Читать книгу An Introduction to Intercultural Communication - Fred E. Jandt - Страница 29

“The fact remains that our nations were here before any Europeans came. We gave people permission to settle here in exchange for recognition of our tribal sovereignty. If that troubles people, they can move.”

Source: David Treuer, the Ojibwe author of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, quoted in Time, February 4–11, 2019, p. 104. Treuer's mother was an Ojibwe; his father an Austrian Jewish survivor of the Holocaust.

When nations adopt one system of laws, that system reflects the cultural values of one culture. But when one is surrounded by a more powerful culture or exists within the culture of the other, the less powerful culture must accept the laws and legal system of the other, thus subordinating any other understanding of legal systems. At least in this one way, the groups are not mutually powerful. The case of American Indians supports the argument that the term co-culture does not accurately reflect reality in the United States. Just as the term subculture has undesired consequences, so too does co-culture. In an attempt to avoid misunderstandings, this text avoids using either word.