Native American

Cover of "Mapping the Americas"

Mapping the Americas: The Transnational Politics of Contemporary Native Culture

"In Mapping the Americas, Shari M. Huhndorf tracks changing conceptions of Native culture as it increasingly transcends national boundaries and takes up vital concerns such as patriarchy, labor and environmental exploitation, the emergence of pan-Native urban communities, global imperialism, and the commodification of indigenous cultures.While nationalism remains a dominant anticolonial strategy in indigenous contexts, Huhndorf examines the ways in which transnational indigenous politics have reshaped Native culture (especially novels, films, photography, and performance) in the United States and Canada since the 1980s."
Author
Shari M. Huhndorf
Publication
2009
Cover of "The Routledge Handbook of North American Indigenous Modernisms"

The Routledge Handbook of North American Indigenous Modernisms

"Incorporating an international scope of essays, this volume reaches beyond traditional national or euroamerican boundaries to locate North American Indigenous modernities and modernisms in a hemispheric context. Covering key theoretical approaches and topics, this volume includes diverse explorations of Indigenous cultural and intellectual production in treatments of dance, poetry, vaudeville, autobiography, radio, cinema, and more; investigation of how we think about Indigenous lives, literatures, and cultural productions in North America from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; and surveys of critical geographies of Indigenous literary and cultural studies..."
Author
Kirby Brown
Stephen Ross
and Alana Sayers
Publication
2022

Spotlight on Native Ecologies and Fire Management

Pictured above, from left, are Joe Scott, David G. Lewis, and Kari Marie Norgaard. Photos by Jack Liu.

 

On April 25, 2023, CSWS hosted “Native Ecologies,” a panel discussion on Indigenous histories and approaches to fire management, knowledge production, and ecological stewardship. 

Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country

Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country

"Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country offers a fresh interpretation of the history of Navajo (Diné) pastoralism. Environmental historian Marsha Weisiger examines the factors that led to the poor condition of the range and explains how the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Navajos, and climate change contributed to it. Using archival sources and oral accounts, she describes the importance of land and stock animals in Navajo culture. By positioning women at the center of the story, she demonstrates the place they hold as significant actors in Native American and environmental history."
Author
Marsha L. Weisiger
Publication
2011
Salmon Is Everything: Community-Based Theatre in the Klamath Watershed Book Cover

Salmon Is Everything: Community-Based Theatre in the Klamath Watershed

This project was funded in part by a CSWS grant.
"After a devastating fish kill on the Klamath River, tribal members and theatre artist Theresa May developed a play to give voice to the central spiritual and cultural role of salmon in tribal life. Salmon Is Everything presents the script of that play, along with essays by artists and collaborators that illuminate the process of creating and performing theatre on Native and environmental issues. This revised and expanded second edition includes a new introduction by the author, and new chapters by Kirby Brown and Marta Lu Clifford."
Author
Theresa May with Suzanne Burcell
Publication
2014
Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools Book Cover

Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools

"This book examines the cultural, social, and political terrain of Indigenous education by providing accounts of Indigenous students and educators creatively navigating the colonial dynamics within public schools. Through a series of survivance stories, the book surveys a range of educational issues, including implementation of Native-themed curriculum, teachers’ attempts to support Native students in their classrooms, and efforts to claim physical and cultural space in a school district, among others. As a collective, these stories highlight the ways that colonization continues to shape Native students’ experiences in schools."
Author
Leilani Sabzalian
Publication
2020
Salmon and Acorns Feed Our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action Book Cover

Salmon and Acorns Feed Our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action

"Since time before memory, large numbers of salmon have made their way up and down the Klamath River. Indigenous management enabled the ecological abundance that formed the basis of capitalist wealth across North America. These activities on the landscape continue today, although they are often the site of intense political struggle. Not only has the magnitude of Native American genocide been of remarkable little sociological focus, the fact that this genocide has been coupled with a reorganization of the natural world represents a substantial theoretical void. Whereas much attention has (rightfully) focused on the structuring of capitalism, racism and patriarchy, few sociologists have attended to the ongoing process of North American colonialism."
Author
Kari Marie Norgaard
Publication
2019