Perception as an agent of sociocultural change for the Stoney Indians of Alberta

Date
1974
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Abstract
The Stoney perception of past events is a major factor influencing the Stoney's choice of the course of action they will follow. Thus, per­ception is one of the important agents of sociocultural change active within the reserve. Stoney people act on the basis of their perceptions, and so if one is to understand many of the changes that are presently taking place within the reserve, then one must identify what these per­ceptions are. The Stoney's perception of Treaty #7 is that it has the same legal status as any agreement between two independent nations. The people feel that many of the promises and agreements made when the treaty was signed are not being respected or fulfilled. They believe that the Government is not living up to its responsibilities and in many instances it has neglected to protect the interests of the tribe. The Church and its missionaries approached the Stoney with talk of friendship, interest and concern which has since proven to be empty as the Church ended up taking far more from the Stoney than they ever gave in return. The main effect of the actions of the representatives of both Government and Church has been to weaken and to destroy many aspects of Stoney culture. Many of the Stoney's experiences with white people have led them to be generally suspicious and mistrustful of all whitemen. The Stoney feel that most white people do not understand the Indian and that they want to see the Indian change to become like a whiteman. Many whites are jealous of "Indian rights" and "Indian land" and they would like to see these taken away from the Indian. The Stoney believe that they have been deliberately "kept down" and that they have been prevented from developing either themselves or their reserve. With the development of self-government the Band Council is now able to work towards the reali­zation of goals established by the Stoney people. The achievement of these goals results in what is perceived as desirable sociocultural change occurring within the reserve. The events that have already occurred and that are presently tak­ing place are illustrative of certain anthropological concepts of sociocultural change and race relations. As change does take place, adjustments are made within the society to either support or reject the change. Any change tends to be cumulative in that it precipitates other changes which in turn bring about still further changes.
Description
Bibliography: p. 140-149.
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Citation
Getty, W. E. (1974). Perception as an agent of sociocultural change for the Stoney Indians of Alberta (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/17172