Native peoples of North America still face an uncertain future due
to their unstable political, legal, and economic positions. Views
of their predicament, however, continue to be dominated by
non-Indian writers. In response, a dozen Native American writers
here reclaim their rightful role as influential "voices" in the
debates about Native communities at the dawn of a new millennium.
These scholars examine crucial issues of politics, law, and
religion in the context of ongoing Native American resistance to
the dominant culture. They particularly show how the writings of
Vine Deloria, Jr., have shaped and challenged American Indian
scholarship in these areas since the 1960s. They provide key
insights into Deloria's thought, while introducing some of the
critical issues still confronting Native nations today.
Collectively, these essays take up four important themes:
indigenous societies as the embodiment of cultures of resistance,
legal resistance to western oppression against indigenous nations,
contemporary Native religious practices, and Native intellectual
challenges to academia. Individual chapters address indigenous
perspectives on topics usually treated (and often misunderstood) by
non-Indians, such as the role of women in Indian society, the
importance of sacred sites to American Indian religious identity,
and the relationship of native language to indigenous autonomy. A
closing essay by Deloria--in vintage form--brings the book full
circle and reminds Native Americans of their responsibilities and
obligations to one another--and to past and future generations.
Ranging from insights into Native American astronomy to critiques
of federal Indian law, this book strongly argues forthe renewed
cultivation of a Native American Studies that is much more
Indian-centered. Without the revival of that perspective, such
curricula are doomed to languish as academic ephemera--missed
opportunities for building a better and deeper understanding of
Indian peoples and their most pressing concerns and aspirations.
Contributors: S. James Anaya, Ward Churchill, Cecil Corbett, Vine
Deloria, Jr., Richard A. Grounds, Joy Harjo, Ines Hernandez-Avila,
M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero, Clara Sue Kidwell, Henrietta Mann, Glenn
Morris, John Mohawk, Michelene Pesantubee, Ines Talamantez, George
E. Tinker, David Wilkins
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