In order to address the phenomenon of Indianness a qualitative-ethnographic methodology was employed which involved participant observation. This entails a heavy dependence on inductive procedures which contrast with an a priori specification of the categories of analysis. With this method, the study permitted the subjects to specify what constitutes Indianness, rather than relying upon a preconceived conception of what Indianness is. The communicative practices identified are not exhaustive of the criteria utilized by community members to identify a true and competent member. Instead, the study is an exploration into the question, "What exactly constitutes a true and competent member of the American Indian community?"

The communicative behaviors identified in this study as being criterial in the identification of a real Indian function criterially for "contact Indians" or those Indians who have frequent contact with members of differing tribal groups and with members of other cultures, as opposed to "grass-roots Indians" who reside in isolated reservation areas who have limited, if any, contact with members of other tribes and other cultures.

This is a study of the communicative practices of a particular community. Those practices which function to communicate the speaker's cultural identity are the practices that are examined. As such, it is a particular type of ethnography of communication. In this study, attention is focused upon the question of how Indians determine the answer to the question, "Who is an Indian?" and the counterpart to that question, "How does a 'real' Indian make himself recognizable as a real Indian?"