis, while Goetz and LeCompte (1981) develop an “analytic
induction” technique. Other authors discuss the mechanics of the “cut and
Paste” method, “put in folders”, “unitizing and index cards”, and “computer
analysis” or sorting by preassigned computer coding.

Much of this writing was insightful and thought-provoking. As Spradley
(1979) reminds us, social phenomena are complex phenomena. Analysis is
interpretation and, therefore, involves all the complex problems cited throughout
this dissertation. Keeping all of this in mind, digesting and processing in my own
way all the various authors I cited, and remembering that Strauss emphasizes

his are “guidelines, rules of thumb and NOT rules”, I modeled my analysis after

56

Strauss’ “constant comparative method”.

Tyg of Analysis

A content analysis was utilized to interpret and categorize interview data,
along with triangulation methods for comparative analysis with observations,
field notes, and preliminary sketch notes made as transcripts were read. In
addition, open-ended and axial coding strategies were used (Strauss, 1987).
This researcher analyzed the data independently, identifying, categorizing, and
coding individual items of information. In this way, the researcher was
differentiating discrete pieces of data and determining their relationship to each
other and the whole, identifying general themes. As with most qualitative
research the goal of the effort was to identify common themes and primary

patterns in the data (Patton, 1990).

Axial Codin

Axial coding is accomplished by the related processes of deconstruction
and reconstruction. First, information that has been secured is deconstructed
into the smaller units of meaning, such as words or phrases. Once this
deconstruction is accomplished at this level, unifying themes across these
words and phrases are sought.

A unifying theme serves as an axis, or straight line through the center of
a plane, around which similar meanings can revolve. Similar meanings are then
collected around each axial theme. According to Strauss (1987), “Axial coding
is an essential aspect of the open coding . . . because the analyzing revolves
around the ‘axis’ of one category at a time” (p. 32). Inherent in the axial coding

process is intensity of analysis. In many studies, this deconstruction and

57
reconstruction processes may pass through several phases before all the
meanings are adequately and appropriately represented. It is not uncommon
for the process to include the generation of several axes, or to arrive at initial
themes which are later discarded in favor of themes which more accurately
represent the information set.

In this exploratory study, the plan was to first examine the information
secured from the participants in terms of the six overarching research questions;
that is, in terms of keeper of the family, keeper of the culture, gender inequality,
role prescription, and quality of life. Initially these general topical areas served
as core categories. Based on the researcher’s intuitive thinking—or induction-
and tacit knowledge, these core categories were partialized into five concepts;
namely, structure, function, culture, value orientation, and degree of family and
parental support that exist within the American Indian family of origin. Next, the
researcher deconstructed the concept of family and parental support into seven
construct themes, two of which encompassed the concepts of culture and value
orientation. The seven construct themes identified by the researcher based on
induction and tacit knowledge were: emotional, financial, spiritual, values,
material, physical, and cultural.

Given the aforecited premise upon which the initial analysis was based,
responses secured from the participants were first deconstructed into the five
general topical areas, or core categories, cited above. Following
deconstruction at this level, the responses were then deconstructed into ever-
smaller, more specific meaning units related to the words and phrases that the
women used. In this manner, the core categories were partialized into the five
concepts of structure, function, culture, value orientation, and degree of family

and parental support. As these themes (axes) were constructed, they were

58
used to re-code the information provided by the participants, moving toward the
creation of themes which summarized the details the women shared, but
accurately extracted and represented all of the meanings. The re-coding
process enabled the reconstruction of the seven thematic constnicts, or
subcategories of the five general topical areas, previously discussed. These
tasks were accomplished by the researcher independent of any computer

assisted sorting analysis.

Discussion of the Data Analysis Process
The first interview, Case #692, was conducted in July, 1996.

Successive interviews were conducted over the next four months, one each
month, with the final interview, Case #691, completed in November, 1996. After
each interview was concluded, the researcher transcribed the interview
verbatim within a 48 hour span of time. All interviews had been transcribed
verbatim by the researcher at the conclusion of the final interview in November,
1996. These transcripts, on average, were 70 pages in length and ranged from
a low of 49 pages to a high of 118 pages. Taken as a whole, these
transcriptions provided 349 pages of narrative as basic content for the data
analysis process.

The analysis began with the researcher reading all the interviews in their
entirety, beginning to end, several times. In these initial readings, the greatest
attention was directed toward the six overarching research questions that had
been subsumed under the five general topical areas or core categories; that is,
questions relating to keeper of the family, keeper of the culture, gender
inequality, role prescription, and quality of life. Next, additional readings of the
transcripts were specifically directed at the seven construct themes identified by

59
the researcher based on induction and tacit knowledge. As was previously
mentioned, these seven construct themes were: emotional, financial,
spiritual, values, material, physical, and cultural. However, the researcher
grew more open to identifying any other themes which were also evident in the
data. It was at this point that an awareness of two additional themes-effects of
family secrets and effects of assimilation during the firstbom parents’
generation—began to emerge.

As the researcher became steeped in the analysis, and while in the
processes of ordering the data and devising a coding “map”, other themes
emerged. These themes included anecdotal teaching, protection of firstbom,
work, health, and ethic of care. In addition, it was noted that all five women
made varying references in their interviews to the general topical areas or core
categories related to the research questions; namely, keeper of the family and
keeper of the culture. The researcher viewed these references as lending
support to a decision to consider them thematically, at least in a first coding
effort.

In this way the first coding categories were created. The researcher
assigned a color code to each of the categories. For example, orange was
assigned to emotional, fuchsia was assigned to values, yellow was assigned to
spiritual, and so on. The transcribed interviews were then all read again,
beginning to end, and all statements relating to these different categories were
highlighted with the corresponding color code. Each interview was thereby
deconstructed into its themes.

Once this coding of the 349 pages of transcripts was complete, the
interviews were re-read yet another time, but this time only those portions which

had not been highlighted were read to determine if any other themes could be

60
discovered. This reading of the interviews did not produce any new themes, but
resulted in some portions of the women’s narratives which had not been
previously coded being understood as representative of one of the existing
themes. There remained, however, in all five interviews, some parts which were
purely idiosyncratic and not thematic in any sense. For the most part, these
were conversational asides or remarks made by the women which did not relate
to the interview questions. No attempt was made to create a coding category
encompassing these asides and offiiand remarks.

When the researcher was satisfied that this phase of coding was
complete, the interviews of each of the five women were literally deconstructed;
that is, the themes of each interview were physically separated (cut apart) from
one another. Each woman’s responses about emotional, financial, spiritual,
values, material, physical, and cultural were cut from the context of their
interview transcripts and assembled together on poster boards—thematic
boards. The thematic boards contained each woman’s words on the theme,
exactly as she had spoken them, along with her initials and pseudonym case
number. When each thematic board was completed, it contained all of the
attributed statements of all of the study participants on that topic or theme. In
this way, 14 thematic boards were created encompassing the seven thematic
subcategories, with all of the words from all of the women in the same color
code.

After completing this phase, the researcher embarked on an examination
of the thematic boards as if they were separate and distinct from one another in
order to ascertain if there were themes—within-themes to be found. Additionally,
the thematic boards were also compared to one another to determine if any

themes-acmss-themes could be discerned. From this comparison, the theme of

61
voices emerged strongly. The discussion which follows elaborates upon this
theme as it relates to the findings of the study.

Once all of the relevant data provided by the women in their interviews
had been coded into main themes, themes-within-themes, and themes-across-
themes, the process began of reconstructing them into units of meaning which
could be communicated as the “findings” of this study. At this point, a decision
was made to use, insofar as possible, the actual words of the five women in this
endeavor. While the researcher exercised judgment in the processes of
selecting and arranging these words, they were never edited for style or
grammar. Instead, every effort was made to record and present these women's
voices faithfully, in a verbatim fashion.

As the aforecited discussion outlines, this coding effort should be viewed
as but one of many ways that this data can be organized and understood. The
researcher selected this particular coding effort based on her trial experiences
of such in the pilot study conducted in 1994, as well as its utility for this
particular type of [exploratory study. WIth the data provided, readers are
encouraged to discover or construct other levels and layers of meaning for

themselves.

CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS

Introduction
The findings of this study were generated in two distinct ways. The first
phase yielded participant demographic data. The researcher extracted

demographic data provided by each woman, from the individual interview
transcripts, and constructed a demographic chart on poster board which served
as a visual compilation of the demographic data. (See Figure 2). The second
phase yielded narrative data from a selected sample of five participants. Each
of the five women selected met with the researcher for an interview to discuss
themes related to the research questions of this study. All of the interviews
were tape-recorded, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed by the researcher.

In order to investigate the research questions, ethnographic interviews
were conducted with five firstbom participants. The purpose of the ethnographic
interview was to learn about the participants’ subjective experiences of their role
development as firstbom American Indian daughters within their American
Indian family of origin. It was anticipated that involvement in the study would
offer participants an opportunity to clarify and amplify their felt experiences of
being a firstbom daughter. Further, it was expected that participation would
give the interviewees an opportunity to assist in advancing theoretical,

62

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64

therapeutic, and family studies knowledge about their experiences of role
development as firstbom daughters. The women appeared eager to contribute

to this study.
Demographic characteristics of each of the five participants will be

presented briefly below. A description of the interview process and emergent
themes and patterns will follow. Due to the very personal and sensitive
responses shared by the participants, pseudonyms are provided for each
woman in the following material. Also, composite responses are provided

when deemed appropriate to further protect each woman’s anonymity.

Participant Dempgraphic Characteristics

The women’s ages ranged from 44 to 54 years, with a mean of 49.2

years. Two of the women were in their forties and three of the women were in
their fifties. Of the tri-county area of central, southeastern Michigan, two of the
three counties were represented by the women’s residence; three women
resided in county X, and two women resided in county Y.

In terms of American Indian identification or tribal affiliation, all five
participants self-reported and were recognized as American Indian by their
respective communities. Ethnically the sample demonstrated striking
homogeneity, with all five women being full blooded American Indian. Equally
astonishing was the finding that each participant had lineage with Canadian
tribes that were descendants of the three tribes indigenous to Michigan (Ottawa,
Potawatomi, and Chippewa). In addition, each of the participants received their

tribal lineage from both their paternal and maternal sides of the family.

65

WIth regard to their marital status, only two of the women were currently
married and both of these were second marriages. One of the women had been
divorced twice and was now single. Another woman was legally separated, but
not yet divorced nor considering divorce, from her only husband and was now
single. The other woman participant had been married and divorced once and
was now cohabiting with her long time partner. Three of the women had
married white men in their first marriage; one woman was legally separated from
her husband while the other two women had divorced their first husbands and
were now either married to or cohabiting with American Indian men. Of the
remaining two women participants, one woman was single after having married
and divorced twice from American Indian men, whereas, the other woman had
first married and divorced an American Indian man and was now married to a
white man.

Viewing these results in a different way may make them more amenable
to analysis. “Married” can be defined as married and remarried and “not
married” can be defined as single, divorced, cohabiting and widowed. From this
perspective, two of the participants were married and three were not at the time
of this study.

Educational achievement evidenced somewhat greater variability among
the participants than was found in their American Indian or tribal affiliation
characteristics. Four of the five women had graduated from high school, while
the fifth woman had a GED. Only one of the five participants did not have any

college experience at all. One of the participants had a semester of college

66
education, whereas, another participant had more than a semester of college

but less than an associates degree. Of the final two participants, one woman
had earned an associates degree in a technical field and had pursued additional
course work but not enough to earn a bachelors degree; the remaining
participant had earned both a bachelors and masters degree, the latter of which
came from one of the top ivy league schools. '

In terms of sibling composition and ordinal position, all five participants
had at least one sibling, and ranged to a high of seven siblings. One participant
had seven siblings and was fourth in ordinal position; three brothers were ahead
of her, followed by two brothers and two sisters. In this sibship, there was an
age span of 18 years from the oldest to the youngest child. Another participant
was first in ordinal position, followed by five sisters and three brothers; there
was an age span of 20 years from the oldest to the youngest child. A third
firstbom participant had one sibling, a sister, who was seven years younger
than her. Still, another participant was first in ordinal position and had two
sisters and a brother with an age span of six years from oldest to youngest.

The final firstbom participant was first in ordinal position and had one brother
and one sister. In this sibship, there was an age span of four years from oldest

to youngest at the time of the study.

Interview Findings

Since the research questions were exploratory in nature, the participants’
responses will be reported in a fashion that highlights the significant themes that

emerged from the ethnographic interviews. Rather than present each research

67
question, one at a time, with collective responses from all five participants, l

have chosen to present the findings on a case-by-case basis. In this way, each
participant will be presented as an individual case profile, with responses to
each research question presented in the woman’s own voice. Following the
presentation of all five participant case profiles, a brief analysis will be given of
the collective responses in each thematic area. The most salient themes will be

discussed more fully in Chapter V.

Rayna (Case #692; Interview 1)
At the time of the interview, Rayna was 50 years old and in her second

marriage. She was employed full time and requested that she be interviewed at
her place of employment. Rayna maintains sporadic contact with her mother

and siblings; her father is deceased.

Question 1: What is the relationship between ordinal position of the first-
born American lndian daughter and family of origin
responsibility?

Thematic Cpntent: Family and parental support, resources and what had the
most value or meaning for you.

Rayna’s personal story and experiences growing up stand apart from the
other participants’ stories and experiences. Rayna lived with her family of origin
until the age of four when she was sent away to a boarding school. She resided
in the boarding school, along with a female sibling who came at a later time, until
she was 12. At the age of 12, Rayna returned to her family of origin only to find

that she was unable to adapt and again, was placed in a boarding school until

68

she was approximately 16 years old. From the age of 16 on, Rayna lived for
short periods of time with other American Indian families, a white family, and
with members of her own extended family. What follows is Rayna’s account of
these early experiences.

According to Rayna, she knew she had been born at home somewhere
on a little island where her family resided. She wasn’t sure about how she got
removed from her family of origin until a few years ago when she attended a
reunion with her mother at the boarding school. In recalling this experience,
Rayna shared that: “My first one I asked my mother why she sent me up there
[the boarding school], and she said she didn’t. But, ah, I said, ‘How come I can’t
remember you?” She said it was because of my grandmother. Took me away
from her. Cause my grandmother had me until I went to boarding [school].”

As it turns out, the Bureau of Indian Affairs had removed Rayna from her
family of origin and placed her in the boarding school. She remembers returning
home to her family of origin at the age of 12 and discovering that this was not
going to work out, that she didn’t want to be there: “No, not very long because I
couldn’t adjust after living in a boarding scth for so long. You know, you gotta
put a girl in the school. Got in line for this or that...and when I went to Terlie
was like I was supposed to be part of the family. Get myself up and take myself
off to school.” What Rayna is describing is her inability to adjust to living with
her family of origin, as well as the other families she was placed with, due to the
very regimented and structured way of life in boarding school. As painful and

difficult a period of time as this was for Rayna, she now views her experience

69

through a different lens: “But, you know at that time I was up here [boarding

school] you know, and l was glad at that time because I would have gotten into
trouble. But coming out of those places I had a hard time adapting to life. You,
you adapt. A lot of times it feels like...um, walking in two worlds. This state or

in that.”

Question 3: What is the relationship between ordinal position and the
role of the firstborn daughter as keeper of the culture?

Thematic Cpngent: Values and culture; importance of, who instilled; emphasis
and change over time.

Though Rayna was able to have contact with her family of origin during
the time she was in boarding school, the larger influence on her values and
culture was shaped by the regimen and structure of the boarding school during
her formative years. Of the boarding schools she was in, Rayna recalls:
“...those were run like ah, ah, the Anglican church. You couldn’t leave the yard
and there were three groups. And there, the building was separated. The girls
on one side and the boys on the other side. So we didn’t get much interaction
there. And um...maybe those white women took care of us there but they
always got served. What they really watched us. That’s where l Ieamed
to...what, you know, the difference between Indian and white. Because, like we
got a lot of strappings too. Leather strap on your bare butt. Yeah, I remember
them older girls, that’s where l Ieamed that from Molly that Indians don’t cry.
After awhile, especially me I was bad, I was always getting it. But after awhile it

was like it didn’t affect me at all.”

70
In Rayna’s own voice, we learn that her experience in the boarding

school instilled, or imposed, the values of stmcture, regimented routine, strict
discipline, preferential treatment based on race or culture, importance of
conformity, internalization of emotions or feelings, and perhaps the importance
of interacting with your own kind in that the genders were separated and there
was little opportunity afforded to interact with the male gender. WIth regard to
speaking or Ieaming her native language, Rayna’s experience illustrates the
importance of conformity: “Oh yeah, we lost that.” Not only was she prohibited
from speaking her language, but everything to do with her native culture was
taken away, forbidden. In Rayna’s voice, it had to be “The Anglican church
way.” After age 16 when Rayna was living with extended family and eventually
married the father of her first child, she recalls the painful residue of her
boarding school experience in relation to the failure of her first marriage: “And I
wasn’t, I never grew up around men so I couldn’t adapt to them very well,
either.”

At one point, Rayna was placed by an Indian agent with a wealthy, white
family. Of this experience, she speaks about the father of the family and his
attempts at instilling values: “He was some kind of executive in a real estate
firm. He tried to show me his values. I remember we had this huge
volume...albumn. And he was buying up this city block so he had gotten
involved where, or he owned it all. He built this building and he designed the
cottage on the lake he used to go to himself. It was nice. No, that money to me

being young and raised in those schools...l had no use for. It didn’t impress

71
me.
In less than a year, Rayna’s placement with this white family disrupted

and she returned to the boarding school environment. She recalls that the bulk
of the values in life she Ieamed came from the other kids In the school; the kids
taught each other, especially survival skills. An example of this is poignantly
captured in Rayna’s own voice: “Those I got from the other kids. That was kind
of wrong telling me that, um, Indians don’t cry. Because I still have a bad...it’s
very hard for me [to cry, show emotion]. And since we were surrounded by a
white community, on Saturday’s they used to take us out for these walks, you
know, two by two, and there’d be, what...a hundred of us by then. Oh, it
seemed like that. And all these people would turn around and stare at us. And
the older girls says, ‘Oh, don’t mind them. They’re just white trash.’ So, I
Ieamed not to respect them. And knowing that feeling that they were taking
care of us, you know, well...they didn’t have time to give us no affection or
nothing. But they did have time for strapping us.”

The early experiences Rayna had during her formative years, particularly
during the time she was in boarding school, had a major influence on how she
perceived and Ieamed about her own native identity. For example, when she
was younger, Rayna acknowledged that she struggled with her native identity
and didn’t want to own her native background. “I was like that when I was
younger. I don’t know. They didn’t let us practice any of our culture. That’s
what those schools sort of did to us, you know.” The pain of her experience

resonates in Rayna’s words when she speaks about her life in the years

72
following boarding school: “But, after just about killing myself, I carried myself

to mental health. What was she, she was a psychologist. She was the one
that told me I had a mental block. That’s why I couldn’t remember my mother
when l was little. I had no idea. Even if she was there. She used to try to
press me but I couldn’t remember things like that. I’d get mad.” It was a way
for Rayna to try to protect herself. “I didn’t know what happened. Being taken
from my family.”

, As she grew older, Rayna recalls: “At first you know, I was only attracted
to the white man. They had...only if they were...good talkers. The fact that they
were quiet people. And being raised in those schools, I guess that’s why I
didn’t...look on white Indian because, especially when I went back to the
reserve, it seemed to me like, um...l didn’t go with any Indian men because they
were stupid or, I couldn’t talk to them unless they had a couple of drinks.” It
wasn’t until Rayna met her second husband, an Indian male, that she began to
immerse herself in her culture. As she states: “I really didn’t start going back
to the culture till I met Dwight. Start going to all that drumming, pow wows,
spending time at the Indian Center.” When asked how important culture is to
her today, Rayna emphatically stated: “I resent losing it! Especially our
language, you know. And I can’t understand why my aunt or my mother, you
know, they’ll start talking to me in Indian...they expect me to know. She
[referring to her mother] couldn’t have gone there that long [referring to
boarding school] cause she’s, my mother’s still got it.” Rayna’s culture is very

important to her today. When it comes to keeping her culture alive today with

73

her family, Rayna shares: “I’ve tried to. Yeah, but they don’t want to follow do
they? Just like the baby, yeah. If we put him and told him, and said to sing
along and you know, and he says ‘Can we know what time to shut up?’ Quit
singing. No dancing. In fact they was telling me could make a regalia for him.
I could probably get it on him but he probably won’t dance.”

Rayna’s frustration about trying to share and keep her culture alive today
within her own family is illustrated in her retrospective account of her life as
follows: “And um, their oldest sister [referring to her mother and aunt] just died
this summer to. She’s used to, ah, teach the language to the little kids there.
Preschool kindergarten. She wrote an article for a WIIIow Island, for the
newspaper there. Called memories, like old times. She started getting sick.
She had cancer. She wanted to quit...they all told her, don’t do it, we’ll miss it a
lot. Brought back a lot of memories with that to.” In talking about trying to pass
on that history, Rayna shared: “and have something to leave them. Expecting
to know what’s best for them. And I wasn’t taught these things so how can I
pass them on. When I became older, basically, everything I had to learn myself.
To learn family values-for awhile there—and, I was going to see a psychologist.
I also went to church. The Church of Jesus Christ. Non-denominational. And,
ah, they believed that, um, the Indians are one of the lost tribes of Israel. I went

for quite a few years. It was pretty therapeutic for me at that time.”

74

Question 6: Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the
firstborn daughter and quality of life?

Thematic Content: Shaped the quality of life; influenced life and shaped goals;
and any positives to being a firstbom daughter.

