The casino and the museum: imagining the Mashantucket Pequot tribal nation in representational space

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dc.contributor.advisorStrong, Pauline Turner, 1953-en
dc.creatorBodinger de Uriarte, John Josephen
dc.date.accessioned2008-08-28T21:23:19Zen
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-11T22:15:40Z
dc.date.available2008-08-28T21:23:19Zen
dc.date.available2017-05-11T22:15:40Z
dc.date.issued2003en
dc.descriptiontexten
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation investigates the articulation of cultural identity in two specific spaces of representation in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The Mashantucket Pequots, a federally recognized Indian tribal nation, own and operate Foxwoods, the largest and most profitable casino in the Western Hemisphere. My research focuses on the two main structures and industries at the Mashantucket Reservation: the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (MPMRC) and the Foxwoods casino. I explore these enterprises as selfrepresentational industries that use display; photographs; narratives of the exotic, the essential, and the real; geographic location; and architectural design to powerfully present and articulate representations of Native American and Mashantucket Pequot identities. My academic and professional interests and strengths combine anthropology, photography, theories of imagining the nation and the creation of tradition, and issues of representational practice, particularly in museum exhibitions. My research investigates self-representational practices, the formation of viable and vibrant reservation communities, and the presentation of historical narratives that support cultural continuity and renaissance. These practices are experienced most vividly in the public sphere through tribal museums and casinos and the popular press and public relations materials associated with them. These industries also mobilize many of the same strategies, narratives, and artifacts. A close examination of these sites and materials affords a further analytical appreciation of issues surrounding the public politics and poetics of cultural self-representation as well as issues of national and community identity.
dc.description.departmentAnthropologyen
dc.format.mediumelectronicen
dc.identifierb56717489en
dc.identifier.oclc55964910en
dc.identifier.proqst3116081en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/465en
dc.language.isoengen
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.en
dc.subject.lcshFoxwoods (Casino)en
dc.subject.lcshMashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Centeren
dc.subject.lcshPequot Indians--Gamblingen
dc.subject.lcshGambling on Indian reservations--Connecticuten
dc.subject.lcshCasinos--Connecticuten
dc.subject.lcshPequot Indians--Historyen
dc.subject.lcshMuseums--Connecticuten
dc.titleThe casino and the museum: imagining the Mashantucket Pequot tribal nation in representational spaceen
dc.type.genreThesisen

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