James Clifford's The Predicament Of Culture

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Recommended: My cultural identity as an Indian

“Only one “white” was listed.”* In 1976 a suit regarding nearly 16,000 acres of land went to the federal court in Mashpee. The trial set out to determine whether the group, called the Mashpee Indians, constitutes an Indian tribe. James Clifford’s The Predicament of Culture includes a section on this trial. This Mashpee section provoked questions in my mind about identity, authenticity, race, and ethnicity. Clifford describes the trial as best he can with the transcript as well as his own court notes. Even though I can’t decide if the plaintiffs represent a tribe, I understand how identity reveals itself.
“White” is an identity someone could have attached to them. However, white as an identity doesn’t seem comparable to Indian or African. The …show more content…

Still when ‘race’ is discussed, skin color usually represents it. White, black, orange, yellow, and brown are the colors that illustrate the categories a person’s fit in at first glance. Even though two people’s skin colors communicate yellow, it doesn’t relate to their genealogy or how they identify. In the Mashpee trial, Clifford described intermarriage as a part of the two histories. During 1776, intermarriage between freed black slaves and Indians represented a common occurrence.* The other history explained how the intermarriages include Indians with whites as well. These intermarriages produced mixed racial children whose skin color could favor one or both parents. Throughout the trial, the defense proposed the idea that these “Mashpee Indians” belong to the black community than the Indian.* Even Clifford mentioned how few of the “Mashpee Indians” resemble Indian while some others appeared black or white. And this perception behind skin color connects to the certain ideas about a person’s identity. Not only do we categorize people into different races, but also into different sexes and sexual orientation by their appearance. Ethnicity can also be guessed by appearance, especially if someone dresses in a certain way reflecting their culture. For example, religion falls into an ethnic trait and time period could be a factor. Some …show more content…

Race relies on genealogy more than ethnicity because people in an ethnic group don’t need to have blood-relations. Some overlapping between race and ethnicity happens but ethnic groups can include people from other racial backgrounds with no issue. The main focus revolves around maintaining the same cultural traits. However, race focuses grouping based on the biological elements within certain people. To determine one's genealogy one must submit their DNA. Even with the knowledge of their genealogy percentages, most people don’t realize how minimal race counts in

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