In response to this line of inquiry, Rayna thought a long while before
answering: “Well, I haven’t had, I never had a change [chance], a problem with
the rest of the siblings. Especially since being the biggest. l was very energetic
than the rest of them. I remember, being strong, I remember picking up the
children...instead of taking them over to the bucket I picked up the whole thing.
Ah, I figured to hell with it. So I was always strong. Didn’t even cry. I don’t
think it was so much being the eldest. And we all had a problem with that. My
mother let down, the one that was alcoholic. I remember her yelling at my
mother about being sent away to those boarding schools. She blamed her. So
we never wanted. But I remember kind of feeling like that until I discovered a
different way. You know. That was her fault.”

Additionally, one key difference Rayna observed between being the
firstbom daughter and the eldest compared to her younger siblings is best
depicted in Rayna’s own words: “The ones, and then the younger ones didn’t
go there [boarding school] so...she raised...Dot and Leroy. The twins were
taken fiom her. But she raised Dot and Leroy and they were...kind of like brats
when I was around. Not listening to mom.” For Rayna, this was a major
difference in the upbringing she experienced compared to her two youngest
siblings, one that holds a lot of emotional pain for her. These were the only two

siblings that got to stay with and be raised by mom. In speaking about her

75
mother, Rayna states: “She, she doesn’t, I don’t think she’s aware that she
favors those two.”

Today, Rayna continues to struggle with self-in-relation issues with her
family of origin. For example, she shared a recent contact made by her third
sister. “Now my third sister...the one that’s gone to Ecorse, just wrote me and I
haven’t written her back because she, this is about the first time she’s really
asked, she wants to be closer. In all the, she was only in that school maybe a
year before I left. I wasn’t as close to her as I was to the other brother. Her
mother didn’t have the same father either. He was white. And, anyway, she
wants to be closer now.” When I asked Rayna what she thought about this, her
response seemed to indicate she had done a lot of introspective thinking about
it: “Now that I, when you get older in life things change. Things that meant so
much when you were younger that you fought about, now” they don’t mean
anything, have that importance any longer. “Yeah. It’s nothing. Yeah. But,
uh, I’ve been thinking about it. I supposed I’d like to. Just like I want to go back
to Vlfillow now and keep...um...leamed to know my father’s family there. He’s
gone, he’s been gone. He was an alcoholic too.”

Rayna’s experience is indicative of a person who has Ieamed to survive
without anyone’s help, to be strong and nonemotive, to adapt without being able
to, or allowing oneself to, rely on another for any type of help or support. Her
story, her experience, is an example of someone who struggles with the
relational context of self and others, with wanting a relational connection with

others but being unsure, afraid of, and not knowing how to be or live with

76

self-in-relation.

Sariah (Case #693; Interview 2)

For this interview, I met Sariah at a local Indian organization where she
suggested we meet. Sariah had chosen this site because she had not been
able to visit this Indian organization in some time and she had missed doing so.
At the time of the interview, Sariah was 46 years old and in her second
marriage; her first marriage was to an Indian male and now she was married to
a white male. She was employed full time in a highly technical job. Both of
Sariah’s parents are living and she has fairly regular contact with them, as well

as with her younger sibling.

Question 1: What is the relationship between ordinal position of the first-
born American Indian daughter and family of origin
responsibility?

Thematic Content: Family and parental support, resources and what had the
most value or meaning for you.

Sariah is a very articulate and relational type of woman who has a way of
putting you at ease when she speaks. While growing up, Sariah recalls that she
had a lot of good teaching from both of her parents, especially with regard to the
spiritual and philosophical aspects of life. She recalls that: “They [her parents]
were always there. I mean even though they—my mother-was working or
something, I mean I could call her up if I had to or whatever. They always

listened to me. And they didn’t always agree with me. Yeah, right, they always

77

listened to me. And um...l probably came to a lot of my own decisions, but they
listened to me. You know, and I listened to them. But...anything that I wanted
to do, they were there for me. l...can’t ever remember them saying ‘No you
can’t do that’ or ‘No you can’t go here’, or...never. Never.”

For Sariah, her parent’s taught her an invaluable lesson that she holds
'dear to this day. In a very poignant manner, Sariah revealed what had the most
value or meaning for her. “That you believe in yourself. And you know that you
did the right thing. Or you try to do the right thing. And, urn, that you’re
independent. That I’m independent, I guess. I think those are the most
important things. A strength may be that other people don’t have.” For Sariah,
this means perseverance, that “you persevere and you keep on going. Get
knocked down, you get up and” keep forging ahead. Sariah is very proud of the
fact that she didn’t give up whenever she was knocked down. In her own
words, she captures the essence of her parent’s teaching to her. “And I’m glad
that I, that I didn’t. I mean there are times that I could have. Yeah. But I didn’t.

That’s the difference.”

Question 3: What is the relationship between ordinal position and the
role of the firstborn daughter as keeper of the culture?

Thematic Content: Values and culture; importance of, who instilled; emphasis
and change over time.

Sariah vividly recalled the values she was taught growing up. She
shared that she was always closer to her father than she was to her mother,

although she is at a loss as to why this was. While both parents were always

78
there for her, Sariah perceives herself as being more like her father than her
mother. For Sariah, values she Ieamed and holds dear were instilled by her
father.

As she related the type of values she was raised with, Sariah recalled the
words of her father “Um, my dad’s favorite saving: ‘If you’re honest, you’ll
never go wrong.’ I mean from being a little, little kid. That’s ah, probably
something I remember a lot. I mean that, that stuck. And then integrity and
responsibility...and you do things because you should, not because, not
because it’s the thing to do.” For Sariah, dad instilled the values of honesty,
integrity, and responsibility—values that she readily admits are the hallmark of
how she has tried to live her life.

According to Sariah, values instilled when she was a young child
continued to be emphasized as she grew older. She doesn’t recall that any
new values were added. As she shared: “Responsibility, um, as well as the
honesty. That was always there, and um...you should...do for other people
what you can. You know, they, they...need, if they need something, if you can
do something for them you should.” Despite the earlier theme of responsibility
and being independent that Sariah recalled being instilled when she was
younger, the emphasis appears to have been embedded within the theme of
relational connection as the latter statement given by Sariah clearly
emphasizes. It appears that she was taught the values of being strong,
responsible, and independent but not without regard to helping others where

and when you can.

79

Sariah went on to share that she was taught: “Hard work pays off.
Those, what do you call, Christian ethics. A lot of that. But it was true in my
case, it’s all true. Um, the respect. You have to have respect for other people.
And respect for things. And if you say, like you can’t do something, you can’t.
If you say you can, you can do anything, right.” Referring to her father, Sariah
shared: “He became really...um, and my mother did to, encouraged me to be
independent. I was independent. Very independent, I think. More so than I
see young people today. And ah, I Ieamed how to make decisions...young.”
Again, while emphasis was on being independent, it was not without regard for
relationships with other people.

Culture was something that Sariah Ieamed about by asking questions, as
she put it: “...I would come home with these questions. I was always a why
person. Why this, why that. My mother would always say, ‘I don’t know.’

She’d try to answer my questions. ‘I don’t know. Ask your father.’ And so this
went on. And he would literally, you know, tell me these things, explain why,
what he thought why.” Sariah shared her experience of reading stories about
Indians in school: “Okay, and they were really good stories and so forth. But
as you’re going to school...but when I went to school...what you Ieamed in the
history books is not what we believed went on.” So Sariah would come home
from school and ask her father questions about these stories she had read. On
one occasion, she recalled some very poignant words spoken by her father:
“And he said to me at one time, he said ‘the Indian Nation is a dead Nation, and

it will never rise again. And you’ll be better off to, you know, don’t look back.

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Look fonrvard.’ Yeah, that was...that was hard.”

For Sariah, this was a very difficult answer to hear from her father. She
believes that he still thinks this way today. When asked how much the
sentiment that her father expressed influenced her in terms of is it something
that she believes in today, Sariah emphatically responded: “No! I think it could
change. But it’s going to take a long time. We, we are our own worst enemy. I
think, ah, like the tribes that have the casinos, now they have the right idea. I
mean, they finally Ieamed the system to beat the system. That’s what it takes.

I mean, in my own personal life, that’s what I’ve found. There’s no way around
it. You have to participate. But I don’t think we’re a dead Nation.” Sariah’s
response rings of perseverance, a lesson she Ieamed early in her formative
years.

As Sariah spoke about her father’s sentiment to her at such an early age,
she offered to share her perceptions about this experience and the meaning it
held for her, as well as for her father. In a very meaningful, emotive fashion,
Sariah began her story: “But I know why he said that...later on. In my, in my
life I could see why he said that because, because, that it all has merit because
my father lost his mother when he was about two and a half. She died of—what
you call back then-they called it consumption. I guess TB. She died and he
was like almost the youngest, or was the youngest, I think, of six children. So,
and his father was a bootlegger on the reservation. They took his father away
and they took all the kids and split them up all into different schools in Columbia.

So, I mean for a little child, that, that’s hurtful. So I can see why he said that

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because it was painful. It was painful for him.”

Sariah’s mother did not escape this painful experience either. As Sariah
tells it: “And my mother, the same thing. Her mother died when she was 10,
and not [sic] of her relatives, she’s from Mural town, none of her relatives
wanted to take them in. She had three brothers. So the same thing happened.
They were, they were split up and put in different schools. And when they got
there they weren’t allowed to speak in their tongues, their Mohawk or Delaware.
They were supposed to adopt the English ways or whatever group was running
the schools. It was awful. So, you know I could see why they feel that way, it
was painful.” An experience that echoes of the personal experience of Rayna,
Case #692, previously profiled. Even more insightful and powerful is the
connection that Sariah would make between her parent’s experiences and the
impact it had on her and her sister. Sariah’s words resonate with insight that
connects the past with the present: “But the thing about it I found so interesting
is that...you know, this happened to them [and] even though it happened to
them, it kind of effected us, the kids. And in the way we looked at things for
awhile. So it’s terrible.”

This personal story, as told by Sariah, effectively illustrates and
accentuates the probable reasoning and emphasis her father placed on
respecting other people, and if you can help others out, do so, not because you
should but because you can. While emphasizing strength, independence, and
responsibility, it is not hard to understand why relational connectedness of

concern for others’ well-being was a value instilled and emphasized by Sariah’s

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father. As we shall see, given these teachings, it is not hard to understand why
Sariah has heeded her father’s sentiments and built her life around
perseverance, strength, honesty, integrity, and especially responsibility in the
form of relational connectedness, vis—a-vis an ethic of care.

In response to specific questions about her culture, Sariah informs that
she never Ieamed her native language, despite the fact that both her parents
could speak it fluently. Rather, she recalls that she was taught a few words by
her parents but not enough to cany on a conversation nor to understand others
speaking in their native tongue. However, she did remember that: “urn, of
course, cooking wise, I Ieamed how to do that. You know, what ah, the things
were that they ate, and they liked, I could do that. I was taught that. But it was
more of an inside thing. Not anything on the outside that you could see.”

What Sariah is referring to is native spirituality. When asked if this was
something that she remembered being taught very early on in her life, Sariah’s
response was: “Oh yeah. Very eariy, yes.”

As she discussed attending pow wows and how she came to learn about
her native culture, Sariah relayed a very powerful and personal experience she
had when she was 23 years old. Her story is worth sharing as it is illustrative of
her strong belief system and her own spirituality. According to Sariah

Yeah. I went to pow wows, and then I had my own experiences
when I was about 23. I was sick. I was very thin. I weighed like
a 106 pounds. And I went to ah, my period had stopped, okay.

And at that time there’s no reason why that should happen to

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me. So I went to a gynecologist and he was trying to help me.
But I wasn’t getting better, I kept losing weight. Okay, he said
if I lost one more pound he was going to have to send me some-
where else. And I didn’t ask him where, I didn’t want to know.
So I was going to school at that time and something just struck
me. I got in my car, and this was in the middle of the night. I
went to Serious Nations, and I went to a Medicine Man. I’d
only been there once ever in my life. And I don’t even know
how I got there. Really. And so ah, I went to this place and I
knocked on the door. And he opened the door and he had
water on the his little stove there. And he had two cups on his
little table. He said ‘I knew somebody was coming to see me
from long ways away’ and he said ‘but I didn’t know it was you.’
And so he told me that I was half dead and ah, that I had to
have a feast. So, I went to my cousins and ah, I think it was
not the next day but the following morning, I had to make this
bread and I had to take it there and I had to be there at dawn.
Had to be dawn. And ah, he and this other man, they burned
tobacco and they said things, I don’t know what they say cause
I don’t understand the language. And ah, I had to take this—look
like dirty root-and take it home. I had to boil it up to three times
and in a great big white pickle jar, great big old pickle jar like

that [motioning with her hands the size] and drink it. If it—the

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funny thing is, when we boiled it up, it looked like blood. So, I
drank it. I did just exactly what I was told, I did that. And all of
a sudden I got better. Cause, I mean my hair was falling out,
and everything, everything was wrong. I was, it would be like
90 degrees out like now and I would be fieezing to death. And
he told me when I left, that I would never have to come back
unless I see false faces in my dreams. Well, I never have.

And that’s what, 23 years ago. It is. And so...l got better.

Such a poignant, captivating personal story is not easily forgotten nor
dismissed. As the researcher, I found myself deeply moved by Sariah’s
experience and somehow, very connected to her. As Sariah eloquently states
it: “So...l believe these things happen. And I believe, if you believe, it’s
powerful. Powerful. But yes, that really happened to me. So, I, I guess I feel,
you know, protected in a way. I, I, I mean we all have our ups and downs and
things, but I mean I, I don’t see false faces in my dreams. If I don’t see false
faces in my dreams, I’m fine.” What made Sariah even more of a firm believer
in the power of the Medicine Man and native spirituality, is the reaction she got
from her parents when she shared her story with them. “My parent’s, they,
they didn’t question it at all. Like...think, oh, you know, that maybe they
wouldn’t believe it or whatever. But, they did, they believed it. I would
recommend it for anybody.”

Despite these early and powerful experiences in her life, when asked

about the importance of culture in her everyday life for her today, Sariah said:

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“It’s not real important...in my personal life. But I do see the need for it to
become more important. I just don’t know what to do about it.” Sariah’s voice
captures the essence of her dilemma: “It’d be like starting as an infant again. I
think the spiritual values, those are there. Like, respect for your elders and,
and you take care of your own. They are for me anyway. Like the extended
family. That’s very important. Ah...but to be a good human being I think is the
most important. It’s like we are our brother’s keeper. I believe that we are. So,
it, but as for...cultural aspect, I may, I do see that we need to do something. I
personally need to do something but I, I just don’t know what...at this point,
what to do.”

While struggling with her own dilemma about how to make her culture
more present in her daily life, Sariah has tried to teach her two children “as
much as I can.” As she acknowledges her efforts, Sariah clarifies what she
means by stating: “I try to...again, it’s more in the way you live your Iife...by
example. It’s not so much something they can touch and feel and see. It’s
what’s inside.” Here, again, the emphasis is on a relational context, on the
intrinsic worth or matter of people, not something external, on the outside, or
tangible for all to see, feel, and touch. Perhaps this is why Sariah finds herself
in a dilemma about how to make her native culture more present in her
everyday life, how to put words to something that is so spiritual, so intrinsic to
your ‘self, your being. As she Ieamed early on in her formative years from her

parents, she doesn’t give up, she perseveres and keeps trying. She believes.

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Question 4: Does gender inequality exist in the role development of the
firstborn daughter?

Thematic Content: The role gender played in the family; male role; female role.

From Sariah’s standpoint, gender inequality did not exist within her
family as she was growing up. As she recalls, there were no limitations put on
her and she was free to embark on activities associated with either gender.

For example, Sariah shared that “there was none of this just because I’m a girl ‘
type of thing.” She went on to state: “I played baseball. I participated in sports
at school just like, you know, boys would do. And I did all of that, and I mean, I
did things at home...that, you know, boys would do. Because we had no boys.
There were no brothers. So I did all those things. Oh no, there was not that
[there was no discrimination between male or female oriented activities]. And I
don’t, I don’t have one today between ah, my daughter and son. I mean, I
standed [pip] them as equal...equals.”

Given Sariah’s upbringing, it is not difficult to understand why she has
persevered and become very successful in her current telecommunications job.
She is in a position which has traditionally been male dominated and is one
female among many men in her division. Despite the fact that she gets along
well with her male coworkers, she says: “You know, I mean four years later I
still...l still feel a little resentment there. Even though we, we get along and so
on, and so forth.” Yet, she perseveres, always moving forward and showing her

strength, her integrity, and her sense of responsibility.

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Question 5: How is the role of the firstbom daughter prescribed?

Thematic Content: Manner in which responsibilities were assigned or given;
who gave or assigned these responsibilities.

Sariah recalls that responsibilities were given to her by both of her
parents, although she remembers that her father tended to give her more
responsibility than her mother. In terms of how these responsibilities were
given, Sariah relayed: “It was ah, you should, you should do this, you should
do that. It was not like I have to and if I, and I knew that the more I did, the
more benefits I reaped from doing that, so, it was never, it was never a
structure as to at this time you do this and at that time, I want you to do that.
No, it was never like that." She was never ordered or told to do something,
rather it was left up to her to decide. However, Sariah says, “But I, ifl didn’t do
something that I should have done, I would hear about that. Okay. But um...it
just sort of happened.”

The types of responsibilities that Sariah had were rather routine; for
example, take out the trash, clean up the table, clean the bathroom, and hang
up her clothes. It was the manner in which she was taught responsibility that
stands out for Sariah. In her own voice, Sariah’s words create an image to go
along with her story: “I mean like, like things ah, my father would say, when
you take your shoes off, you know how kids have a tendency to just take them
off...but if they have ah, ties on them to tie your shoes. I was to untie them and
put the laces inside the shoes so that they could rest. I witnessed some
strange things like that. And separate them, you know, you just don’t throw

your shoes around.”

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As Sariah grew older, the types of responsibilities she had changed. She
shared an example: “Like I had to ah, my mother went to work...um, I can’t
even remember the year or anything, but um, my sister was little then. After my
sister started school full time, then my mother went to work full time. And, so
then my responsibilities were to look after her [her sister]. I’d get dinner started,
um, do my homework, and whatever else needed to be done because she
worked in the afternoons.” Once mom went to work, then Sariah had primary
responsibility for looking after her sister and tending to the house until her dad
wme home from work.

While Sariah conceded that she reaped benefits if she did as suggested,
I wondered what would happen to her if she did not carry out responsibilities as
her parents suggested. According to Sariah, “I’d be reminded. They’d remind
me. You know, you should take the trash out, and so on and so forth; they
were “Did you forget?” or things like that. l was never ah, I never suffered any
great penalty if I didn’t do it but...” Just a reminder or suggestion from her
parents was all it took for Sariah to take care of her responsibilities. She
acknowledges that it was her father that did most of the suggesting or
reminding. For Sariah, then, responsibilities were assigned or given by
suggestion, reminders, or through informal anecdotal teachings she received
from her father, such as the story she shared about placing the laces inside of

her shoes so that they could rest.

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Question 6: Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the
firstborn daughter and quality of life?

Themgic Content: Shaped the quality of life; influenced life and shaped goals;
and any positives to being a firstbom daughter.

For Sariah, being the firstbom daughter is very meaningful and has
greatly effected the quality of her life. After a short pause, Sariah responded to
this line of inquiry as follows: “I owe everything, my entire life to that. Because
I was, I was the one who had to learn to be responsible. I had to learn to be
independent, I had to learn to make decisions, and suffered the consequences
of my decisions. And...it was a, it was a real important thing in my life that l
was the firstbom.” She went on to state: “I think if I had been born second...my
life would probably be a lot different. Cause [sig] I tell you, my sister, my sister
now works for Ameron. She is now becoming a union steward. She is now
going back to school. I mean she’s 40 years old. But I mean, I said ‘you just
want to be just like your big sister, don’t you?’, you know. All these years later,
these things, she’s doing these things. Because before, it, she didn’t need to I
guess.” Perhaps Sariah’s last statement is truer than she herself realizes in
that her sister could always depend on her to take care of everything, to “be all,
do all”. Now things have come full circle and Sariah’s sister is trying to emulate
Sariah, follow in her footsteps.

Further inquiry about how being the firstbom daughter had effected what
she experienced or what she has done, yielded the following response from
Sariah: “It gave me...courage to try. Even knowing that there’s maybe not

going to be anyone there to help me if I need help or, um...l think, I think that’s

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a good thing. Courage. Like um, so, so mom and dad aren’t there, or so
somebody’s not there, I’m, I’m still going to try. To pick myself up and try again
I guess.” What stands out in Sariah’s voice is independence, self-reliance,
strength, and perseverance-qualities she Ieamed early on in life.

Another example of these qualities can be heard in Sariah’s voice when
she offered the following comment: “It’s like, you know, my husband says I
don’t need him. I don’t need him. Really. But I do need him, you know, as the
person that he is. But I mean like financially or something like that” she an be
independent and handle things. “Yeah self, not self-sufficient, but kind of self-
sufficient. Yeah, I got myself.”

After some pensive thought, Sariah offered her perspective about
whether she saw any negatives to being a firstbom: “Material things were not
as abundant as they were later on, okay. Cause [gig] they’re young basically,
young people starting out and they don’t have much. You know, so you hear a
lot of arguments, you know, about money, money, money when they were
young. Like that, you’re the firstbom so that’s kind of negative. But, and then
the other is that sometimes I did once in awhile resent the extra responsibility.
It seemed like my sister had it easy, in a lot of respects, and I didn’t. I think I
benefited in the long run.” Sariah went on to share her insight and perceptions
and revealed that, sometimes in looking back, it would have been nice to have
a little bit more balance or some slack here and there. She stated: “But it hurt
her. That so many things were handed to her. Because she expected that

throughout her life. But, so she married somebody that she thought he was

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gonna [s_ic_:] provide for her. And when the money ran out...she didn’t, he
wasn’t really that important to her anymore. You know what I’m saying? So,

her reality was a little screwed up I think.”

