Abstract:

Native tribes and peoples are the subject of significant public scrutiny and judgement. Not only are many political interests aligned against Natives, but the presence of racial stereotypes and active discrimination have created difficult conditions in which American Indians are often invalidated as a people or polity through the retraction of their “authenticity” as an Indian, as perceived by outsiders. The process by which Natives are made “inauthentic” has been explored extensively in narrative and qualitative-based research. However, studies using experimental methods to determine the presence of underlying factors, such as racial bias or stereotypes, are scarce. To fill this void in this study the author tested how stereotypes might work against Native peoples and tribes, using a randomized survey experiment. They created a fictitious news story about a tribe and altered the description of the tribe in 14 different ways.