미스 인디언 아메리카를 둘러싼 인디언과 백인 인종 화합 담론

Abstract

Native Americans were exposed to such radical racial discriminations as “No Indians or breeds allowed” in public services and “Federal law prohibits the sale of liquor to Indians or minors” even after prohibition law was repealed in Sheridan, Wyoming in the 1950s. There appeared three reformers to change the Indian version of Jim Crow Laws: Lucy Yellowmule, Howard Sinclair, and Joe Medicine Crow. They agreed to hold Indian version of beauty pageant naming it Miss Indian America to alleviate the racial conflicts between Native Americans and whites. It seemed at first to contribute to the original goal, but it was trapped in turmoil when the sponsors were replaced with one after another. The contest was held from 1953 to 1989, and made a reunion parade in 2013. This article aims to evaluate the contest from the perspectives of racial conflict, discrimination and cultural harmony.