Barbra (Case #694; Interview 3)

Barbra requested that I meet with her at her place of employment for the
interview. At the time of the interview, Barbra was 44 years old, divorced from
her first husband who was a white male, and was living with her Indian male
partner of several years. She was employed full time in an educational
program for Indian children where she had invested over 17 years of her career.
Both of Barbra’s parents are deceased and she has sporadic contact with her

younger siblings.

Question 1: What is the relationship between ordinal position of the first-
born American lndian daughter and family of origin
responsibility?

Thematic Content: Family and parental support, resources and what had the
most value or meaning for you.

Like Sariah, Case #693, Barbra is a very engaging woman who makes
you feel at ease when she Speaks. Barbra is rather articulate and gave much
thought before responding to my questions. In responding to family and
parental support and resources she received while growing up, Barbra was
quick to respond with: “No, they weren’t very good.” She went on to share the

following account: “You know, they weren’t um, well, for one thing I had too

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many things to do at home so I didn’t have like, you know, after school, you
know, I couldn’t join anything cause Lsi_c] I had to come home and make
dinner.” From Barbra’s perspective, all the responsibilities had to be taken
care of first before she was allowed to have time for herself. As she says,
“You know, everything, you know, so there wasn’t much, you know, like sports-
wise I couldn’t be in because I had this stuff I had to take care of at home, and
like even in school, you know, the only attention—like if I did really bad then I
got it. And if I did really good it was like [they expected that or whatever], or
nothing. You know, it’s like oh, okay, and you know, it just was weird.”

As Barbra recalled this experience of having all the responsibility, she
became rather emotive in verbal and nonverbal means. As she spoke, you
could hear the pain and disappointment in her tone. From her perspective,
Barbra felt that she had all the responsibility, including caring for her two
younger sisters and brother. As she got older, the level of responsibility
increased while her sisters and brother had virtually no responsibility. In
response to my inquiry as to whether she received much support,
encouragement, praise, or acknowledgement while she was growing up,
Barbra did not hesitate in answering an emphatic “No! ”. Since Barbra did not
receive this type of support or resource from her family or parents, she felt
there was nothing to respond to in terms of what had the most value or

meaning for her during this period in her life.

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Question 3: What is the relationship between ordinal position and the
role of the firstborn daughter as keeper of the culture?

'Wz Values and culture; importance of, who instilled; emphasis
and change over time.

Barbra recalled that she was raised with the values of respecting other
people’s property and people in general. As she put it: “You know, like, you
know, telling the truth, you know, being honest, you know, and respecting, you
know, always had, you know, respect in our uncles or anybody-any adult really.
Your teacher, you know, that kind of thing.” However, when it came to
knowledge of specific native values, Barbra responded with “Not really” when
asked if she grew up knowing about her native values from an early age.

Despite the fact that Barbra’s parents did not instill cultural knowledge
while she was growing up, she did recall special times she had with her
maternal grandfather who occasionally stayed with the family for periods of
time. Barbra said “...well, my grandfather tried. You know, because he, he
would live with us and different times he would try to teach me, you know, the
language. And my mother would just get really angry and she says, you know,
‘you have to leave that stuff alone’ and ‘I don’t want her Ieaming that. She
doesn’t need to know that’.” As Barbra reminisced about this, she said how
hurt her grandfather would be by her mothefs sentiment. She continued with:
“You know, but different times when we’d be together, you know, he would tell
me this or, you know, tell me different things. But, my mom just never ever
wanted that. You know, she just, she just thought it would be better off to

leave that alone and we have to live here and [adjust].” It is clear that Barbra’s

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grandfather wanted to instill cultural knowledge and equally clear, that Barbra
had a desire to know and learn about her culture. However, given her mother’s
sentiment, it appears that Barbra and her grandfather had to share their cultural
interests in secret, stealing away moments where they could in a clandestine
fashion.

Another illustration of Barbra’s struggle to learn about her culture can be
captured in her own voice as she recalls a special moment where she was
imagining what things might have been like in another time.

You know, cause [gig] I remember one time sitting in the back
yard and I was looking out and I though[t]—-l was trying to
imagine what it must have looked like without any houses
and how it, you know, was as a young native person and

not having any white people, or this, and I thought ‘God, that
would be so neat.’ And my mom came out and so she was
sitting there when we were talking and I said, ‘Just think how
this would look’ you know and she just looked at me and

she goes “well, that’s really dumb to think that way.”

She said “these people are here, this is what you have to
live with and you can’t think of things.” She said “look at
everything that we have because of these people.”

You know, but she wasn’t thinking about how I was

trying to imagine what it might be like, you know. And

she just didn’t want any of it, you know.

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As the reader, it is not hard to imagine how Barbra must have felt during this
moment with her mother. Imagine all the enthusiasm and wonderment in
Barbra’s voice only to have the wind knocked out of her sails, so to speak, by
her mother’s insensitive, almost angry and discounting remarks. Even as
Barbra shared her story with me, there was an air of disbelief and bewilderment
in her voice and in her facial expression, as if to say “What was so bad about
imagining and wondering what it must have been like?”

What values were instilled in Barbra while she was growing up, she
recalled, were instilled equally by mom and dad. “Definitely. Yeah, by both.”
When asked if there was anything in particular that her grandfather or other
family members emphasized, or influenced her, with regard to values, Barbra
replied: “This, it’s about the same.” To Barbra, her grandfather and other
family members just reinforced the values her parents had instilled. When it
came to the types of values that were shared or made known to her that were
important, and change over time, Barbra recalled: “No. No, not really at all.”
Values remained pretty consistent all the way through her child rearing years.

Although culture was not important in Barbra’s family while she was
growing up, it did change over time, especially after Barbra married her first
husband who happened to be white. For example, Barbra shared a story about
what occurred when she as in elementary school: “But, you know what, um...
when we lived in, in Diablo you know, and we moved to Decart—l think I was
going in fourth grade. Now, when my mom registered for me in school, she put

down I was Italian.” Barbra had no knowledge of this at the time, but Ieamed of

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it later from a childhood friend who overheard her mother at the time. “She was
standing there with her mother and they were filling out papers. Yeah. And this
lady’s Italian! You know, and, and she’s looking at me—now I don’t look Italian
(gestures to herself, her profile) you know, but my mom, you know, she just
thought it would be, we’d be easier accepted if people didn’t think we were
Indians.”
According to Barbra, the lack of importance or emphasis on culture
remained throughout her childhood until she got married. As she tells it
See, and then when I married a white guy, oh, that was it-
and she [her mother] disowned me and then all of a sudden,
we didn’t talk for like about oh, maybe a year and a half, and
it was after I had my son, you know, then my mom wanted to
see him. You know, things kind of mended and then I came
home and, it was, it was a total different atmosphere from when
I had left a year and a half before. It was just like I could not
believe, you know, they were involved in the Center, they
were in ah, the child welfare act, they were—she was going to
Lakewood, she was going here meeting the governor. She’s
talking, oh it was, yeah, honestly I did not fit in at all. Ijust
didn’t know, I didn’t even know who she was, you know. She
said me getting married, and she realized, you know, because
she always didn’t want me going out with Indians cause Lsi_c]

they’re all a bunch of drunks. That’s what she always told me,

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you know. Yeah. But, you know, but then she, you know,
wanted me, you know, being white, and I’m not. I mean, that’s
the way she pretty much raised me to be. You know, and then,
then I get married and then that’s not right, you know. And then
we had a really good talk afterwards, you know, when we got
back together. And I said ‘well, what was I supposed to do?’
I says ‘You’re the one that didn’t want me to be this. Now’, I
said, ‘I come home and now you guys are all lndians’, you know.
She just, she didn’t under[stand]-she goes “I don’t know.” She
goes “I just knew”, she said, “I have to do something.” She
goes “I raised you to be that way and then when, when this
happened”, she goes, “I realized, you know, we’re going to
lose , you know, if, if I don’t get my, the rest of my kids involved
with the community.”
With this change in attitude with her mother, Barbra remembers, came a need
to get more involved in their culture. She shared that her mother got back into
activities like getting back into the longhouse. “She started going there, she
started Ieaming the language, she says ’don’t want to lose this.’ You know,
and I really believe it was things in her childhood because my grandfather took
them off the reserve and, you know, so they didn’t really grow up, you know.
They grew up in a white society and it was real, real hard.” For Barbra,
observing this dramatic change in her mother was like witnessing her mother

coming full circle; she had a difficult time understanding why their culture was

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not good enough to know about growing up and now, after so many years, it
was like her mother had always lived and practiced their culture on a daily
basis. It was hard for her to comprehend.

For Barbra, the turning point in her life when culture really started to
take on importance for her, and she found that it was something she wanted to
immerse herself into and learn more about, came after her divorce from her
white husband. As she put it: “I think, I think it was after my divorce. You
know, and then I had, you know, I had to move back home and [everybody
was Indian all of a sudden]. Yeah. You know, and it was great. It was great
to know like, oh okay, great, now we’re going to learn all this stuff, you know. It
was, it was really, it just felt really right.”

Today, however, Barbra struggles to find words to describe the level of
importance culture holds for her now. She states: ”Um, yeah, it’s, it’s important
and, you know, it’s a funny kind of a thing because, well, both of my parents
have died. And it was like after my mom died, it kind of, I don’t know,
something just kind of happened. It was okay for a while and l was really, you
know, trying to hang on to that and then, I don’t know, it’s [§i_g] just seems to be
a little different. Urn, it’s not as intense as it was and I don’t know why. You
know, I really, I don’t know why it is. But, it just um...the way that I felt.”
Perhaps what Barbra is struggling with is lack of relational connection with her
culture now that her mother is gone. Given the way in which Barbra was raised
and then being witness to her mother coming full circle with regard to valuing

their culture, the impetus for Barbra to connect or immerse herself in her culture

99
is gone, for mom served as the catalyst for Ieaming about their culture. As a
result, the relational connection for Barbra—her mother—with her culture is no
longer present and available to give her permission to actively learn and
practice her culture.

Now that she has children and grandchildren, Barbra tries to be the
catalyst for them with their culture. For Barbra, culture is: “I mean, it’s
important and, you know, and l have two ah, younger daughters, and I have
two granddaughters and, you know, it’s, it’s important that they know, you
know, and that it’s, ah...But it’s, it’s just like you say, maybe that’s what it was,
it was just the newness and it’s great, you know.” Perhaps part of Barbra’s
struggle is that her culture is something that she has been wanting all along
and has been curious about, and now, well it’s finally okay. As she says:
“Yeah, and then, you know, and then I got this job which was just really great
because you could just learn, and we has [gig] so many people on staff to
learn from, you know, everywhere, and you know, they were, it was, it was
good for me. It was real good.” It may be a real possibility that, for Barbra,
her job became a catalyst and legitimate means for her to continue to learn
about her culture now that her mother was gone and not available to
encourage, reinforce, or somehow give permission to Barbra to continue
discovering her culture. Her job served as a replacement catalyst for the role

her mother once held.

100

Question 4: Does gender inequality exist in the role development of the
firstborn daughter?

Themati Content: The role gender played in the family; male role; female role.
From Barbra’s standpoint, she does not ever recall that responsibilities
given to her were gendered in any way. Most of the responsibilities she had
were given to her by her mother, while her father was the primary disciplinarian.
Barbra does not recall that there was ever any distinction made by her parents
that these are female things you have to do, and these are things that males
take care of; gender did not really matter. As she tells it: “I don’t think it, no.”
Whatever needed to be done was done. She gave the following account:
“Like cut the grass or take out the garbage. Well, my brother did get that job.
You know, that was the one, yeah, you know, that was the one job he had.
But um, no, it was, you just did everything, you know.” According to Barbra,
doing everything and carrying the bulk of the responsibilities, including the care
of her siblings, held pretty constant throughout her entire childhood and young

adulthood until she left home when she got married.

Question 5: How is the role of the firstborn daughter prescribed?

Thematic Content: Manner in which responsibilities were assigned or given;
who gave or assigned these responsibilities.

While Barbra’s mother gave or assigned her primary responsibilities for
care of the home and her siblings, her two sisters and one brother were pretty
much free of any responsibility. Even though her brother was assigned the

tasks of mowing the lawn and taking the garbage out, nothing changed in the

1 01
way of additional responsibilities for her brother or sisters over time. Barbra
still carried the bulk of the responsibilities as the firstbom daughter. While her
sisters and brother were free to engage in after school activities, sports, or
various social and recreational things, Barbra was not allowed to do so
because of the level of responsibility she had.

In discussing the difference in the amount of responsibility she had in
comparison to her siblings, Barbra related that: “well, my one sister is pretty
much, was always in trouble. She was always stealing and lying and, and that,
and my brother, he was just, he tried sports. Now I guess, but see, I was
already gone—moved out. And he tried baseball and hockey and, you know,
my parents just kind of—l used to feel bad for him cause [.519] he would go to
the games and they wouldn’t go.”

Being the firstbom daughter and carrying the bulk of the responsibility
while she lived at home, groomed Barbra to absorb an “ethic of care” (Gilligan,
1993) in her relationships with her siblings once she moved out, due to her
marriage. In sharing how she felt bad for her siblings because her parents
wouldn’t attend their athletic events, Barbra’s own voice illustrates the ethic of
care relational connection she actualized with her siblings.

You know, so I’d tell him cause [$9] I had to sneak,
they’d have to sneak to call me to talk to me because
they weren’t supposed to, and so [because of who she
married at the time]. Right. You know, and so I told

him, I said ‘well let me know when you have a game

102

and I’ll go to your game.’ You know, and so I would try

to and, and then my youngest sister, she got into, to
basketball and they didn’t go to that. You know, and I
thought, well geez, you know, this is, you know, you should
do this. This is your daughter, you know. And, but my
sister, my other sister and l, we would go, you know, we

would go to the games. But my mom and dad just, I don’t

know what that was, you know. I don’t know if they were
uncomfortable or didn’t give a shit. I really don’t know,
you know.

For Barbra, practicing an ethic of care with regard to her siblings once
she moved away seemed a natural thing to do. She could not understand why
her parents didn’t support her siblings in their athletic events, let alone show
that they encouraged or were proud of their children, by attending these events.
The role of encouraging, taking an interest in, and supporting her siblings in
their athletic events by attending these functions, was not a role nor a
responsibility assigned to Barbra by her parents. It was a role, an ethic of care,
that she assumed herself as a way of demonstrating her interest in, and
relational connection with, her siblings. In another vein, perhaps one can draw
the inference that this role was in fact prescribed to Barbra by her parents
through default on their own behalf. Clearly, one can argue that Barbra
assumed this responsibility to demonstrate an ethic of care with her siblings in

the absence of her parents display of an ethic of care. It was an important

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relational connection for Barbra, and one she could not understand why it
wasn’t of paramount interest or importance to her parent’s—after all, her

siblings were her parent’s children, not hers.

Question 6: Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the
firstborn daughter and quality of life?

Thematic Content: Shaped the quality of life; influenced life and shaped goals;
and any positives to being a firstbom daughter.

For Barbra, being the flrstbom daughter is a positive experience and one
that holds a lot of meaning. As she describes it: “Oh, I think it’s been really
good. I think for me, because I am real, real responsible and I taught that to my
children. You know, and, and um, you know, growing up it wasn’t so hot. But
I’m, I’m really thankful for all that l Ieamed and um, you know, being brought up
the way that l was, it’s given me a lot.”

In another vein, I queried Barbra on how being the flrstbom daughter has
shaped the quality of her life to where she is at today, in contrast to not being a
firstbom daughter and living the life of one of her younger siblings instead.
Without hesitation, Barbra responded: “Oh God, it stinks.” Barbra describes
what she sees as the positive aspect of growing up as the firstbom daughter in
words that exude strength and self-confidence. “Oh yeah. Because there’s
nothing I can’t do. I mean, you know, I know how to paint, I can cut the grass, I
can, I can just do whatever. [Pretty self-sufficient]. Yeah. You know, you know
like I don’t need to sit there ‘well, move the furniture for me’, you know, like and I

think I’ve raised my daughters the same, they’re the same.” Given the fact that

1 04
Barbra has only one son (her other three children are daughters), she went on
to share that: “You know, and I made sure that I did not do that cause [gig] I
only have one son, but, you know, hey, you know, everybody does everything
and, you know, that’s, and, and I think it’s been good, you know.” As was done
with her, Barbra has taught her children that there is no gender discrimination
when it comes to Ieaming how to do different tasks or chores.

Barbra shared other aspects of being a firstbom daughter and how it
effected her, as well as what she would change about her role as a firstbom
daughter in her family, if she could. With regard to positive aspects, Barbra
shared, “Oh yeah. I, I do, like I said now, you know, you don’t realize it [at the
time when you’re younger]. You know, and I’ve, I’ve always been real thankful
that my parents were really strict, you know. I know um, I mean we, I just was
not allowed to do a whole lot of, you know, a lot of things.” Given the
responsibilities that Barbra had as a firstbom daughter, she didn’t really have
any time available to engage in any type of after school activities, much less
social or recreational things. Barbra continued her thoughts regarding lack of
time with: “No, I didn’t. No, you know, and if, you know, and, you know, it was
really hard. I think sometimes they could have let up like, you know, if all my
friends were going to the beach. Well, I had to do the laundry, I had to iron, I
had to get all this done if I was going to go at 10:00. You know, and I just
thought ‘well, why can’t my sister do this?’ And, oh well, she might burn herself
and oh, she doesn’t like hanging up clothes, you know, and I just thought

sometimes I think they could have been a little bit better.” Then again, despite

1 05
the apparent lack of fairness, Barbra states: “You know, but overall, you know,
I’m glad. Really, because I see the difference in myself and the rest of them.”
In response to what she would change about her role as a firstbom
daughter, if she could make any changes, Barbra offered the following
I think it would be not to take care of my brother and
sisters. You know, I um, because mainly I think, be-
cause that carried on into my adulthood, you know, um,
my sister’s been. in and out of treatment centers and so,
you know, my having, you know, three kids, and then
havling] taking [gig] her three kids for six months at a time,
you know, but I did that to myself. You know, um...you
know, I just thought, ‘oh, I’ll help her and take these kids.’
And then I’m driving myself crazy. You know, and I
think I came to that realization one day, l was just doing
dishes and I just started to cry. I said ‘this is it. These
kids are going home and I’m not doing this anymore’,
you know. My husband just kind of looked a[t] me and
he says, “what?” I said ‘I‘m not taking care of these kids.’
I said ‘I have my own children’ that, you know, I’m getting
angry [and short with]. Right. You know, and pushing them
away and it’s driving me crazy, and I said ‘and that’s not
fair. These are my children. Nobody is going to come in

if I go nuts and take care of my kids.’ And when I did that,

1 06

it was just like such a relief.
As if thinking out loud and realizing the possibility for the first time, Barbra said:
“Why didn’t I do this 10, 20 years ago? Instead of always, and, you know, and
my parents really instilled that.” Barbra shared that she realizes the one thing
that she would like to have changed in her role is as a result of how hard it is to
let go of being the firstborn daughter with all of the responsibility for her family
as she got older. In her voice, she expounds on this by sharing the following:
“Oh yeah, because you’re used to it. You know, it’s comfortable actually, you
know, to be like that. You know, and then, ah, then it’s, it’s good to find out you
don’t have to be, you know. That was good to find out.”

In hearing about Barbra’s discovery or revelation, I was moved to ask her
if there was anything else she would change about her role that comes to mind.
Barbra, in a very poignant and straight forward fashion, replied: “Um...l don’t
know. I really don’t think so. I don’t know because so much has just made me
who I am, you know. And for a long time I didn’t really like myself. You know, it
was just, I guess I never really had the time to really look at myself. You know, I
was so busy doing [for everybody else]. Yeah. You know, so I think that’s
about the biggest thing that I can think of that I would change.”

Barbra’s personal story is not unlike the experiences of so many other
women—especially firstbom daughters—who are so relationally connected, yet
differentiated from their family of origin, rather than being totally autonomous
and independent as conventional developmental theories have asserted the

need for. Barbra’s story, as told through her own voice, epitomizes women’s

107
ways of knowing as well as psychological theory and women’s development that
contemporary women authors have written about (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger,

and Tarule, 1997; Gilligan, 1993).

Diane (Case #695; Interview 4)

Diane requested that we meet at her home in the middle of a Sunday
afternoon for the interview. At the time of the interview, Diane was 52 years old,
although she would turn 53 years old the following day. Diane had been married
and divorced twice to American Indian males; however, she was single on the
day of the interview. She was employed full time for the state in a professional
position that has her dealing with the judicial system and various community
resources. Diane’s father is deceased while her mother is still living. She has a
younger sister and brother who reside out of state and with whom she recently

visited for the first time in four years.

Question 1: What is the relationship between ordinal position of the first-
born American lndian daughter and family of origin
responsibility?

Thgmatic Content: Family and parental support, resources and what had the
most value or meaning for you.

Diane is a very engaging and relational type of woman who was very
contemplative before responding to my inquiries. She presented as being very
composed, maintained good eye contact as she spoke, often engaged in

laughter, and had a unique way of making you feel at ease—as if you knew her

1 08
all along. Diane recalls receiving a lot of encouragement and guidance from
both of her parents while she was growing up, and in particular, after she was
divorced and had decided to go to college. As she tells it
Oh yeah, lots of, always ah, you know, my mother was
constantly ah, encouraging us, motivating us to try to finish
whatever, you know, and ah, ah, I know even when l was at
my lowest [emphasis given by Diane], when I was, had gone
through a divorce and was going to Webber State and ah,
financially on, was on the brink of total disaster and I had
three little kids to raise and didn’t know if I was going, you
know, be making, making it to a class, you know. Every time
she would say, ‘You’re half way through now’. You know, all
you got to, how many more weeks you got to go, and so I
always remembered that and then I’d say oh yeah, she’s
right, you know. But that would be enough to get me over that
little hump. And then I would continue, you know, and ah, but,
and then, just knowing she was there, to, always there if I
really needed, you know, her, her for, you know, watch the
kids or whatever.
Diane also recalled with fondness how her mother would give her little
pep talks when she was waning or in need of encouragement. As for her father,
she stated: “And my father too, I mean, so basically they both ah, didn’t believe

in quitters. You know, and I think, and that, that was important.” The level of

1 09
encouragement and support Diane received from her parents has become more
meaningful to her over the years, especially now that she has grown children
herself. She has tried to provide her children with the same type of

encouragement and guidance that her parents gave to her as she was growing

up.

