On the discourse of activism: the Navajo Vietnam veteran and The Navajo Times

Hale, Phillip Stanley (2022) On the discourse of activism: the Navajo Vietnam veteran and The Navajo Times. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the role that activism by the Navajo Vietnam veteran and The Navajo Times has had in creating a historical discontinuity in the dynamics of the relationship between white, Western culture and the culture of Navajo society. It situates the Navajo Vietnam veteran and The Navajo Times in the midst of this process by highlighting both of their contributions to the politics of activism. It also traces the exposure that the Navajo Vietnam veteran has received in the Navajo Times from 1962 to 2016. This exposure ranges from the early years of the Vietnam war, the “In Country,” period, 1962 to1975, through “Back to the World,” period from 1975 to 1984, to the period of “Recognition and Demanding Their Rights,” from 1985 to 2016. The roles of both the Navajo Vietnam veteran and The Navajo Times are examined in detail in Chapter 4; Content Analysis: The Navajo Times. Theoretically, this thesis starts with the hegemony that white, Western culture enjoyed over Navajo culture in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This is exemplified by the coverage that Navajo Vietnam veterans had during the early years of the war. Their voices were minimalized, at least until 1968, when dissent about the war became evident in the Navajo Times. This thesis also covers the transition in The Navajo Times between the 1980s and 2016, after the war in Vietnam, when the voice of the Navajo Vietnam veteran becomes activated and gained the support of reporters from The Navajo Times. The content analysis methodology employed in this thesis allows for both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the coverage contained in The Navajo Times. It covers such issues as Agent Orange, PTSD, the POW and MIA, legislative responses to the Navajo Vietnam veteran and his activism, medals received by veterans during the war, ceremony, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Run for the Wall, and activism and the Veteran’s Administration. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the concepts of colonization, discontinuity, and hegemony. It looks at the important role that the discourse of activism of the Navajo Vietnam veteran and the Navajo people as presented in The Navajo Times in countering the hegemonic view of the dominant culture. Finally, new concerns have been raised in the process of this research. I elaborate on them in the last section of this thesis called: Implications for Further Research.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	activism; discontinuity; discourse; Navajo; veteran; Vietnam War; Navajo Times;
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Social and Behavioral Science > Sociology and Social Work
Date Deposited:	17 Nov 2022 21:29
Last Modified:	17 Nov 2022 21:29
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5880

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