Question 3: What is the relationship between ordinal position and the
role of the firstborn daughter as keeper of the culture?

Thematic Content: Values and culture; importance of, who instilled; emphasis
and change over time.

Diane easily recalled what values she was raised with and what stood out
for her of all her parent’s teachings. As Diane recalls, she was taught “the
importance of always, you know, being truthful about things, ah...trying to ah,
you know, do ah, say, do the right thing, but that’s basically it.” With a great
deal of facial expression, Diane went on to say: “You know, ah, right away I
was thinking the Girl Scout pledge, you know. It was ingrained in our memories,
you know, and so ah, that was, that was pretty much what I know was
expected.” These basic values were equally stressed by both Diane’s mother
and father.

As for change in types of values emphasized over time while she was
growing up, Diane took a fair amount of time to contemplate before responding.
According to her memory, Diane stated: “Well, I think the emphasis, you know,
has always been on, on trying to, ah, get a good education. And so that was,

ah, more stressed, you know, as we got older, ah, and trying-l don’t really recall

1 10
there being any, any ah, stress toward any particular type of job, you know. It
was more of, ah, working with the Indian community, you know, those types of
values, ah, sharing, you know, all of that.”

Involvement in the Indian community was something that was stressed as
very important to Diane and her siblings. Diane’s parents were instrumental in
founding the first American Indian Association in the greater metropolitan area
of the central, southeastern section of the state. Diane shared that culture was
very much a part of her upbringing and remembers with fondness all the ways in
which culture was a part of her formative years. In her own words, Diane’s
voice tells the story of what meaning and significance her culture holds for her.

Since we’d been raised in that type of ah, you know,
environment, both parents being active in the Indian
community and ah, I mean we were always, you know,

all the different events and things that were going on and

so I think I, I experienced more of, of ah, that type of
generosity I guess of, of Indian people as opposed to,

you know, ifl had just been raised in an all regular community,
you know. That I hadn’t been exposed to all the emphasis

so ah, trying to maintain our traditions. Yeah, that was, that
was definitely stressed, you know.

As Diane continued to reflect on her early childhood years, she recalled
how she Ieamed to recognize the difference between the Indian world and non-

lndian world. With a great deal of passion and facial expression, Diane talked

1 1 1
about the different experiences she had visiting with her paternal and maternal
extended family members. For Diane-these experiences with extended family
members were in stark contrast to one another with regard to living and
experiencing culture on a daily basis. As Diane remembers
Well ah, actually again, thinking of both may parent’s ah,
cause [$1 we would go up to San Lu Rae and visit my
grandfather twice a year usually, in the winter and again
In the summer time. You know, for at least a week, maybe
two, and ah, so, but because he lived more of a normal
life like everybody else, you know, there was nothing
really traditional ah, as far as native that I would say I
picked, would pick up from that experience. Ah, whereas,
when we would go with my mother to visit her family and
her, her relatives, ah, we would take part in the Ionghouse
ceremonies and ah, got to see what some of the, you
know, ah, go to the, on the reservation there some of the
big holidays that they’d have and, and um, so it was, you
know, and then being exposed to all the Indian people to,
you know. In, in that environment, um, Ieaming about, you
know, cooking corn soup, things like that, you know. Um,
so that’s probably, you know, how I would, would first ah,
exposed to some of the other traditions, you know, that um,

non-native people would never see.

1 12
In another vein, Diane spoke about experiences she had while in
elementary school that have an affinity to those experienced by Rayna, Case
#692, and Barbra, Case #694, previously profiled. Diane was reflecting on
how early she remembers being told about her culture and knowing that she
was American Indian, and disclosed the following story
Ah, as far as actually just, you know, knowing that who we
were and what we were, I mean that was evident the very—I
would say by first grade anyway—because of our skin color, ah,
especially second grade, you know. I mean when I moved out
to this area or to the Overly Pass area-Federoff—where it was,
you know, basically Indian in an all white environment, ah well,
then you know, there was some people who would make wise
remarks, you know, ah, about Indian things and, and or about,
you know, of course the usual [motions with hand to mouth]
woo, you know, wooo, wooo, wooo, and all of that, you know.
So, you were, ah, aware of it all the time and so it was, ah, you
know, my mother explaining well that’s, you know, they don’t
know better or things like that, you know.
For Diane, this experience early in life made her very cognizant of the potential
for the same thing to happen with her own children. As a result, Diane shared
that: “And so I had to do the same thing to my children when they were growing
up. My little ones...ah, when, when the first three, the next two that I had they,

they seemed to, they didn’t have that kind of problem in school. You know,

1 13
because times have changed.” Like her mother had done for her in elementary
school, Diane carried on the same tradition with her first three children in
explaining that the children who were making fun of them didn’t know any better.
With regard to the lack of problems her youngest two children experienced in
school, Diane reasoned that the difference is because times have changed.
With a great deal of spontaneity and laughter, Diane explained the difference
this way: “And um, so now it’s like ah, you know, the, it seems like more people
want to be, you know [among American Indians, “wanna be’s” is the label
attributed to non-natives who want to be, or act like, native]. Yes. They all think
it’s so fantastic, you know.”

Given that Diane recalled that her native culture was stressed while she
was growing up, I inquired as to whether either or both of her parent’s taught her
any of the native language. Diane’s response was not unlike that of the other
women profiled thus far in that language was not emphasized nor spoken in the
home while she was growing up. She attributes this to the fact that her father’s
father was sent away to a boarding school at the age of five or six and never
Ieamed the dialect. In addition, when her father’s mother died and his father
remarried, Diane believes that her fathers stepmother was not native and so no
language was Ieamed, let alone maintained. This portion of Diane’s family
history has similarities to that of two of the women previously profiled—Rayna,
Case #692, and Sariah, Case #693-in that either the parents or grandparents
of these women also experienced life in boarding schools where anything

pertaining to native cultural practices was forbidden in order to enhance

1 14
assimilation efforts. For Diane, her paternal grandfather was placed in a
boarding school at an early age so that the family’s native dialect was never
Ieamed in order to be transmitted generationally some day.

On the other hand, Diane’s mother did speak her native dialect.
According to Diane: “Ah, my mother, though, spoke her language. Ah, but not
with us, and so it wasn’t ah, you know, when she’d go back to, back home, well
then, sometimes she might. You know, although again English was, was more,
more commonly conversed.’ Diane remembered times growing up when she
would attend longhouse ceremonies with her mother wherein the ceremonies
were all spoken in native dialect and she was oblivious to what was being said,
yet her mother understood perfectly. For example, Diane recounted a
longhouse ceremony experience during her childhood: “But like when we would
go into a longhouse ceremony, you know, she’d know what they were saying
and we’d just be sitting there totally in the dark, you know. But she would
explain, you know, so we would know what was going on and all that.”

Despite the fact that her mother could understand, interpret, and speak
her native dialect, Diane’s mother never attempted to teach her children their
native language. It was only when Diane married her second native husband
that she began to take an earnest interest in Ieaming her native language.
Interestingly, the impetus for her interest in Ieaming the language came as a
result of her second husband who decided to teach himself his own native
dialect and pass it on to their children. This is a theme that Diane holds in

common with another native woman previously profiled—Barbra, Case #694.

1 15
Neither woman was raised with the knowledge of her native dialect and both
women became interested in Ieaming what they could of their native dialect later
in life as a result of their relationship with a native male partner at the time.
Diane’s interest in Ieaming her native dialect led her to take a class at a local
university and to listen to language tapes to learn what she could on her own.
She also acknowledged that she has picked up a few words informally over the
years by attending pow wows. Of these experiences, Diane shared: “And so it
was pretty difficult, and ah, I, I’ve considered it other times but I just haven’t
bothered to take the time to Ieam.”
In response to how important culture is to her in her life today, Diane’s

own voice speaks to a sense of self-identity that she wouldn’t otherwise have.

Um, lthink it’s pretty important. Ah, lwouldn’t say, you

know, of a rating of one to ten...it’s, it’s not a nine or a

ten. Ah, it [§i_c] maybe a seven now. I guess ah, I’ve been

over exposed...ah, pow wows bore me now. And ah, my

kids, my youngest two, they used to say that, you know,

ah, years ago. And ah, you know, they’d be okay, you

know, for like a half hour, from their perspective. So, ah...

valuable because it has given me, ah, a sense of knowing

who I am. And ah, whereas, I see so many people who

have absolutely no idea, you know, and ah, also feeling

more that I am, ah, you know, part of everything around

us, you know. And so knowing the, the ah, I guess the

1 16
native beliefs, you know, has really been helpful to. Ah,
not having to run from religion to religion, you know, and
in search of the answers more or less, you know. So, it’s
ah, it, it has made me feel very comfortable, you know,
with who I am. And ah, whereas, you know, again, I’m
thinking back to when l was very—like that second grader-
you know, I, I, l was embarrassed because I had a darker
skin color and didn’t really feel comfortable at the time.
But, ah, you know, I have a, mostly because I’ve done
a lot of speaking on it to and, and um, I, when my kids
were, my older three were, were very young, we would
go to schools to and do presentations and, and so, you
know, I’m kind of over that too.

Today, Diane maintains a fairly high level of involvement with the Indian
community and Indian organizations. In the past, she has been on one
American Indian association board for two years and currently is a board
member of an American Indian women’s organization that helps promote
American Indian women in small businesses. Diane’s tone changes to one of
frustration when she talks about the association that her parent’s founded, and
of which she was a past board member.

It sees [is] like the organization [American Indian Association]
for sure, you know, I mean they haven’t grown at all. They,

they keep floundering, you know, and so it’s very frustrating,

1 17
you know, for me, ah, having seen over the years, you know,
what, what it had been. And, and ah, all the possibilities or
dreams I guess that my parent’s had as founders, you know,
to, to the reasons why they established that organization and
then now, it’s basically, you know, it’s, it’s ah, very poorly used,
you know, and ah, the majority of people in the area probably
are, are unaware even that it’s still in existence. Anymore, you
know, ah, and I think to, part of the difficulty is the ah, the
funding sources you know, having to be so dependent on the
federal government. So anyway, that is ah, you know, it,
it tends to be more fi'ustrating but, but I still ah, you know,
I hear about things that are going on. Occasionally, I’ll
talk to Rose and get some gossip then. But not that often
actually. [That ol’ moccasin telephone still works] Yeah, so...
It’s kind of amazing, you know, for ah, like I haven’t been to
one single board meeting in, in over, you know, maybe a
year or so, ah, and yet I still, basically there’s been very
little change in what’s been going on, you know.

In a pattern that is not unlike the other firstbom women previously
profiled, Diane’s immersion in Ieaming her own culture has ebbed and flowed
throughout her lifespan thus far. While she acknowledges that culture is very
important to her in her life today and has given her a real sense of her own self,

Diane also is frustrated with what she perceives to be as a lack of concerted

1 18
effort with ensuring the purpose and ideals of the association that her parent’s
founded by the current members of the American Indian community. For Diane,
her sense of self stems from the relational connection she has with her
American Indian culture—a culture which is practiced and lived in her everyday
life through knowing who she is—and how she connects this sense of self

contextually as she relationally connects with those around her.

Question 4: Does gender inequality exist in the role development of
the firstborn daughter?

Thematic Content: The role gender played in the family; male role; female role.
From Diane’s standpoint, gender inequality did not exist within her family
as she was growing up. As she recalls, there was no limitations put on her and
she was free to embark on activities associated with either gender. For
example, there was no distinction made by her parents in the assignment of
household tasks or chores, or even in roles within the family members, based
on gender. As Diane tells it: “It didn’t really matter that I can recall. Ah, I don’t
remember, ah, we had to shovel snow. I really don’t remember that—my sister
might. Ah...seems to me though, there really wasn’t that much of a difference.”
Even though education was highly valued and stressed as important by her
parent’s, Diane does not recall that her parent’s ever emphasized that she and
her sister should pursue female dominated areas of study and her brother more

traditional male dominated fields of study. Diane and her two younger siblings

were free to pursue any field of study or line of work that they desired; emphasis

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on gender specific roles in any realm never existed.

Question 5: How is the role of the firstborn daughter prescribed?

Thematic Content: Manner in which responsibilities were assigned or given;
who gave or assigned these responsibilities.

Diane recalls that responsibilities were given to her by her mother more
so than by her father because he was not around as much due to work. In
terms of how these responsibilities were given, Diane relayed: “We were told.”
According to Diane, the types of responsibilities given were rather routine: “Ah,
you know, we would take turns setting the table, doing dishes, and ah, of
course, we were always complaining. And, oh, one thing that, you know, the
main responsibility—I guess that, as we got older or whatever-was cooking
potatoes for my dad every night. He had to have his potatoes. So I was always
peeling the potatoes, getting the potatoes boiling and so it got so that I kind of
hated potatoes, you know.”

Although Diane couldn’t recall having to do the laundry, she believed that
she and her siblings probably did. She went on to state that “I remember
helping to hang, hang out the clothes because she didn’t, my mom didn’t have a
dryer for a while, you know.” With some fondness, Diane recalled that she was
a member of the Brownies when she was in second grade, and later, the Girl
Scouts” and so we Ieamed all those things to through, you know, like
cooking and all kinds of other things, you know, and, and ah, so there was just

something that, you know, kind of just naturally developed to.” As for her

1 20
brother, Diane recalled that he was in the Cub Scouts and later, in the Boy
Scouts, “and ah, so it’s pretty much, ah, you know, if it was put down on the
schedule, that’s kind of what we did. You know, there wasn’t any major
rebellions.”

As the firstbom daughter and oldest child of three, Diane relayed that her
ordinal position in the family entailed additional responsibilities. “l was expected
to always kind of watch out for them and, you know, if there were ah, any
problems, like I remember one time ah, there was a neighbor boy—shortly after
we moved in the area—you know, who was picking on my brother so I got, got
involved and ah..[You’re the mediator] Yes. Actually, I think I hit the kid.” In
general, however, Diane shared that “we were all pretty well, ah, watched out
for each other.” The types of responsibilities for Diane’s two younger siblings
never changed as they got older, but they did for Diane in that she mcame

responsible for looking out for the welfare of her two younger siblings.

Question 6: Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the
firstborn daughter and quality of life?

Themay'c Content: Shaped the quality of life; influenced life and shaped goals;
and any positives to being a firstbom daughter.

Being the firstbom daughter not only entailed having more
responsibilities, but as Diane perceived it, it also meant having a lot of pressure
and high expectations placed upon her. In her own poignant voice, Diane
shared what effect being the firstbom daughter had upon shaping the quality of

her life.

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Ah, well as, I know I had ah, I think having more
responsibilities, you know, ah, also made me a little
more, ah, leery to, to take some of those other steps—like
l was afraid to go to college. Even though I was nearly the
top of my class—I was like second—in fact, I could, I was up
for like Valedictorian or whatever, you know, and people had
all these expectations that, oh yeah, you’ll have no problem.
I had a scholarship waiting for me to go to U of M. I didn’t
think I could do it. And so I had no idea what it would be
like at college. Ah, and so I really just didn’t want to try and,
ah, even though everyone told me—you know, counselors
and whoever, you know-that ‘oh yeah, you’ll be great, I’m
sure you’ll do fine’, you know, ‘wherever you want. If you
don’t want to go to U of M, there is Webber State’, you know.
But I just um, I didn’t, didn’t really feel comfortable that, you
know, that I, l was afraid that I would flunk out and
disappoint everybody. And so when my sister went, she
did good. She didn’t flunk out, you know, and ah, she was
[gig] write back to my parent’s—but she went to the University
of New Haven—about what a great time she was having, and
ah, you know, then my brother went away also to the same
school. And so then the two of them were gone, and meantime

by then I, I think I had two kids, you know, and I was [s_ic_] had

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my own house I was having to take care of and all that. That

extra step, I don’t know.
For Diane, the relational connection she held with others also placed her in a
position of not wanting to disappoint others, those that she cared about.
Despite being successful throughout high school and having everyone tell her
that she would have no problem succeeding in college, Diane lacked the self-
confidence to take “that extra step” as she calls it. She became frozen by her
own fear of flunking out, disappointing those she cared about, and failing to
succeed—perhaps brought on by, or at least attributable to in part—to live up to
the tremendous pressure and high expectations she felt everyone had for her.
Instead, she went on to get married, establish a home and have three children,
all the while watching how her sister and brother did when they went off to
college. It’s as if Diane was so ridden with the fear of not living up to everyone’s
expectations of her that she had to learn from watching her siblings go to
college first, if she could succeed herself, based on the success or failure that
her siblings had with the college experience.

Diane did go on to college herself, many years later, and took on the
added responsibility of college study while she raised three children on her own
at the same time. She began at Webber State by studying education and
sociology; her passion was really for social anthropology at the time but Webber
State did not have this area of study back then. By her third year of college,
Diane became more interested in studying law and was thinking about law

school. However, she got talked into trying to attend business school at a

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prestigious east coast ivy league school. As Diane recalled: “And, ah,
discovered I didn’t really like that either. You know, and actually it didn’t like me.
I’d had no accounting, no accounting background at all. And I was recruited to
go in and so I ended up kind of almost flunking out.” Rather than flunk out,
Diane transferred into their masters program in education administration. As
she put it, “So I did a combination, used some of my business background
along with the educational background, and so I got my masters in education
administration.”

In reflecting upon her experience at such a prestigious ivy league school,
Diane relayed: “You know, that was something that, you know, ah, I really, you
know, did have, did have the opportunity to take and went ahead and tried it,
you know. Rather than, ah, again, just stay home...” For Diane, this was a
tremendous accomplishment and a risk she took to overcome the fear of failing
she felt so strongly when she first avoided college after high school. Despite
the fact that she nearly flunked out of the business program, Diane didn’t quit.
Instead, she transferred into another field of study where she could combine
some of her background and be more successful. In doing so, she overcame
her earlier fears and anxieties and successfully completed her college
education—not only several years later, but at a prestigious ivy league school
far away from her childhood roots and relational connections.

When asked how being the firstbom had shaped the quality of her life in
terms of influencing her life or shaping the goals she ended up forming for

herself, Diane was uncertain and tenuous in her response. In this initial mode

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of inquiry, Diane shared the following

I don’t know. Ah, I’m not sure if it really...if that really made

much of a difference because of, my goals were ah, more

based on, you know, other people that I met. And, ah, plus

my work experiences that I, I got and so my goals kept, you

know, changing a little bit. For instance, the job I have now,

you know, I had no idea I would. I never even considered

this job. It just kind of happened, you know. So again, I

don’t see how, you know, ah, my particular, you know,

place in the family and all that would have made any

difference. Ah...l guess ah, maybe, you know, I think

there’s, there is having been more responsible, you know,

ah, so I’ve always had, ah, I guess that would be a major

difference.
In discussing the difference between herself and her sister, Diane pointed out
how her sister held the type of jobs that were not permanent in the sense that
they were time-limited by contract. Also, her sister didn’t have kids to be
concerned about so she frequently moved to different places each time a
contract ended and she took on a new one. As Diane depicts it: “Whereas, I
really, I’ve, I’ve been more ah, very much aware of, of having to always, you
know, it’s not just me that I’m, I’m watching out for. It’s my children or whoever,
you know.”

The relational connection, or self-in-relation, is what guided Diane’s life.

1 25
The decisions she made for herself, her goals, were not based on her own self-
interests, but rather, on the relational connection she had with others and how
she had a felt or perceived responsibility to others, not just to herself. In her
own words, Diane’s voice echoes the importance of the self-in-relation mode of
development, ethic of care: “Ah, so I guess, yeah, you know, that idea of being
responsible has been pretty much, ah, infused in me FOREVER (emphasis
given by Diane)”

Upon further inquiry, Diane was able to be much more deliberate and
responsive when asked to compare how being the firstbom, as opposed to
second or third, has directly impacted what she’s experienced or what she has
done. After a period of quiet contemplation, Diane shared that: “I think I have
ah...probably a lot more insight than ah, my brother and sister. Ah...there are a
lot of other, other things that I have, you know, Ieamed over the years that ah,
ah...l guess they, they may not have really completely considered either.”
Another difference that Diane perceived contributed to her experience as a
firstbom compared to being a later born child, was the health of her sister and
brother. She described how her sister was very sickly as a child and nearly
died, while her brother—the baby in the family-was sickly as well, but not as
seriously as her sister. “And so ah, I mean, they physically needed more care
and ah, so, and also required more of my mother’s time. And so ah, ah, I
tended to become more introspective I guess.”

In addition, Diane perceives that her sister and brother are both focused

on making and having a lot of money. Unlike her siblings, Diane shared that

126
money has never been real important to her. She has always been very
conscientious and has lived on a budget most of her life, whereas, she
perceives that her sister and brother are just now Ieaming how to live on a
budget and do without for the first time in their lives. As Diane depicts it: “All
my life, it seems like it, you know. I know when she was in high scth even,
you know, she would ask for ah, expensive things, you know, and she would
get it. And, whereas, I, I would never consider that. And so that’s been a
difference between us.” With a sense of humor, Diane added: “I, I know, if
from, I think for once we are all struggling, you know, so it’s kind of unique. But
its taken all this time, you know.”

For Diane, a positive to being a firstbom daughter is that she Ieamed to
be conscientious and budget-minded early on in her life, whereas, she regards
her sister and brother as having to learn this now, much later in life. More
importantly for Diane, as she tells it, is that: “I guess a positive would be, at
least for me, is that I did, did become more observant, ah, I think more sensitive
to other people’s needs, ah...you know, and ah, also more aware of the
community as well.” In her own voice, Diane’s words epitomize and capture the

essence of self-in-relation, the ethic of care.

Chyanne (Case #691; Interview 5)
Chyanne was originally scheduled to be interviewed in June, 1996 as my
first participant. However, due to unforeseen medical circumstances, Chyanne

was hospitalized on an emergency basis and subsequently, required several

127
months of recuperation at home before she was able to actively participate in
this study. When I interviewed Chyanne in November, 1996, she was on
medical leave from her full time employment with the state and was
recuperating at home.

Chyanne requested that we meet at her home in the middle of a Sunday
morning for the interview. At the time of the interview, Chyanne was 54 years
old and lived with two of her seven children. Chyanne had been married to a
white male but was presently separated from him. She has only been married
once and as of the date of the interview, had been separated from her husband
for several months. Both of Chyanne’s parents are deceased and she has
seven siblings; she is fourth in ordinal position behind three brothers, and has
two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Chyanne is the firstbom of three

daughters.

Question 1: What is the relationship between ordinal position of the
firstborn American Indian daughter and family of origin
responsibility?

Thematic Content: Family and parental support, resources and what had the
most value or meaning for you.

As was the case with three of the last four women profiled, Chyanne is a
very engaging and relational type of woman who is very dynamic and emotive
as she speaks. You are drawn in to listen intently as she speaks and you are
made to feel at ease almost instantaneously. Chyanne spoke with a great deal

of passion and emotional expression, often with spurts of humor and gracious

128

laughter as she shared her experiences. As the researcher, I found myself

drawn in by Chyanne—eagerly awaiting to hear the next words and stories of

her life. Her relational style and connection is very compelling.

Chyanne recalled that she received a great deal of support from her

extended family as well as from her family of origin. She did not hesitate to

share how meaningful it was to her to have this consistent display of support

and the invaluable resource of both her family of origin and extended family.

As Chyanne describes it, this kinship network provided her with all the support

she needed.

Oh, I, I received a lot. I received a lot. I had um, a couple of
aunts and ah, several uncles, and um, of course, the people
that they married and ah, you know, they were like all part of
the family. Um, it was good when, you know, when they were
around. And um, as far as like ah, support, I think um, for me
the support was more like an emotional type thing. I, I did get
a lot from, from my family, more so than, you know, outside.
So um, and then from my brothers and sisters, we supported
each other. We enjoyed being with each other. We um, all
Ieamed how to dance. We taught each other how to dance, or
you know, we would do plays together. We would urn, have
school, pretend school. We would do just all sorts of things
that, you know, every now and then we might let a neighbor

in, you know. A friend. One, one of the other kids but we never

1 29

had a lot of kids over. Cause [si_c] we were just, you know, just

our own friends.
Chyanne shared that she always felt she had emotional support from her family
which served as a source of encouragement for her while she was growing up.
In very poignant and eloquent words, Chyanne captures the essence of this
support and encouragement from her family: “I always felt that I had the
supportive warmth and cover of my family.” Again, Chyanne’s own words
further illustrate the strength of these women’s voices, the relational connection
and ethic of care that each woman espoused in her everyday life.

In response to my inquiry about what had the most value or meaning for
her as she looks back on the nature of the family support she received,
Chyanne’s response was indicative of the self-in-relation mode of being. She
was rather expressiveunonverbally as well as verbally—as she gave her
response and this only heightened the sense of meaning and importance
Chyanne’s network of family support held for her. The strength of her own
voice rings loud with the words she chooses to convey her experience.

Had the most meaning...well, um, let’s see, if I wrote...well,
I’ll tell you, now this may sound silly, but I, I loved winter. I
loved winter cause [si_c] I loved all the interactions that we
used to have. So, um, that’s why, that’s why I like winter
time. It’s always like, oh yeah, winter’s here. I mean, I still
do that mentally. Winter is here. We can, you know, get

things together and start inviting people over and things like

Question 3:

1 30
that. Like we’ve already started that, you know. And in our
little meager place here. But, ah, yeah, it’s um, that I think is
what I enjoy, what ah, winter means and the context of the
contact. [The closeness of your family and interaction]
Yeah. We’ll go to each people’s houses now, you know,
and start visiting, um, that way. And we talk on the phone
and stuff. We do try to have a family gathering in the, in
the summer where we can all get together. Either go to a
picnic or camping or something like that. So we do get a
summer family gathering, but in the winter time, it’s just

all the time.

What is the relationship between ordinal position and the
role of the firstborn daughter as keeper of the culture?

Thematic Content: Values and culture; importance of, who instilled; emphasis

and change over time.

Chyanne easily recalled what values she was raised with and what

meaning these values came to have for her as she got older. In what struck

me as a very poignant and insightful statement, Chyanne shared what values

she was raised with as follows

Well, you never know you have any values when you’re a
kid until you’re older. And then you realize, well, that’s not
right. You know, when you have something else to judge

it by other than what’s in your family. Then I um, I realized

1 31
that um, people thought I was like hokey or, you know, they,
they thought ‘oh this girl was like, you know, square or
whatever’. Which it didn’t bother me because I was comfort-
able already with how I was raised cause [gig] I really, really
um, associated with my family. For support and for things like
that, so when I went out to do whatever I had to do, it didn’t
matter that much to me because I always had home to come
back to. Where I got that love and that support from the
family so it didn’t matter. Like I didn’t miss school when
school, when school was over. So, basically, ah, the things
that I know um, ah, that I didn’t know then was that I
respect, I respect people. And it’s very important to be
honest with how you deal with another person. It’s ah,
very important if you have responsibilities to follow through
because if you didn’t follow through with them, somewhere
along the line what, whatever the scheme of things were,
you were messing up the scheme of things...to make
things flow.
Here, again, in Chyanne’s own voice we hear the all-too-familiar theme that has
come to encompass these women’s lives: that is, the self-in-relation mode of
being where one is concerned with the well-being of others, and the ethic of
care, which is based on relational connectedness and responsibility for others

via the exercise of care and concern in the self’s relation with others.

1 32
Chyanne’s personal account of important values she was raised with center
around the love and support of her family, honesty and respect for others, and
a keen sense of responsibility in whatever it is you have to do.

Additional values Chyanne recalled being raised with were sharing and
doing things for other people. Encompassed in this domain is honesty and
responsibility in terms of giving an employer an honest days work for an honest
days pay. This emphasis on honesty, responsibility, and work ethic was
primarily instilled by her father, according to Chyanne. As Chyanne tells it: “I
Ieamed that from my dad. He was really a stickler for that. Do, whatever you
got, you earned it, whether it was respect, whether it was your job, the money
you received from that or a person’s friendship. That all came, that all came
from my mom and dad.”

When it came to emphasis on the types of values that her parent’s were
trying to teach her, impart as she was growing up, Chyanne acknowledged that
the types of values emphasized did change over time.

Yeah, that’s ah, like when you’re um, first growing up, and I
guess the only way I know how to do that is because how I
raise my children is how I myself was raised. So I know that
the first thing that you instill that’s very important is like
property. What’s yours and what’s someone elses. If it’s
someone elses, you don’t pick it up, you don’t play with it.
That kind of thing. So it was, ah, just Ieaming the value of

what’s yours and what’s someone elses. And that instills

1 33
the respect to for that, for whatever it is that isn’t yours, you
know. Like how would you like to come home and find
something of yours broken, you know. That kind of thing.
So, but as, as we got older, um, it was, ah, it was a lot of
work ethic was involved in what we did. And that of course
instilled responsibility. The work ethic was even with the
stuff around the house. Now we never did, like now every-
thing, ah, you know um, there’s like this ‘oh if you do that
I’ll give you this’ or whatever, you know. The responsi [gig]
yeah. And those kind of things. So that made things flow so
we knew, ah, we were part of something which in the larger
thing was like part of a community type thing. And so when
we, when we started ah, you know, ah, when you’re little, it’s
ah, things you’re taught help you when you take the next
step, you know. And then the next step, then the next step
so it all comes together. But the bases comes, you know,
like with the respect. That was the biggest thing, the respect,
and there was a lot of that love and, you know, like not
saving I love you but, you know, the holding, the making
sure you had clothes on your back, food in your belly, that
kind of stuff. That, that um, was the unsaid part of love and
I knew my dad really loved us cause [gig] he was hardly ever

home, with ten mouths to feed he was, he had, he held down

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two jobs.

One thing that really stands out for Chyanne as she looks back on her
childhood days is that education was really emphasized, stressed more so as
she got older. She recalls that school was very stressful for her and that “there
was a whole nother [$2] system out there that was like totally foreign to me and
um, it was like, oh God I, when l was 13 I couldn’t even take it anymore.” In her
own words, Chyanne’s voice best tells the story of what happened to her one
day when she decided she wasn’t going to go to school any longer.

And so one day, I decided that’s it, I’m just going to stay
home. I’m not going to school anymore and I’m just going to
stay with my mom. And, ah, that’s what I wanted to do when
l was 13. So, she gets up in the moming—cause [gig] we’re
all old enough we got ourselves off to school and stuff—and,
she said: “What are you doing here?” I said, ‘Oh mom,’ I said
I’m not going to go to school anymore. I’m going to stay
home with you. I’m going to help you.’ And she said, “Oh

no you’re not.” And she hit me. It was the first time she
ever did that to me so it was like, oh she hit me and she said
no. She said, um, “No matter what you are,” she goes, “you
are what you are. There’s no way you can change that. You
have to go out and live in that world. You have too go to
school. Otherwise the government is going to come and

take you away from me.” Yeah, cause [sic] that’s what

1 35
happened to her, when she was five.

As was the case in the profiles of Rayna, Case #692, Sariah, Case
#693; and Diane, Case #695, Chyanne’s family of origin history has the
common experience of members being sent off to boarding school. This factor
alone is one element that contributed to how culture was, or was not,
emphasized and practiced in these women’s family’s of origin. Chyanne
described how her mother, and all of her mother’s siblings before her, were
takerr away from their mother (Chyanne’s maternal grandmother) and sent off to
a boarding school in the central region of the state. Again, as we Ieamed in the
other profiles previously mentioned, Chyanne’s mother had the common
experience of not being able to learn, let alone practice, anything having to do
with her native culture. As Chyanne described it: “And she [her mother] hated
that experience altogether because they were punished, ah, she of course,
couldn’t speak any English when she went so she was punished. They didn’t
even given her any space in her time to learn the language [English]. Yeah,
they started right out and punished them for speaking the language [lndian].”
According to Chyanne, her mother returned home at the age of 14, but to a
stranger instead of her father because her father spoke to her in Indian and
“she didn’t even know who he was."

The experience that Chyanne’s mother had while in the boarding school
greatly effected how culture was addressed in the family while Chyanne and her
siblings were growing up. As Chyanne recalls

They, ah, well, I’m not exactly sure what the culture part of

1 36

the values were because in my mom, she was afraid to show
those things to us because she didn’t want us to go through
what she went through. Like being backward and, you know,
whenever ah, we did, we did know about our moons though.
Our menses and times and how, how ah, strong we were. I
did learn those things and that’s part of our culture too. You
realize that, ah, you know, how strong women really are. And
ah, the important roles that we played. The, ah, thing that
always struck her, ah, about the Mohawk culture was the
fact that um, ah, the women, when they, ah, when they marry,
the men come into their homes. They don’t speak to the
mother-in-Iaw, and they don’t speak to the mother-in-Iaw not
out of disrespect, but out of respect, because of, you know,
that mother-in-law thing they always talk about. The mother,
MY MOTHER-IN-LAW [emphasis given by Chyanne]. Well,
the respect was if he never speaks to her they have nothing
ever to argue about. He has no reason to look down upon
her or to speak bad toward her because he will never speak
to her again.

Chyanne shared how her mother told her that it was common for the male

husband to speak, or communicate, through someone else who was then

responsible for transmitting the message to the mother-in-Iaw. In this manner,

all direct communication with the mother-in-Iaw was avoided and respect was

137
maintained.

Cultural practices such as always looking for the positive aspects in
things or people also was emphasized as Chyanne was growing up. According
to Chyanne, you were taught not to look for or dwell on the negative side
“because you want the, ah, good spirits to be with you. Whenever you have
[strengths based kind of approach] yeah [in looking at things].” Chyanne also
recalls with fondness the nature walks that she would take with her mother. Her
mother used what little space was in front of their house and planted food such
as tomatoes and beans in the dirt. In doing this, Chyanne said that her mother
“talked about our link with the earth”, you know. “That, ah, if you have good
hands and ah, and a good heart and a good mind, you’re going to get good
beans.” Yet, in all of this, there is an aura of sadness in Chyanne’s voice as
she summed up her mother’s teachings: “Yeah, you know, um, but you never
know if it’s culture or not, you know. It’s just what she, what she could
remember what she grew up with. She really resented not having her mom
around and there was ah, a few times that she used to say ‘I wish that, that
my mother was here. I wish my mother could see this.”

Further inquiry as to how important culture was in her family yielded a
mixed response from Chyanne. She spoke at length about her mother’s early
childhood years when she first came to this country from Canada. There was a
major flu epidemic at the time and peOple were dying everywhere. Chyanne’s
mother had told her of how people would sleep with other people during the

winter time in order to keep warm. According to Chyanne, her mother had told

1 38
her of how she was sleeping in the middle [among other people] of her
grandfather and when she woke up on her grandfather, he was like a stone.
Her mother remembers that her grandfather felt and looked like a stone; he had
died in his sleep. Chyanne said that this description was all that her mother
remembered about her grandfather.

For Chyanne, what cultural information she received from her mother
came in the form of stories that her mother passed down about things that she
did remember. Recalling that her mother was taken and sent away to a
boarding scth at the age of five and did not return to live with her family until
the age of 14, much of what her mother remembered occurred prior to, or after,
the time she spent in boarding school. As Chyanne reflected back, she said:
“And as far as the culture, I guess I [gig] was the stories that she was telling us,
ah, um, like how, how you treat people—it was always done like in a story kind
of a thing.”

Chyanne’s mother often used metaphors to teach her children about
culture, people, and life. For example, Chyanne remembers her mother telling
stories that involved animals: “So, and it was always like with animals, certain
animals ah, had different characteristics. Oh, she’s like a snake. Oh, look at
this, she thinks she’s a fox. But people know her, people can see through her,
you know, that kind of thing where she would be just...And I do that now too. I
do that now too. And I was talking, when I talk to my kids I tell them the, the
same things, you know.”

In terms of native language, Chyanne shared that her mother would

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teach her children things that she remembered, “some of the words that she
remembered, that’s what ah, she would give us.” However, according to
Chyanne, it was really important to her mother that they didn’t appear to be
backward type people-meaning, that they were considered backward if they
couldn’t speak English. As Chyanne, tells it: “Or punished if, if we couldn’t
speak English. She wanted us to speak English and to relate to the other world
so it wouldn’t be a stranger to us.” The personal story about language that
Chyanne shared really illuminates the effect that the boarding school had on
Chyanne’s mother, where she was forbidden to learn, speak, or practice
anything to do with her culture.

Chyanne talked about how she did learn to cook certain native foods.
She said that her mother taught her how to make corn soup and a bread that
you either cooked on top of the stove or baked in the oven; Chyanne referred
to the bread in native dialect as dahnabaagooay [unsure of spelling]. Often,
when her mother was preparing stew, she would tell Chyanne that it would
taste so much better if it were made with deer meat instead of scraps of beef
or chicken. As for her father, Chyanne could not recall any specific cultural
teachings that she received from him. According to her, “my dad, my dad he
was ah, it was like you Ieamed from my father, not by what he said but by what
he was doing. He was so strong, he was such a strong man.”

In response to how important culture is to her in her everyday life today,
Chyanne contemplated for some time before she gave the following response.

I think, ah, ifl look at what I, what I know, what I Ieamed

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from when I was little, I would say it’s important. It’s, it’s

in my everyday life. To be, to be honest, to always put

the, the best part of me forward. Um, that’s important to

me. That’s important because of one of the things I

remember my mom saying-l don’t know if this is culture

or not—but, um, when you go out there and how you

behave, it’s not a reflection on you. It’s a reflection on who

raised you. And so that’s what I used to think about, yeah.

I, I would never want my mother and father to be ashamed

of me. When my, ah, dad ah, passed away, and many

people went to the funeral, and they would say, ‘gee Chyanne,

you know you never talked about your dad and your mom.’

And I looked at them and I said, ‘I am my mother and my

father.’ So, however you see me, that’s, that’s how my mom

and dad were. So if you like me, then you LOVE [emphasis

given by Chyanne] my mom and dad.
In her own words, Chyanne provides a very poignant and eloquent tribute to her
mother and father. For embedded in her voice are the teachings given by her
mother, and to some extent, by her father through acts rather than through
words. Chyanne has tried to teach her children cultural practices and instill in
them a sense of pride about their culture. She shared that culture was
important to her to instill in her children as she was raising them. The manner

in which she passed on cultural practices and knowledge to her children was by

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replicating what her mother had taught her, and the manner in which she was

taught by her mother.

Question 4: Does gender inequality exist in the role development of the
firstborn daughter?

Thgmatic Content: The role gender played in the family; male role; female role.
From Chyanne’s standpoint, gender inequality did not exist within her
family as she was growing up. As she recalls, “in certain things there, there
were gender things,” but she also was free to engage in activities traditionally
associated with either gender. In terms of certain things that she felt were
gendered, Chyanne relayed these tasks as follows
Urn, ah, the responsibilities that, ah, women had to make a
a family go. The um, how you take charge of certain things so
it keeps the even flow, so that the father or the husband in the
home is able to do the support. His of course was the
materialistic side of the, he brought the money in and the
wife [of] course was responsible on how the children behaved.
And how they were in school. And um, how their roles to be
responsible person, people, and um, you know, that whatever
was ah, asked of them that ah, she was to make sure that
they, that they followed through. So, ah, the mother, the
female head of household had a big responsibility and as

long as the man was doing his job, then ah, the woman

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should be doing her job.

Chyanne also remembered that one of the things that was instilled in her
by her mother while she was growing up, was that she was meant to have
babies. Although she did not receive the traditional programming that many
women of majority culture received in terms of finding a man and getting
married, Chyanne’s mother did let her know that her mission in life was to have
babies. Chyanne remembers being told this by her mother during elementary
school when she expressed a desire to become a nun. At the time, Chyanne
was attending Catholic school that was governed by nuns. Chyanne came
home and told her mother of her desire to become a nun and she vividly recalls
that her mother said, “Oh, no, you’re not going to go. You were meant to have
babies.”

As for her brothersnof which Chyanne had five—they were given specific
gendered tasks, but they were also taught how to cook. For example, Chyanne
recalled that her mother taught all the children how to cook, and specifically told
the boys “well, not all of you are going to have wives when you get older so you
got to learn how to take care of yourself.” The boys did not have tasks like
housework to do, but they were responsible for outside chores like cutting wood
and bringing up the coal. When it came to fixing things around the house,
Chyanne’s father showed her brothers how to do these things. According to
Chyanne, “So [her brothers] they had that look at the male role, was like being
the protector of the house and all the people in it.”

Despite some things being gender specific in her family while she was

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growing up, Chyanne does not perceive that gender inequality existed. For
instance, she spoke about how her brothers “did the fishing and all that kind of
stuff.” However, Chyanne recalled—and with much laughter-that “I was one of
those kind of people, I want to go fishing. But, um, so, I mean I did eventually.
I was, you know, I was 14—l think it was—when I went off fishing by myself. I
got up at 4:00 in the moming and walked down to the foot of the river and went
fishing. My mom was a little upset with me, but, needless to say.” Other
instances Chyanne gave that, to her, were nongendered examples included her
mother teaching all the children—brothers included—how to sew and crochet, in
addition to the various types of cooking-for the family, when company was over,
and desserts—that was previously mentioned. As well, Chyanne and her
siblings were all free to pursue any line of work or sphere of educational study

that they desired.

Question 5: How is the role of the firstborn daughter prescribed?

Thematic Content: Manner in which responsibilities were assigned or given;
who gave or assigned these responsibilities.

Chyanne recalls that responsibilities were assigned or given by her
mother, almost exclusively, due to the fact that her father worked two jobs to
support the family and was not around as much. Her mother set up a system
where all the children took turns with various tasks, like doing the dishes.
Chyanne’s mother assigned the task of doing dishes to her children in that

every month, a different child would be responsible for doing the dishes for an

144
entire month. Other tasks were accomplished by all the children; someone
would clear the table, another would sweep the floor, and another did the
dishes. All the children Ieamed how to cook and were given the responsibility
of assisting mom in preparing a meal on an alternate basis.

Although Chyanne’s mother was responsible for assigning
responsibilities to the children, when she was not around, Chyanne’s oldest
brother—the firstbom child of a sibship of eight—was the one who enforced what
you were supposed to be doing. Chyanne remembered that her oldest brother,
Lyle, would remind each of them that it was their particular time to do whatever
task or chore mom had assigned them. So, Lyle was the one who would guide
things and be the enforcer “of my mother’s if she wasn’t there.” At all other

times, Chyanne’s mother would serve as the enforcer.

Question 6: Is there a relationship between ordinal position of the
firstborn daughter and quality of life?

Thematic Contgnt: Shaped the quality of life; influenced life and shaped goals;
and any positives to being a firstbom daughter.

Chyanne is one of eight children. She is fourth in ordinal position, having
three brothers ahead of her and two brothers and two sisters after her. She is
the oldest and firstbom daughter of three girls in her family of origin. Without
any hesitation or need for contemplation, Chyanne readily offered how being a
firstbom daughter has shaped the quality of her life.

Oh, I, l, I ah, like it. I mean, I like being the, urn, the

firstbom NOW [emphasis given by Chyanne]. I mean,

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I like it more than I did when I was littler because of the
responsibility part of, ah, you know. Well, you were
supposed to watch your brother, or, you know it’s like
geez, you know, I don’t have time for myself. When you’re
a kid, that’s, you know, like you always want to play or do
those kinds of things that kids do. But as I got older, ah,
looking at some things that have gone on, like being an
advisor. I mean, I never looked at my brothers and
sisters as being stupid. That they couldn’t handle their
affairs. But they did call me and would let, ask me
something. They’d want to find out something. And, ah,
just to get my opinion. So I thought, well, I must have a
good, ah, good opinion. It’s not something that I’m just,
you know, wildly ah, say things off the top of my head.

With as much zest and eagerness as she had responded to my first line
of inquiry, Chyanne shared her thoughts on how being the firstbom daughter
has influenced her life and shaped her goals. In words that resonate with
strength and validation, Chyanne’s voice illuminates her lived experience

Oh my gosh. I’ll tell ya. Yeah. It’s, I think what I’m doing
goes right along with how I was raised. Working within the
community, helping people. Caring about him, about them.
Not making, um, not feeling that I’m above em [gig] but

that I’m right with them. And that’s the only way you can

146
really work with someone. Not looking down at em [s_ic_],
but looking [On a level plane] at them, being with them.
Yes. On on the same level. And I, I’ve got that back many
times from people saying that they, um, looked at me like
a sister. They looked upon me like a mother. There was
many of them that looked on me like a mother. And when-
ever they had family gatherings, they would ask me to
come to them. And that kind of thing. So that, ah, that
always made me feel good, you know. And I would try
to get to as many as I could. But let me tell you, woool
After a while it was like, oh gee, I have this I got to do or,
or my kids are complaining they never see me. In fact
they were. At one point they would say, ‘mom we have
to call and and make an appointment to, to meet with you.’
I said NO YOU DON’T! [emphasis given by Chyanne].

‘Oh yes we do mom.’

Today, Chyanne says that she misses the types of questions her own

children would ask her as they were growing up, now that they are older. She

eventually got into a job where she could work full time with the community, with

families and children, and fill the void that her once young children held. As

Chyanne expressed it, this outreach position was something she thought she

would really enjoy.

To work with the families, to make sure that the children

147
have a healthy, um, under the roots are healthy so when
they grow up they’ll have healthy kids and they’ll have
healthy attitudes and ideas. And that’s, that’s what I
wanted to do. And Kurt upstairs [her son], he always brings
me to reality sometimes, a little cruelly. He says, ‘ah, you
know, you’re not going to save the whole world.’ And I said,
I’m not trying to save the whole worid. “Yes you are.’ I said
no I’m not. I said just the people I work with. I just want to
show them other ways. It’s up to them to take that and make
the choice. And that’s kind of the way my mother did. Oh,
if, you know, if you do this or you know, think about what
you’re going to do. So you have to think about it or just,
well, if you do that, think about what’s going to happen
after that, you know.

In recalling her mother’s way of teaching her and making her think,
Chyanne acknowledged that her mother never did this in a nice way. As she
remembers, “it was always that way of, it was like knocking right into your head.
So, well she’s telling me this and she’s saying it that way because she wants
me to learn. Which I didn’t realize until afterwards that, that was, you know,
she said that to get my attention.” In doing so, Chyanne’s mother was
successful in getting her daughter’s attention. Chyanne remembers how
impactful it was and how much meaning this has for her as she remembers her

mother’s way vividly. To illustrate the influence and shaping effects this had on

148

Chyanne, one only needs to listen to the words Chyanne uses in describing
how she works with people today.

It does. Cause [gig] ah, and that’s the way I work with

the people that I work with. Cause EM I work on em

[gig] like they’re family. Isn’t that, lthink, oh God. I, I

can’t help it though. That’s the, that’s the only way I can

work with them. And at times I guess it’s done really

well, really well. It has done well.

Chyanne perceives that being a firstbom daughter has greatly affected
what she has experienced in life and what she has done, as opposed to being
one of her brothers or sisters who occupy a different ordinal position.
According to Chyanne, being afirstbom has done

A lot. A lot. You know, and I’ll, I’ll tell you what this,
what’s about this one. [It] is because I knew that I was
an example. I was raised knowing that l was an example
how I, howl am, how, how I react to things. I have
brothers and sisters that are going to be looking at me
and that’s how they’re going to react to things. They’re
going to be watching you and that’s what they’re going

to take, they’re, and that’s what I used to think about.
And I do that same thing now. It’s like if I go into a bar
and if I behave like that, and somebody sees me, no,

I can’t do that. So if I went [gig] to drink and party down,

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I do IT AT HOME [emphasis given by Chyanne]. No,
just kidding.
For Chyanne, being a firstbom daughter means Ieaming when you are very
young that you set an example. In her own voice, Chyanne depicts this
process as: “We set the examples for the people that are coming behind us.”
As she continued to ponder and reflect on this matter, Chyanne shared that
there also was a negative side to being the oldest, firstbom girl.
Yeah, that’s ah, I, I think that ah, being the urn, oldest girl-
and there’s ah, there’s ah, negative side to that as well.
Because of the ah, sometimes the pressure that was on me
was like when do I get to be myself. When do I get to be
myself, and when l was 25, 25 was a very remarkable
year for me. And that was only because I realized when
l was 25, that l was doing things that I wanted to do. So,
why was I being upset or stressed about em [gig]? I was
proud to be who I was. Urn, you know, it took me 12 years
to get to that point because when I didn’t want to leave
out of the house and my mom told me that’s what I had
to do, that ah, I am what, that, that, I am who I am—there’s
no way I could change that. And so I thought, well, you
know, I was like going to show her. You know, I had that
attitude, not realizing that’s probably what she wanted me

to do in the first place. I HAD TO HAVE AN ATTITUDE IN

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ORDER TO DO IT [emphasis given by Chyanne].

In regard to there being any positives to being a firstbom daughter,
Chyanne was able to respond rather immediately and directly to this line of
inquiry. As she described it

Yeah, I think it was um, like I got all the new clothes.

My sisters got the hand-me—downs. If there were going

to be any new toys to be gotten, I would get them. And

then my sisters got the, got them as, you know, they

just went on down the line. Yeah. And then um, other

positive things I think, ah, yes, when I was 13 years old

I went to, ah, my cousin Liz’ house. At 13, and l was able

to sit with them and have my cup of tea with the women.

When I was 13. So that meant a lot to me because we

were always regaled off into one room, and the women

went off into another room and there my sister and I would

sit for hours and hours. Nobody would give us a glass of

water even.
When asked if this was a rite of passage type of thing, Chyanne emphatically
said, “Yes!” She added that this was a very momentous time for her, to be able
to sit with the women and not be excluded.

After a bit of contemplation, Chyanne continued to expound on what she
saw as additional positives to being the firstbom daughter. For Chyanne, “The

things um...l don’t know, I just think it has to do with um, um, just being the

1 51
oldest one, being there, ah, you know, first to do whatever it was to be gotten
done.” She went on to temper this statement by saying: “I mean, there’s not a
lot of, there’s not good memories too. There’s some not good memories, but
the majority of em [s_ic] I um, I think because ah, basically, my inner self is a
showoff. And ah, say that I’m the first here or the first there, that I, I, I like that
now. And I know I like it. So I can, I can deal with that, you know that part
good.” With a combination of sadness and appreciation, Chyanne culminated
her response with: “So, yeah, there was a lot of things that my, my mom taught
me that I know she didn’t have time to teach my other sisters. So, um, my
sisters, ah, Ieam some of it now like when we talk. There’s no more women’s
circles like that though when I was little. No more of those women getting
together like that.”

As the researcher in this study, I was so moved and captivated by
Chyanne’s lived experience and the manner in which she articulated the
meaning her life experiences held for her, that I gave her the opportunity to add
anything that she felt would be helpful or important that I did not inquire about
during the more formal lines of inquiry. Chyanne’s response is so poignant and
full of insight that I chose to conclude this chapter with her own words, words
that resonate the strength in the voices of all five women heretofore profiled.

I think the firstbom child or—whether it’s a boy or a girl-
needs um, I, all—maybe it’s not the right word, but like extra
understanding, extra um, time so that everything that they’re

instructed to do that there’s an explanation that goes with it.

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So you know, so you don’t have to, well, like with, when
Rob [her son] was growing up, ah, he’s the oldest boy. Well,
he had a lot of responsibility in regards to the brothers and
sisters and things, ah, that went on. He was supposed to see
certain things were done. It’s like my brother Lyle, now that I
think about it. But I never, um, I never thought about explain-
ing those things to him. To let him know why that those were
important. For him to, for him to do, or him to know about. And
that’s the same thing when I-well, you’re, you’re the oldest,
you’re the oldest girl so if anything bad went down it’s because
I was not given an explanation for things...cause [gig] it’s a big

responsibility.

Thematic Summam

The profiles of each of the five women participants’ illuminate the depth
and breadth of their subjective perceptions of how being a firstbom American
Indian daughter shaped, influenced, and effected their individual role
development within the context of their American Indian family of origin. Taken
individually, as well as collectively, the womens’ voices resonate with struggle,
resiliency, and strength as they share their lived, everyday experiences as a
firstbom daughter. In the collective responses to the various research
questions explored during the ethnographic interviews, these women shared

their inner voices and exposed their many trials and tribulations as they

153
willingly sought to contribute to this study. These women had hopes of
affording a keen sense of meaning and understanding about their role
development, as a firstbom American Indian daughter, by telling their stories
through the lens of environmental and familial influences that shaped their
experiences as firstbom daughters.

From the women’s perspective, their American Indian culture played a
prominent part in their role development. They indicated that the experiences
of their parents’ greatly effected how they were raised as children. Forced
assimilation was a shared experience among the parents’ of these five women,
either through forced removal from their families of origin and placement into
boarding schools, or through everyday experiences of life in their particular
generation and temporal sphere. The end result was that the parents’ of these
women did not know much about their native culture, or what little they knew
they didn’t want to share or teach to their daughters. The parents’ experience
of cultural oppression during their generation served to replicate itself In many
ways as they raised their own firstbom daughters. These women were raised
by their parents’ under the guise of protection when it came to their native
culture; that is, protection from going through what they as parents had gone
through by teaching their firstbom daughters that they must adapt to the white
or dominant ways, that they did not need to know about their native culture as
it would only hurt them. For these women, their parents’ espoused a very
powerful, yet confusing, message to them: on the one hand, you are American

Indian, but on the other hand, you must forget about your culture and adopt the

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white man’s way of living in order to survive.

All of the women shared that their native culture was important to them,
while at the same time, acknowledged that the intensity in level of importance
ebbed and flowed over their lifespan. The women in this study reported that the
impetus for immersing themselves in their native culture came about as a result
of a relational connection—relationship—with an American Indian male. As each
of the women grew up ostensibly in a white society, they had little exposure to
other groups until later in childhood. When they became involved with an
American Indian man, they began to immerse themselves in Ieaming all they
could about their culture as an integral part of developing and building their new
relationship. Prior to these newfound relationships and connections, the various
environmental and familial systems had not encouraged the women in this study
to seek out—nor did they value-their needs for cultural connection.

For these women, becoming culturally connected when all the external
forces-namely, environmental and familial systems-were urging them to
negate their culture took a great deal of effort. Not unlike the findings in a study
done by Rosander in 1993, “This experience of being [culturally] disconnected
and shom from self and others” who are culturally affiliated or connected was
repeatedly illustrated in the poignant stories and examples of everyday lived
experiences shared by the women (p. 160). Most of these women were very
moving in their descriptions of the inner turmoil and struggle involved in their
cultural disconnection, making cultural disconnection an important theme in their

role development as a firstbom American Indian daughter.

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When it came to values emphasized and instilled by their parent’s, nearly
all of the women had the value of responsibility, or an ethic of care, infused in
them. Common values amongst the women consisted of self-reliance,
independence, honesty, respect for others and their property, sharing, and a
work ethic. What is striking about these particular values is that they have a
relational connection in common; that is, the theme is built around the individual
woman in relation to other people, not on self to the exclusion of all else. The
values of self-reliance and independence are not regarded as separating from
or being autonomous in relation to others. Rather, these values were instilled
within the context of being responsible and caring for others. As such, each of
the women were enmeshed in an ethic of care where the focus was on the
self-in-relation to others.

For these women, being strong meant that they could maintain relational
connections with others, their family of origin, while being differentiated from
their family at the same time. They were all immersed in relational connections
within their family of origin wherein they were focused on being responsible for
the care and nurturing of others while maintaining a differentiated self. In other
words, by being responsible for the care of others, they were actively
participating in the development of others’ whom they were relationally
connected to while at the same time caring for the self.

These women valued the self-in-relation mode of development; they
could actively participate in the development of others in the context of their

family of origin, while actively taking care of their own needs for self-

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development. This conceptualization and actualization of an ethic of care
required a great deal of effort and strength on the part of these firstbom
daughters. It also involved an ever-present struggle and periods of turmoil for
each woman, as their individual stories and examples of everyday lived
experiences connote-a struggle that has continued throughout the lifespan for
each of these women.

Spirituality was another theme that factored into each of the womens’
lives: These women spoke about their spirituality as a way of life, a philosophy
that guided how they lived their everyday lives. For example, Sariah (Case
#693) described her spirituality as “not anything you can see” but “more inside,
not from outside.” In Sariah’s case, spirituality represented her inner being,
her inner voice that guided her in living her daily life: “And I believe, if you
believe, it’s powerful, powerful.” Diane (Case #695) revealed that her native
spirituality meant that she “didn’t have to bounce from religion to religion looking
for answers,” whereas, Chyanne (Case #691) tried to live her life as her
parents had taught her by keeping in mind that she was setting an example in
whatever she did for the younger one’s coming along behind her. For
Chyanne, being ever mindful that she was an example for others was
paramount “because you want the ah, good spirits to be with you.”

Another theme that surfaced in the profiles of all five of these women
was that of emotions, being emotive or emotional beings. In their collective
stories, these women shared how they constantly struggled with being able to

differentiate from their family of origin while maintaining relational connections.

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Most of the women made reference to the years It took them to realize, to learn,
to put their selves first. As Barbra (Case #694) described it: “I mean to care
is okay but, you know, try to keep your life to.”

Again, an ethic of care is predominant in these womens’ lives. They
were always taking responsibility to help out in some way, or what is commonly
referred to as the be all, do all syndrome. For these women, their development
evolved through connections via relationships with others. In some cases, the
women paid a lofty price emotionally for their mode of development in that they
felt extreme pressure and high expectations from others within the context of
their family of origin. As Diane’s profile Illustrated, she was “leery to take some
of those other steps, like I was afraid to go to college....and people had all these
expectations that, oh yeah, you’ll have no problem. I, I was afraid that I would
flunk out and disappoint everybody.”

Additional examples of the emotional price paid for espousing an ethic of

care can be gleaned from the stories of Rayna (Case #692) and Sariah (Case

#693). In Rayna’s case, she Ieamed early on that she was to refrain from
displaying her emotions, her emotive being, from her experiences in the
boarding schools. By silencing her inner voice—her emotive being-Rayna
found it extremely difficult to acknowledge her feelings and expose her
emotions. Through living her life on the basis of an ethic of care, Rayna came
to the realization one day that “I discovered I was carrying the whole load. I
didn’t think that was fair.” As a middle aged firstbom daughter, Rayna confided

In me that she still has a difficult time showing her emotions, such as crying, to

1 58
this day.

On the other hand, Sariah recalled that she dealt with her emotions and
sense of responsibility for others by engaging In the be all, do all syndrome. In
her own voice, Sariah’s experience epitomizes this be all, do all syndrome. “I
became obsessed with getting things done, make sure that everything was
done. Everything was taken care of. l was, I was ah, driven to that. Daily,
daily, daily.” The price Sariah paid was in channeling her emotional energy into
obsessive behavior In terms of being totally focused on making sure that
everything was taken care of and getting done. Her Inner voice, which dealt
with her emotive being, was only allowed expression by channeling her
emotional energy into obsessive behavior-”.J was ah, driven to that.”

Financial management was another theme that surfaced throughout the
stories of all five interviewees. For these women, financial management
constituted Ieaming to make do with what you had. They all shared that money
was rather scarce as they were growing up; however, the way that their
parents’ managed to provide all the basic necessities of life made the women
feel secure. As Chyanne revealed in her story: “We never knew we were
poor.” Another way of saying this for these women is that they never missed
what they did not know or have.

Each of these firstbom daughters Ieamed all about the work ethic early
on In their lives. They all worked and espoused a strong work ethic themselves.
It Is Interesting to note that each of these women struggled to provide for their

children, by working at whatever jobs they had to, as single parents during their

1 59
later young adult lives and into the early years of middle age. They all shared
how they were solely responsible for the payment of their bills, even if it
included bills incurred by their ex-husbands or former partners, and how they
saw to it that the needs of their children came first.

Of further interest in this regard is how each of these women spoke with
disbelief and disfavor about their siblings lack of financial responsibility. For
example, Barbra spoke about how her younger sister would spend inordinate
amounts of money on tangible goods for herself without giving any
consideration to meeting her children’s needs first. In a different realm, Diane
shared the fact that her younger brother and sister were just now having to
learn how to live on a budget during their middle years, whereas, she has lived
her whole life on a budget and took her children’s needs into account first
whenever she looked at taking a job, or changing jobs. Despite their disbelief
and disfavor toward their siblings’ lack of financial management, each of these
firstbom daughters would assist their siblings In time of need when they were
sought out for money or other forms of tangible, in-kind help. Many times these
women would state that they would help their siblings out for the sake of their
nieces or nephews, and only peripherally for the sake of their siblings.

The nature of material resources provided within the context of their
family of origin was another common theme in the lives of these women. As
previously mentioned, these women spoke about how they all grew up with and
Ieamed the Idea of making the best with what resources they had. While they

acknowledged a lack of material items during their own child rearing days, they

1 60
all expressed how their siblings benefited more then they did as material items
were more readily available to them as they were growing up.

Other types of material resources provided by their parents’ or family’s of
origin consisted of education, both formally and informally. These women were
taught that education was a means to survive and critical thinking skills were
prevalent Informal teachings provided by their fictive and nonfictive kin
networks. Despite their parents’ lack of money and material things, each
woman readily shared that their parents’ provided whatever they could. A
sentiment shared in the stories of each of these women aptly depicts their
sentiment towards material and monetary resources: They never missed what
they did not have or did not know; they never felt poor and were content with
what their parents’ were able to provide.

lnforrnal education consisted of Ieaming to critically think via storytelling
discussions given by either their mother or father. In fact, a primary emphasis
of the informal teaching these women received was through the use of
anecdotes. For example, Sariah and Chyanne both talked about how their
parents instilled certain values or ethics by using anecdotes or metaphors in
their teachings. For each of these women, the Informal teachings they
received were as important, if not more so, than the formal education they
received. There was a high emphasis placed on Ieaming and making do with
what you had. Formal education was geared towards self-development,
making connections with other people who were of a diverse background than

yourself, and being exposed to other people of color, for many, the first time

1 61
was In secondary schooling. Collectively, each of these women told stories of
how they experienced being the only one or one of a few minorities In school,
work, and in their childhood neighborhoods. This factor of difference remains
true today for all of the women with the exception of Barbra and Rayna, the
latter of whom work in American Indian programs within, or for, other
organizations.

A seventh theme that emerged In the stories of these women relates to
the type or level of either family and parental support given to them, in the form
of resources, has to do with physical attributes and skills. In their individual
stories, each of the women spoke of the ability to play various sports or to
engage in various types of physical labor around the house. Another type of
physical resource that surfaced in the data analysis was the role these middle
aged firstbom daughters played in taking protective measures on behalf of their
younger siblings. For example, Rayna told stories of how she looked out for
the younger girls, and later her younger sister once she arrived, during the time
she was in the boarding school. She told stories about how she would
physically intervene on behalf of younger children who were being preyed upon
by the older children, or bullies in the school. In addition, she also shared how
she saw herself as a tomboy and how she would teach the other children how
to sled, dance, or defend themselves whether they wanted to learn or not.
Further discussion of other roles or functions will be discussed in Chapter V.

Chyanne shared a few instances of how she would look after her

younger siblings and area neighborhood children In the inner city area where

1 62
she grew up. In particular, she spoke about protecting the children from men
who preyed on the neighborhood looking for sexual favors. Sariah also shared
instances where she had intervened on behalf of her sibling, or younger area
children, by physically hitting the perpetrator or physically intervening to stop a
bully from causing harm. For many of these women, fist fights to protect their
siblings or other children during the course of their own childhoods was a
natural phenomenon in their role development as a firstbom daughter.

A very meaningful, yet unexpected, benefit emanating from this study
was the womens’ sense of being empowered as a result of their participation in
the exploratory research. During the course of the Interview process, most of
these women remarked about the discovery of new insights and meaning they
were experiencing by giving voice to their Inner-most feelings about their
everyday lived experiences as a firstbom American Indian daughter. It’s as if
one could see the light bulb going on and an internal “ah ha” or “eureka” being
experienced as the interviewer and interviewee engaged in a relational
connection. Collectively, these women described feelings of affirmation in
being asked to participate and were happy to contribute to this research where
women’s issues, particularly that of American Indian firstbom daughters, were
considered of worthy Importance. In addition, they also discovered through
their struggles, how much resiliency and strength they had in persevering
throughout their role development as firstbom American Indian daughters,
especially In times of very arduous circumstances. Through these guided

imageries of self-exposure and revelation, their discovery about themselves

163

felt very positive.

CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

I will never know the experience of others, but I

can know my own, and I can approximate theirs

by entering their world. This approximation

marks the tragic, perpetually inadequate aspect

of social research. (Reinharz, 1984 as cited in

Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986/1997, p. 113)

Introduction

It is Important to reflect upon the findings reported in Chapter IV in order
to come to a clear understanding of what these qualitative results mean for
family studies scholars and practitioners across a range of disciplines.
However, In order to reflect back upon these findings, there are a couple of
areas that need to be addressed. The first area that begs attention is the lack
of literature which specifically addresses the role development of firstbom
American Indian daughters within the family of origin, let alone the sparse
literature in existence which speaks to the development of American Indian
women in general. The second area which demands attention is the Issue of
contextualizing the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
within a historical perspective. In other words, it is important to discuss the
findings presented In Chapter IV in terms of a broader context which

encompasses the time period in which these firstbom daughters were growing

164

1 65
up, as well as the period of time In which their parents’ lived; the latter directly
effects how these firstbom daughters were raised.

In order to set the stage for fuller explanation and interpretation of the
findings reported In Chapter IV, the relationship between the historical
perspective, or timeline, and Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1986) ecology of human
development model and chronosystem model requires explanation and
elucidation as It pertains to the role development of the firstbom American
Indian daughter within her family of origin. It is Important to keep in mind that
Bronfenbrenner sees development as the goal of the active organism (in this
case, the firstbom daughter) who seeks progressive and mutually
accommodating transactional relationships with the environment (the family of
origin). Viewed in this context, the role development of the firstbom American
Indian daughter occurs as a process that is gradual, evolving, and incremental
over time. Embedded within this developmental process is the broader context
of a historical timeline marked by events in the larger environmental system-
the macrosystem—that directly effect, influence, and shape the development of
the firstbom daughter within her family of origin vis-a-vis her parent’s. In other
words, the effects of forced assimilation and historical events that the first-
bom’s parents lived through influenced the manner in which these parents
raised their firstbom daughters.

Given that the age range of the five participants in this study was 44 to
54 years, these firstbom American Indian daughters were born during the
decade of 1942 to 1952. It also Is known that four out of the five participants
graduated from high school and one firstbom daughter obtained her GED.
Factoring in an average age of 18 years at the time of graduation would place

four of the five women as having graduated from high school during the

166
decade of 1960 to 1970. Moreover, the data reveal that the parents of these
five firstbom American Indian daughters would most likely have been born In
the early 1900s. As a result, from approximating the time of birth of the
parents of these five firstbom daughters and combining this information with
the known period of time In which these five participants were themselves
born, we can demarcate the historical timeline in which the role development
of the firstbom daughters’ evolved.

During the decade of 1942 to 1952 when these five participants were
born, two major events In history were transpiring: WW II (1939-1945) and
the Korean War (1950-1954). It is of interest to note that “during WW II, It
has been estimated that 25,000 American Indians served in the armed forces
of the US. (F ixico, 1986)” (Silvey, 1996). In the decade of 1960 to 1970 when
these women graduated from high school, we discover several major historical
events during this period; namely, the US. build up of troops in Vietnam in
1965, the Civil Rights movement and passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964,
the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.,
and the passage of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968.

More importantly, and specific to American Indians, was the period of
time marked by the “Red Power” events; the Red Power Movement occurred
In the late 1960s and early 1970s (Gross, 1996). Three events occurred that
are considered by many as prominent symbols of nationness for American
Indians. The first of these watershed events occurred on November 9, 1969
with the occupation of Alcatraz (“the Rock”), an island situated in the bay
waters between San Francisco and Sausalito. American Indian activists were
frustrated by the slow pace of bureaucratic change in federal lndian policy,
especially after the passage of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. These

167
activists decided that reform had to come from within and took possession of
Alcatraz to get the govemment’s undivided attention. The occupation lasted
19 months before it ended. The publicity generated by the occupation served
American Indians well as it dramatized the injustices perpetrated on American
Indian peoples by Anglos throughout history (Silvey, 1996).

The second unifying event occumed In 1972. Members of the American
Indian Movement (AIM) took over and occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Office, in the Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. This event became
known as the “Trail of Broken Treaties” demonstration (Powers, 1986).

Finally, perhaps a more widely known symbolic event occurred on
February 27, 1973 when armed members of the American Indian Movement and
Oglala Sioux Tribe invaded the village of Wounded Knee, South Dakota—site of
the 1890 massacre (Powers, 1986). The purpose of this Invasion was to
dramatize the poverty, corruption, and oppression at Pine Ridge (the
reservation) and call national attention to the situation. The occupation lasted a
total of seventy days. The Sioux demanded that the government agree to honor
the Treaty of 1868 before they would withdraw. When all was said and done,
the US. Marshals had killed two people, paralyzed one for life, and none of the
political issues that set the occupation in motion were ever resolved by the US.
govemment.

Added to this historical timeline that covers the development process of
these five participants is the mix of historical events that effected the parents’ of
these firstbom American Indian daughters. The parents of these firstbom
daughters lived through a very remarkable time in history. From the early
1900s until the birth of these women in the early 19403 through 1952, these

parents endured a tumultuous period of history wherein the US. government

1 68

vacillated in its federal lndian policy; from a policy position of forced removal,
relocation, and termination by the federal government towards the American
Indians, to a policy position interspersed with attempts to rescue or “save the
red man” (Silvey, 1996).

In addition, American Indians were not granted citizenship status until
1924 with the passage of the General Citizenship Act (Fixico, 1986). Then, in
1934, the US. government passed the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) which
provided for the conservation and development of American Indian lands and
resources by and for American Indian communities. One of the requirements
brought about by the IRA was a policy established by the government which
required that each tribe Issue “pedigree papers”—fonnal tribal enrollment cards
or documents-for those American Indians who can demonstrate tribal lineage
that meets the tribe’s membership requirements, vis-a-vis the US. government
definition. As such, American Indians have become the only group of people in
the US. who have “pedigree papers” to prove who they are; self-identification
was no longer accepted under the provisions of the IRA

Other major events of significance during the earty 19003 that the
parents of these firstbom daughters endured included WW I (from 1914-1919),
the stock market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression. From the
perspective of the ecology of human development model, all of these historical
events—from the early 19003 to the early 19703—combined to shape the
environments in which these firstbom daughters’ parents were evolving and
living, and thus, effected and shaped the manner in which these parents raised
their firstbom daughters. As has been previously stated, the role development
of the firstbom American Indian daughter does not occur in isolation from her

family of origin anymore than it occurs in Isolation from the broader

169
environmental systems, such as those in the aforecited discussion.

A significant finding of this study is the effect that the boarding school
experiences of these women’s grandparents and parents had in terms of how
they were raised. Four out of the five firstbom daughters had grandparents or
parents who were separated from their families of origin and sent to boarding
schools. In fact, one of the firstbom participants not only had a family history
of her mother having been put in a boarding school, but this firstbom
participant herself had been put in a boarding school at the age of four and
spent the majority of her formative years being reared in the boarding school
environment.

The effects of the boarding school experiences for these women’s family
members, as well as for the lone firstbom participant who directly experienced
life in the boarding school environment, are imbued throughout these women’s
family histories. All one needs to do is to return to the voices of the women
themselves, as they shared their life experiences growing up as a firstbom
daughter (Chapter IV), to get a sense of the pain, struggle, and heartache that
each has come to know as a result of the legacy left behind in their family
histories from the boarding school experiences. As they shared their life
stories, the women’s voices resonate with pain, loss, hopelessness, struggle,
and identity Issuesna fact that these women continue to struggle with today.

The manner in which most of these women were raised by their parents
can be associated with the experiences that their parents had as they
themselves were growing up. Three of the firstbom participants had mothers
who were separated from their families of origin and placed in boarding
schools by government agents; Sariah, Rayna, and Chyanne. Sariah’s

father also had been forcefully removed from his family and placed In a

1 70
boarding school. In the case of Diane, her maternal grandfather had been put
in a boarding school, whereas, Rayna and a younger sister had actually spent
time In boarding schools. The significance of these family histories on the
women’s evolving and gradual processes of development demands critical
attention and elucidation, as the following discussion will reflect.

From the women’s own voices, we learn that their parents’ placed a
great deal of emphasis on Ieaming to adapt and live in the dominant white
culture. In large part, the parents’ of these women raised them in a protective
and restrictive realm, ensuring that the women would learn and practice the
dominant culture’s way of life. These women recalled that they were not
taught their native language, nor were they encouraged to Ieam and speak
any language aside from English. They also recalled that their native culture
was not central in their lives as they were growing up. Each woman was
aware that she was American Indian, yet there was no emphasis placed on
Ieaming to speak their native dialect nor to overtly practice their native
customs. If anything, these women were consistently discouraged from
actively pursuing their native customs and traditions.

For these firstbom women, their parents’ raised them with the notion of
protecting them from the pain and struggles they had endured as children
growing up, having been forcefully removed from their families of origin. In
the case of Diane, while her parent’s were not in boarding school, her
maternal grandfather had been placed In a boarding school. Given this data,
we can Infer that Diane’s maternal grandfather did not have the ability to Ieam
his native dialect, nor practice his native traditions in an overt fashion as such

were staunchly forbidden in the boarding schools. The whole purpose of the

1 71
boarding school environment for native children was to force assimilation and
adoption of the dominant white culture’s way of life. The historical literature is
replete with accounts of the govemment’s efforts to force assimilation and
terminate the practice of native culture and tradition by forcefully removing
native children from their families of origin (Fixico, 1986; Myers, 1981).

In addition, evidence from the data supports the inference that these
firstbom daughters’ were raised under the cloak of protection and restriction
from knowing and practicing their native culture on a daily basis. Returning to
the women’s voices, we can establish that Chyanne”s mother was very
concerned about the potential of losing her to the boarding school
environment. The data indicate that Chyanne’s mother was adamant about
her daughter staying in school out of fear that the government agents would
take her away and put her in a boarding school. Support for this protective
role enacted by Chyanne’s mother can be found in the data where Chyanne
Is trying to convince her mother to allow her to stay home from school
permanently, at the tender age of 13. Also, another example of Chyanne’s
mother trying to be protective of her is found in the data where Chyanne’s
mother is instructing her to never sign her name to any papers and in that way,
the government cannot find her and take her away.

There are a number of examples In the data which support the
contention that parents’ were raising these firstbom daughters under a
protective shroud and how they consistently discouraged the women from
revealing too much about themselves, or from making concerted efforts to
learn their native dialect and overtly practicing their culture. The point is,

these parents’ were extremely fearful that their own firstbom daughters could

172
be taken from them, as either they themselves or their own parent’s had been
when they were younger. Given the history of boarding school experiences in
these women’s families, it is not hard to draw conclusions about why these
firstbom daughters were raised in the manner that they were. One conclusion
that can be made from the data is that parents who spent time in boarding
schools were made to relinquish any native dialect they knew at the time, as
well as forced to give up any cultural practices that they held. Because they
were forced to give up any overt means of American Indian identification,
these parents were incapable of passing on any native practices or dialect to
their firstbom daughters. Moreover, based on the aforecited discussion,
another conclusion supported by the data is that these parents Ieamed It was
not safe to practice, and thereby teach their firstbom daughters their native
dialect or customs for fear that history would repeat itself.

From a historical standpoint, these parents were reacting to the
potential of having their firstbom daughters forcefully removed from them and
placed in boarding schools. There were sufficient reasons to raise their
daughters under a restricted and protected familial environment. It was not
until 1978 that the US. government passed legislation that protected children
from being forcefully removed from their families of origin without providing
good cause to the contrary. This legislation is known as the Indian Child
Welfare Act of 1978, or P. L. 95—608 (Myers, 1981 ). The women participants
In this study did not have the rights and protection afforded by the passage of
this federal law, and as such, the women’s parents had every reason to be
concerned and protective of their firstbom daughters.

Undoubtedly, nowhere is the issue of loss, pain, struggle, and confusion

over these women’s development as American Indian firstbom daughters more

1 73

profound than In the women’s own voices as they shared their life stories as
participants in this study. We can glean a sense of what this stniggle is about
from the literature, even though it cannot compare to the actual voices of these
women participants. Joseph Myers (1981), Associate Director of the American
Indian Lawyer Training Program, lnc., captured the essence of what thcse
firstbom daughters’ parents feared when he wrote the following,

I can recall childhood moments when separation from

my family, whether for a day, a week, or a month,

seemed like eternity heaped upon eternity. The con-

cept of time is so Important to us as children. As

adulthood consumes our innocence, our perception

of time changes dramatically. We learn to manipulate

time for gain or deception, use time as a defense

mechanism, or lose time and chase after It forever.

No longer does the passage of time have the ability to

arbitrarily choke life from our minds as it can from the

minds of children separated from their families. In the

formative years of youth, separation from family is

intensely terrifying for children. The longer the

separation, the more profound the scars. In adulthood,

even If you can’t overcome them, you learn to exist with

your struggles. (p. 15).
These firstbom participants have certainly Ieamed to live with their struggles
as they have evolved and developed over time. As we have Ieamed from the
data, the additional theme of assimilation on the parents of these firstbom

daughters effected how the firstbom daughters were raised. A significant

1 74
element of the parent’s child rearing practices was teaching these women to
adopt and adapt to the dominant culture’s way of life. It was not prudent to be
American Indian during the period of time that these women and their parents,
much less their grandparents generation, were growing up.

Clearly an element of shame attached to being identified as an
American Indian has transcended the generations of these women’s families.
In analyzing the data from the women’s interviews, another theme was
uncovered that was not anticipated at the outset of this study: the theme of
family secrets that directly ties In to the effects of assimilation during the
firstbom parents’ generation, and ultimately, to the manner in which firstbom
women were raised. For example, there is no history of boarding school
experience in Barbra’s family that she knew of. However, she was raised
with the attitude that It was better to adopt the dominant culture’s way of life.
In Barbra’s own voice, the data shows that after she had married a white
man, she confronted her mother about what she was supposed to do because
her mother raised her to be white. It wasn’t until later in her development that
Barbra Ieamed why her mother had raised her to live and act like she was
white as opposed to American Indian. After her mother’s death, Barbra
Ieamed that the man she had regarded as her biological father all the time she
was being raised was in fact her stepfather, and further, that her stepfather
had formally adopted her. This was a family secret that Barbra’s mother
went to great lengths to keep from Barbra’s knowledge.

Barbra came to learn that her biological father was American Indian.
Her mother did not want her to know about him so to safeguard this secret,

Barbra’s mother discouraged Barbra from actively pursuing any knowledge

1 75
about her American Indian heritage, practices, or traditions. What Barbra
came to realize is that her mother feared if she knew about her native culture
and became Involved in actualizing her native customs, that Barbra would
come in contact with the Indian community and therefore, she might learn who
her biological father was. So, in Barbra’s case, we learn that she was reared
In the ways of the dominant white culture so that she would not find out about
her adoption by her stepfather, or that her biological father was in fact
American Indian. For in the end, reared in the denial of her American Indian
heritage and identity meant that Barbra’s mother’s secret could be
maintained.

In a different vein, Rayna’s life story holds a family secret that she did
not uncover until she was in early adulthood. Rayna recalled that when she
was sent off to boarding school, her mother registered her with the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) agent under the name of Jane. All the while she was living
in the boarding school, she thought her real name was Jane, as this was what
her mother had called her while she was growing up. Rayna found out years
later, when she came across her birth certificate and other legal documents,
that her real name was Rayna and not Jane; Jane was her middle name.
Given the fact that Rayna’s mother had been forcefully removed and sent off
to a boarding school, one can only speculate or surmise that somehow, by
registering her daughter with the BIA agent under the name of Jane that
Rayna’s time in the boarding school would be easier for her to endure. After
all, Jane is more of an Anglo name than Rayna is and the mode of operation in
the boarding school for Indian children was to relinquish their American Indian

identity and assimilate to the dominant white culture. However, one can only

1 76
make Inferences from the data available and Rayna herself acknowledges that
she has never Ieamed from her mother why she was registered under her
middle name as opposed to her first name.

The life story shared by Chyanne contains a family secret that still
exists today. Since both of Chyanne’s parents are deceased, the odds are
very unlikely that she will find out the tmth of the matter. At any rate, the data
from Chyanne’s interview reveals a time during Chyanne’s childhood when
night time visitors would come after all the children were in bed. Chyanne
recalled that men would come in a black car, wearing big hats and big
necklaces, and dressed in black, to see her mother. She also recalled that
older women would accompany the men during these night time visits. All
Chyanne can remember is that these night time visitors would come and sit
and talk with her mom and that her mother would never tell her who these
people were or why they would come. Rather, Chyanne recalled that her
mother would dismiss the visitors as just a lady friend.

From the data, we know that Chyanne’s mother instilled in Chyanne
that she should never sign her name to any papers, commit to buying anything
on paper but pay cash instead, and that she should never be too smart or
super bad in school; rather, she was just supposed to get through school.
Chyanne recalled that her mother reasoned that Chyanne couldn’t be too
smart or too bad in school because then her name would be written down
somewhere and the government could find them. In addition, Chyanne was
taught by her mother that she was never to let the government know where
the family was so that they wouldn’t come and take the children away. She

also was Instructed not to let people know where she was, or the family was,

1 77
or sign her name to anything because then the family couldn’t be traced.
Chyanne recalled that she was always fearful that somehow she would slip
and they would find out where she and her family were at.

From historical accounts, it Is known that BIA agents and missionaries
from religious denominations—primarily Catholic—would be involved in the
removal of Indian children from their families. Although Chyanne was never
able to garner the truth of the matter from her mother, given the teachings
Instilled by her mother and what Is known from historical accounts, one can
make" the Inference that these night time visitors were representatives of the
government boarding schools. Given the data, it is not a great leap in
reasoning to infer that these night time visitors were somehow associated with
the government and were visiting to check up on the status of Chyanne's
family. It certainly would be one plausible explanation for the manner in which
Chyanne was raised during this temporal sphere.

From an ecological perspective of human development, it is readily clear
to the author why these firstbom daughters’ were raised In the manner that they
were. When you combine the two additional themes the data reveal, as
discussed In the aforecited section, in addition to the findings reported in
Chapter IV, the factors and influences that shaped the role development of
these firstbom American Indian daughters becomes evident. It also explains
the pain and struggles these women have experienced in their own individual
development as firstbom American Indian daughters. Critical in these
women’s development are Issues of self-identity. In spite of being women,
firstbom daughters, and American Indian In a society whose majority culture Is

white and whose history of treatment of American Indians Is less than

178
trustworthy, these women have clearly demonstrated a resiliency throughout

their Iife3pan.

Role Development and Relational Considerations

As discussed in Chapter II, the study of women’s lives produces different
developmental constructs which informs a different description of development
based on women’s conceptions of self and morality. This study has given the
women participants a voice to their life stories as firstbom American Indian
daughters. In doing so, this study has provided a forum for presenting a unique
testimony for an ethic of care; the connection between relationship and
responsibility. The women in this study demonstrated that their conception of
morality is concerned with the activity of care, centered around themes of
responsibility and relationships.

Traditional theories of human development have long held that
development is a monolithic process, that development occurs in a series of
stages, and that development progresses from Infantile dependency to self-
sufficiency and autonomy in adulthood. These traditional theories regard the
process of development as being the same for women and men. In other
words, maturity implies self-sufficiency and autonomy, whereas, connection
Implies an unhealthy dependency. However, a relational view, which was
supported by the women in this study, considers cultivation and attainment of
a sense of basic human connection to be the fruit of ongoing development.

This study attempted to explore the role development of five middle
aged firstbom American Indian daughters within the context of their family of
origin, by presenting their perceptions of their experiences in their own words

and stories directly. In giving voice to these women’s experiences, their words

1 79
and stories comprise the data which support the findings reported on In
Chapter IV. Moreover, the data arising from these firstbom daughters support
the self-in-relation theory, as discussed in Chapter II. A woman’s self
develops In the context of relationships or human bonding. This mode of
development is in contrast to development as an isolated or separated
autonomous individual, a traditional view posited by such developmental
psychologists as Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson among others.

As a developmental perspective of women’s development, the self-in-
relation theory has been elaborated on by Surrey (1991) in that it is Inclusive of
a “two-way interactional model, where it becomes as Important to understand
as to be understood, to empower as well as to be empowered” (p. 59). The
participants’ in this study epitomized the Importance of the need for this “two-
way interactional model” as they shared their experiences of development as
firstbom American Indian daughters within the context of their family of origin.
The nature and quality of the participants’ relational connections were
important to their development, despite the pain, loss, and struggle they
endured In the process of attempting to establish and maintain their role as
firstbom daughters. The developmental ethos of women’s role, and ultimately
their Identity, is poignantly demonstrated in the vignettes of their own life
stories.

The role development of the women participants’ in this study, as
firstbom American Indian daughters, exemplifies the self-in-relation theory of
women’s development as women’s growth in connection, not in isolation or
Individuation. Inherent in this view of women’s development are some of the
principle values of American Indian culture; namely, a collectivist approach

which centers around doing for the collective good of all rather than an

1 80
individualistic approach, and an Interdependent relationship with animate and
Inanimate alike as compared to a self-sufficient, individual and autonomous
mode of development. The life stories, as told and shared by the women
participants’ in this study, resonate with the self-in-relation theory of
development within the context of their American Indian culture, identity, and
philosophy of life.

Essentially, the findings of this study support the bases of these
women’s development, as firstbom American Indian daughters, In what can be
characterized as a “relationship—differentiation” pathway to development as
compared to one of separation-individuation (Surrey, 1991). According to
Surrey (1991), this relationship-differentiation pathway to development is

. . .a process that encompasses increasing levels of

complexity, choice, fluidity, and articulation within

the context of human relationship. What this new

model emphasizes is that the direction of growth is

not toward greater degrees of autonomy or

individuation and the breaking of early emotional

ties, but toward a process of growth within

relationship, where both or all people Involved

are encouraged and challenged to maintain

connection and to foster, adapt to, and change

with the growth of the other. (p. 60)
Here again, the findings of this study support the role development from two
developmental perspectives: the ecology of human development model and
the self-in—relation theory. The self-in-relation theory definition of relationship

“implies a sense of knowing oneself and others through a process of mutual

181
relational interaction and continuity of ‘emotionaI-cognitive dialogue’ over time

and space” (Surrey, 1991, p. 62).

Role Development and Ordinal Position

The findings of this study are consistent with the findings of research
discussed in Chapter II (Monson & Gorman, 1976; Newman, Pettinger, & Evan,
1995; Travis & Kohli, 1995; Sulloway, 1996; and Leman, 1985). From the
demographic data obtained from the women participants’, we know that four of
the five firstbom daughters were first in ordinal position within the context of
their family of origin. The fifth woman participant, Chyanne, was born fourth in
ordinal position, having three older brothers before her in birth order. However,
Chyanne’s role development as a firstbom daughter Is very consistent with the
literature reviewed on ordinal position; she may have been born fourth out of
eight children, but she is the firstbom daughter out of three female children In
her family of origin.

Research on ordinal position describes a host of characteristics
associated with firstbom children. Among the more commonly cited
characteristics are: dependable, leadership, achievement orientation,
conservative or preserver of the status quo, ambition, organized, dutiful,
responsible, perfectionist, analytical, contemplative, and self-starter. Returning
to the collective voices of the women’s life stories as told to the researcher in
this study, there are numerous examples of the commonly cited characteristics
of firstbom children. Chyanne, who was born fourth in ordinal position but is
the firstbom daughter of three females in her family of origin, talked about how

she was raised knowing that she set the example for the siblings coming up

1 82
behind her. In addition, her mother instilled in her how important it was to
think before she did anything and that her behavior was not a reflection of
herself, but of how she was raised and by whom. Chyanne carried her
leadership and contemplative nature with her in her job working with families.
As she described it, “I can’t help it. I have to work with them like they are
family. That’s what was instilled in me and that’s the only way I can work with
them.”

In the case of Sariah, she is the oldest of two, having a sister seven
years younger. The data from Sariah’s life story is consistent with research
findings of being dutiful and responsible. From her own voice, we Ieamed that
Sariah described herself as being “driven on a daily, daily, daily” basis to be
responsible for tending to whatever needs existed in basic daily living as she
was growing up. As a middle aged firstbom daughter, Sariah is experiencing
what Leman (1989) describes as “the lion’s share of the burden usually falls on
‘ole dependable'-the firstbom”, caring for aging parents (p. 132). Sariah
described how she has the sole responsibility for providing special care for her
aging parents and how they always look to her for their needs. For example,
she is called If one of them has a doctors appointment and she is the one who
takes her father to a professional baseball game. In her own voice, Sariah
tells of the frustration she has felt because her parent’s automatically expect
and assume she will meet their needs; and rightly so, because she always has
and always will. Sariah commented to this researcher that her sister wouldn’t
even think of taking their dad to a ball game, much less offer to help with the
responsibility for caring for their parent’s. Sariah reasons, and the data

supports her, that her sister never will offer to help with their parent’s because

1 83
Sariah has always taken the responsibility, can be depended on to do the
right thing, and both her parent’s and her younger sister know this.

Other examples from the findings of this study that are consistent with
the research discussed In Chapter II can readily be gleaned from the life stories
that these firstbom women told to the researcher. Diane talked about how
responsibility was “infused” in her as she was growing up. She Is also a self-
starter and a scholar; the latter can be found in the data as the firstbom who
graduated with a masters degree from an ivy league school. Barbra described
how she never had time for social and recreational activities as she was
growing up because of all the responsibility she had with household chores
and watching over her two younger siblings. In her story, the data are
consistent with findings by Leman (1989) in that “a great number of firstboms
are never allowed to have an adolescence” (p. 123). Barbra’s life story is an
example of a firstbom who never really had an opportunity to experience and
enjoy adolescence during her formative years.

An example of a firstbom who was always looking out for the little ones
can be found in Rayna’s life story. Although she spent a great deal of her
formative years in boarding school, Rayna made it her mission to be the
protector of younger children and those of small stature. Rayna also occupies
a position at work that is centered on organization, self-Initiative, and
leadership abilities in that she Is an office manager.

In the women’s voices we Ieam a great deal about what it means to be a
firstbom daughter and have responsibility instilled in you that can never seem
to be shaken, for it is always there. As Leman (1989) aptly describes

If you are a firstbom, chances are that life has

1 84

bruised you and battered you a little. You’ve

been picked at, put down, and told to grow up.

Sometimes, even as a kid, you may have

felt as if you were in boot camp. It wasn’t

always easy, but you have become a

stronger, more capable person because of

all you’ve gone through. (p. 271)
The findings of this study are consistent and on point with Leman’s description
of growing up as a firstbom. These firstbom American Indian daughters
exemplify the pain, loss, struggle, and boot camp sentiment in the aforecited
quote. More importantly, these women also exemplify resiliency, strength in
character and heart, and determination to succeed no matter what obstacles

they may encounter along their developmental pathway.

Practice Implications

This study was successful In exploring and elaborating upon the
relationship between ordinal position and role development of the firstbom
American Indian daughter within the context of her family of origin. By using a
descriptive Illustrative case study approach, new insights were uncovered which
enabled a broader and deeper understanding of the role development
experience of firstbom American Indian daughters from the woman’s
per3pective. Indeed, the use of ethnographic interviews as a means of giving
voice to the women’s perceptions and subjective experiences about their role
development had the unexpected benefit of the womens’ sense of being
empowered as a result of their participation In this exploratory research.

By using qualitative methodologies which were suited to the particular

1 85
participant’s styles, their individual contexts, and the unfolding of research
questions in the course of this Investigation, the researcher was able to put
theory into action. Specifically, the tenets of the ecological perspective of
human development—including the chronosystem model-and the
self-In-relation perspective of women’s development enabled the participants’
to uncover and reveal past experiences in the context of this exploratory study.
The qualitative methodologies were chosen for their capacity to reflect the
multiplicity of views and the contextual and interactive components of meaning,
all of which are embedded in the developmental perspectives that framed the
theoretical parameters in this study.

This study has a number of significant implications and applications for
family studies scholars and practitioners across a range of disciplines who
provide services to individuals and families of American Indian descent. For
example, an exploration and examination of ordinal position and role
development of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her family of
origin, from personal and social contexts, or environmental referents was
begun in this research to add to the body of literature of, by, and for, American
Indian women. Unlike traditional research methods which have examined
human development on the basis of a set or series of stage-based criterion
which considers individual development In isolation, the current study explored
and examined perceptions, thoughts, and behaviors in relation to a whole
person and her complex environment (more like a phenomenological study).

The efforts of this research have uncovered insights, meanings, and
conceivably, new information about the relationship between ordinal position
and role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter and: a) family

of origin responsibility; b) her role as keeper of the culture; c) the cultural

1 86
expectation or rite of passage that evolves wherein she becomes keeper of the
family; d) how her role Is prescribed; e) the finding of no gender inequality in
her role development; and f) her quality of life. For instance, this research
found that one cannot explore the relationship between ordinal position and
role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter without examining
the interplay among and between family members, American Indian cultural
values, characteristics inherent In birth order positions, and specific
consideration of women’s development as self-In-relation. There is no existing
evidence In the literature to support a study of this type, by focusing on the
relationship between the firstbom American Indian daughter and her role
development to the exclusion of all social and environmental systems or
referents, that would replicate the findings of this particular study.

The findings of this research effort provide practitioners with invaluable
insights and meanings to incorporate in therapeutic relationships as well as in
the provision of services to individuals and families of American Indian descent.
A practitioner would need to gain a much broader and fuller understanding of
the historical treatment of American Indians and the effects of forced
assimilation in order to effectively evaluate, understand, and work with
firstbom American Indian daughters and their families of origin. Incorporating
the findings of this study will assist practitioners from a variety of disciplines in
understanding and working with firstbom American Indian daughters who are
stmggling with issues of identity as it relates to being a woman, a firstbom, and
an American Indian. Given the various contextual perspectives that this
exploratory study incorporates, the level of insight and meanings gained, as
well as the findings produced by this study, collectively would enhance cross-

cultural practice and educational efforts across multiple systems and

187

disciplines.

Methodolpgical Implications
As the foregoing discussion has suggested, a post positivist mix that

shares some of the characteristics of both the Interpretive and emancipatory
paradigms has been a useful approach to ground scientific explanations in the
life experiences of the research participants. In addition, this type of approach
Is effective at encouraging truth (or knowledge) to emerge in a less-structured,
naturalistic fashion as participants are given the opportunity to tell their own
stories to a co-participant, the researcher. Incorporating ethnographic
Interviews into this exploratory study made it possible to give voice to the
women participants’ as they participated in a study that found their life stories
and pathway to development of worthy research. Moreover, the incorporation
of ethnographic interviews into this study provided convincing support for the
two developmental perspectives which framed this effort; namely, the
self-in-relation theory of women’s development and the ecological perspective
of human development with Its supplemental chronosystem model. Likewise,
these features provided convincing support for the findings of this study in

that it also brought these results to life via the women’s voices.

Inherent in any research undertaking is the question of bias on the part
of the researcher. Admittedly, there were potential sources of bias In the
design and investigation incorporated in this exploratory study. The qualitative,
ethnographic interviewing portion of the research inevitably Incorporated
biases; principally among them were the insider status of the researcher who
is an American Indian and a firstbom daughter. It must be recognized that the
researcher was the primary instrument used to gather the data, and as such,

1 88
the semistructured nature of the interview which focused on specific topics, to
the inevitable exclusion of others, as well as the final interpretation of the data
are reflections of the researchers biases.

At the same token, however, it Is questionable as to whether a
nonAmerican lndian researcher would have been able to solicit the depth and
breadth of information provided by these women participants’, given the nature
of historical accounts and treatment of American Indians by non-native or
dominant culture peoples’. There Is an issue of trustworthiness that cannot be
overlooked, as It manifests Itself in the ability to establish rapport and free up
the wealth of information that resides within the firstbom American Indian
daughter. Despite the potential for biases, the researcher in this exploratory
study views her insider status as a definite benefit In being able to conduct this
exploratory study. The Insider status attaches a degree of credibility to the
research and more importantly, in the eyes of the women participants’.

Issues of trustworthiness were planned for at the outset of this study.
They Involved utilization of various triangulation methods previously discussed
In Chapter III, along with a concerted effort to secure the most comprehensive
answers possible to the research questions. The women participants’ in this
study were eager to share their life stories and assist In the research process.
The findings in this study are based on the actual information these women
participants’ provided directly to the researcher during the course of the
ethnographic Interviews. The riChness of description came as the women
were encouraged to speak in their own voices. Treated with respect and as
equals in the research process, these five firstbom participants’ provided
example after example, and detail after detail, filled with significant implications

for family studies scholars and practitioners alike, across a wide range of

1 89
disciplines.

From virtually every evaluative standpoint, a valuable and unique
understanding of ordinal position and role development of the firstbom
American Indian daughter within her family of origin was gained utilizing a
naturalistic approach open to generating subjective, unstructured information.
In the end, perhaps this study best demonstrates that in research where
participant characteristics (in this case, the firstbom American Indian daughter)
are the subject of study, the best Informant is the participant and the best
researcher is an experienced firstbom American Indian woman with the ability
to establish rapport, trustworthiness, and with the unmitigated interest in
uncovering insights, meanings, and subjective experiences of other firstbom

women participants’.

1 90
Recommencigtiong

Based on the study’s findings and implications, the following
recommendations can be made.

First, family studies scholars and practitioners across a range of
disciplines can find it more illuminating to study the development of American
Indian women generally, and firstboms in particular, by utilizing a mix of
qualitative methodologies that directly gives voice to the women’s life stories.

It seems readily apparent that employing the self-in-relation and ecological
perspectives of human development, along with Bronfenbrenner’s (1986)
chronosystem model, provide an Invaluable means of studying women’s
development-as firstbom daughters, as women of culturally specific
backgrounds, and as women in general. This study has shown that there
appears to be a relationship between ordinal position and role development
of firstbom American Indian middle aged daughters, as well as keeper of the
family and keeper of the culture. Further studies of this nature can only
enhance our understanding of women’s development, from a broad spectrum
of contexts and across a range of disciplines.

A second recommendation can be made that those interested in studying
ordinal position and role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter
within her family of origin, embark on studies of such among the elderly firstbom
American Indian women daughters’ to capture their voices before they are lost
in perpetuity. As keepers of the culture, this population of American Indian
women have invaluable life stories to be told, and a wealth of critical information
to share with scholars and practitioners alike. Capturing this
population of women’s voices through ethnographic interviews would allow

further research in the future for comparison purposes with elderly firstbom

1 91
American Indian daughters during the next century.

Additionally, it would be helpful to have research findings along the
continuum of the lifespan of firstbom American Indian daughters, as was
originally designed by the author when this research was first proposed. In
other words, to have research findings on the lifespan periods of young
adulthood, middle aged, and elderly firstbom American Indian daughters.
This timeline of research would allow for richer study and understanding
across the lifespan, as well as provide a basis to design a longitudinal study
of firstbom American Indian daughters as we enter the next century.

Finally, it should be recognized and recommended that the design and
implementation of this particular exploratory study is not limited to women of
American Indian descent. It can, and should, be replicated among other
populations of women and children, of color or of recent immigrant status, as
examples. This research project can be replicated with virtually any population

of women and within different environmental contexts.

EPILOGUE

My Interest In conducting this exploratory study arose out of my own
personal experiences as a firstbom American Indian daughter, and this
experience fueled a curiosity and interest in Ieaming what were other women’s
experiences. I know what my experiences have been and l was curious
to explore whether my own experiences were unique to me or if other firstbom
daughters had similar experiences. In particular, I had a keen sense—intuition
If you will—that the role development of firstbom American Indian daughters
was predetermined, In large part by our ordinal position, but also immeasurably
influenced by our culture, values instilled by our parents, and all the history and
experiences our parents brought Into our environment In their own right as they
raised us. As a result, this exploratory study was bome out of my own personal
experiences and an interest (or passionate need) in Ieaming from the voices of
other firstbom daughters about their experiences.

As the researcher In this effort, I was driven to explore these five
women’s lives with as much breadth and depth as a single ethnographic
interview would avail. I had no idea that the journey I commenced to undertake
would have such a moving, Insightful, and profound effect on me from several
perspectives: as a woman, a firstbom daughter, an American Indian, and as a
researcher-practitioner-educator. The voices of these five firstbom daughters
resonate with profound emotions; from the years of pain and struggle to the

more recent temporal sphere of their lives wherein they each have discovered

192

1 93
how much strength, resiliency, and intemal fortitude they have as firstbom
American Indian women. It was a riveting experience to interview these women
and gain access to their worlds as fellow firstbom American Indian daughters.
The nature and style of the ethnographic interviews I conducted enabled each
of the women and I to transcend one anothefs experiences and connect in a
mutually empowering manner. I dare say that there is no question in my mind
that use of a very structured, self-contained and bounded interview guide would
not have allowed for the mutually empowering relationship, the unencumbered
flow of transference and counter transference between the women and myself
in such a positive regard, nor the depth and richness of these women’s
collective stories, and thus, the ethos evident in this study.

The experiences I shared with each of the women participants’ in this
study touched me deeply, as well as left an Invaluable Imprint on me that I shall
cherish Into perpetuity. I came to discover that not only was I giving voice to
these women’s experiences as firstbom American Indian daughters, but I was
simultaneously weaving and telling my own personal story as I told theirs. In
the and, these very special firstbom American Indian women taught this fellow
firstbom woman as much, if not more, than I had hoped exploring and telling
their life stories would teach family studies scholars and practitioners across a
range of disciplines. Not only is it true that these firstbom American Indian
women are “young once but lndian forever”, but they will always cany the role
of firstbom daughters’ with them in the context of their everyday lives.

For it Is in the end that we return to the beginning: without my parent’s,
Rose and Lee Silvey, as well as my two sisters, Karyn Lynn and Mary Jene,
my research as, of, and for the firstbom American Indian daughter would not

have been conceived. As In the Circle of Life, there are no beginnings nor

194

endings, only a whole interdependent with all.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

 

OFFICE or
RESEARCH
AND
GRADUATE
STUDES

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BNUMmeMmQM
4%34M6
5177355F2180

FAX: 517/432-1171

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APPENDIX A

MICHIGAN STATE
0 N I v E R SIT Y

June 14, 1996

 

To: Le Anne E. Silvey
1268 Kreiser Terrace, SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

RE: IRB#: 96-330
TITLE: ORDINAL POSITIONS AND ROLE DEVELOPMENT OF
FIRSTBORN AMERICAN INDIAN DAUGHTER WITHIN THE
FAMILY OF ORIGIN
REVISION REQUESTED: N/A
CATEGORY: l-C
APPROVAL DATE: 06/14/96

The University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects'lUCRIHS)

review of this preject is complete.. I am pleased to adVise that the

rights and welfare of the human subjects appear to be adequately

protected and methods to obtain informed consent are apprcpriate.

agerefore, the UCRIHS approved this progect and any reVisions listed
ove.

RENEWAL: UCRIHS approval is valid for one calendar year, beginning with
the approval date shown above. Investigators planning to
continue a progect be nd cne year must use the green renewal
form (enclosed with t e original agproval letter or when a
progect is renewed) to seek update certification. There is a
maximum of four such expedite renewals ssible. Investigators
Wishing to continue a proaect beyond the time need to submit it
again or complete reView.

REVISIONS: UCRIHS must review any changes in procedures involving human
subjects, rior to initiation of t e change. If this is done at
the time o renewal, please use the green renewal form. To
reVise an approved protocol at an other time during the year,
send your written request to the. CRIBS Chair, requesting reVised
approval and referenCing the progect's IRB # and title. Include
in your request a description of the change and any revised
instruments, consent forms or advertisements that are applicable.

Paostsns/

CHANGES: Should either of the followin arise during the course of the
work, investigators must noti UCRIHS promptly: (1) roblems
(unexpected side effects comp aints, e c.).involving uman
subjects.or l2)_changes the rcsearch environment or new
intermation indicating greater risk to the human sub'ects than
existed when the protocol was previously reviewed an approved.

If we can be of any future help, lease do not hesitate to contact us
at (517)355-2180 or FAX (517)452- 171.

Sincerely,

   
 

avid E. Wright, Ph.D.
UCRIHS Chair

DEW:bed

cc: Lillian Phenice

195

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX B UCRIHS APPROVAL FOR

THIS project EXPIRES:
APPENDIXA JUN 1 4 1997
INFORMED CONSENT FORM SWIgfigfiNOEWmAL”, gnggT'ON
ABOVE DATE TO CONTINUE

 

This research study will specifically explore the variables that influence and
contribute to the role development of the firstbom American Indian daughter within her
American Indian family of origin. The exploration will involve a search for patterns.
themes. relationships. and meanings amongst and between the firstbom daughter. her
family of origin, and what are identified as family and/or parental support resources
(values. emotional. financial. spiritual. cultural, physical. and material). specific to the
lifespan period of middle age. It is believed that an exploratory study on the role
developments of the firstbom daughter, conducted by ‘an Amerimn lndian female
researcher for, and on behalf of, American Indian women will help to illuminate the '
process by which the role is developed and thereby, further the understanding of the
firstborn American Indian daughter.

I, . give my consent to participate in the

research study of Ms. Le Anne E. Silvey. I understand that:

1. This participation is voluntary and without force, and I am free to withdraw from
this agreement at any time.

2. This research is for purposes of completing a requirement toward Ms. Silvey's
attainment of a doctoral degree. '

3. My participation involves a personal audiotaped interview which will last
approximately two (2) to (3) three hours.

4. I am free to refuse to answer any questions that I choose to. and I am free to
discontinue the interview at any time.

5. I am free to ask questions of Ms. Silvey and receive explanations about the
research study. and my rights as a subject I may contact Ms. Silvey at (616)
243-1617. -

6. I recognize that the information I provide will be known only to Ms. Silvey.

196

7. I will not be identified by name in this project and all information that might lead to

my identification will be disguised.

8. I will receive a copy of the composite summary findings of this study as a way of
acknowledging my role as a participant and subject of this research.

Ms. Silvey has explained all of the above to me and has informed me that this consent

form will remain in a confidential file.

 

 

Name of Subject in Print/Signature

Date

 

 

Name of \Mtness in Print/Signature

 

Le Anne E. Silvey/Signature

Date

 

Date

UCRIHS APPROVAL FOR
THIS project EXPIRES:

JUN 1 4 1997

SUBMIT RENEWAL APPLICATION
ONE MONTH PRIOR TO
ABOVE DATE TO CONTINUE

197

APPENDIX C

I)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

APPENDIX C

INTERVIEW GUIELE

Describe your family of origin - composition. What was your household
composition while growing up?

How were responsibilities assigned/given to you while you were growing
up?
* Were these responsibilities assigned/given to you primarily by
your parents or by others?
* How were they made known? (Spoken, unspoken,
demonstrated)

What values were you raised with?
* Who instilled these values?
* Did emphasis on values change over time?
Who were your mentors/role models while you were growing up?
How important was culture in your family?
* What were you taught? by whom?
* When were you taught - what age did you begin to know?
* How important is culture to you in your everyday life?

What kinds of support/resources did you receive from your family?
* What had the most value or meaning for you?

What role did gender play in your family?
* Male role? Female role?

How has being the firstbom daughter shaped the quality of your life?
* Influenced your life and shaped your goals?

Are there any positives to being a firstbom daughter?

198

LIST OF REFERENCES

LIST OF REFERENCES

Allen, P. G. (1986). The gag hoop. Boston: Beacon Press.

Belenky, M., Clinchy, B., Goldberger, N., & Tarule, J. (1986/1997).
Women’s ways of knowing: The develppment of self voice and mind.
NY: BasicBooks, Inc.

Billson, J. (1995). Kggge of the culture: The mer of tradition in

women’s lives. NY: Lexington Books.

 

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