Showing papers in "Studies in American Indian Literatures in 2012"

Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature (review)

Abstract: This book is an imagining. So begins this collection examining critical, Indigenous-centered approaches to understanding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit (GLBTQ2) lives and communities and the creative implications of queer theory in Native studies. This book is not so much a manifesto as it is a dialogue a writing in conversation among a luminous group of scholar-activists revisiting the history of gay and lesbian studies in Indigenous communities while forging a path for Indigenouscentered theories and methodologies. The bold opening to \"Queer Indigenous Studies\" invites new dialogues in Native American and Indigenous studies about the directions and implications of queer Indigenous studies. The collection notably engages Indigenous GLBTQ2 movements as alliances that also call for allies beyond their bounds, which the co-editors and contributors model by crossing their varied identities, including Native, trans, straight, non-Native, feminist, Two-Spirit, mixed blood, and queer, to name just a few. Rooted in the Indigenous Americas and the Pacific, and drawing on disciplines ranging from literature to anthropology, contributors to \"Queer Indigenous Studies\" call Indigenous GLBTQ2 movements and allies to center an analysis that critiques the relationship between colonialism and heteropatriarchy. By answering critical turns in Indigenous scholarship that center Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies, contributors join in reshaping Native studies, queer studies, transgender studies, and Indigenous feminisms. Based on the reality that queer Indigenous people experience multilayered oppression that profoundly impacts our safety, health, and survival, this book is at once an imagining and an invitation to the reader to join in the discussion of decolonizing queer Indigenous research and theory and, by doing so, to partake in allied resistance working toward positive change.\

Bitter Water: Diné Oral Histories of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute (review)

Abstract: should have been directed toward tribal leadership. In the humdrum of Indian SelfDetermination, Natives who eke out their lives away from their reservations and in urban areas tend to be summarily ignored, chastised, and disparaged. Unfortunately, this is where Carpio misses her cue. This treatise is way larger than Native American studies and theories of decolonization. Seen that, heard that. In Carpio’s own words, the “indifference to the interests of its Indian residents” in Albuquerque has inadvertently stoked the imbalance of power and given privilege to the voices of Hispanos and AngloAmericans. The missing triad of that power relationship is the notable absence of tribal leadership. And the bottom line is that tribal governance has made little or no difference in the urban lives of their own people. Oops, sorry about that! By far, the best resources on that topic can be found among Canadian First Nations scholarship. Canadian and American policy may dovetail only in certain respects, but Canadian First Nations have been more assertive about how their populations are integrated into urban life. We could take lessons from that activism. Canadian tribes own and manage urban reserves. Imagine that? And unlike our apathetic brand of urbanism, they continue to gain momentum by leaps and bounds. Nonetheless, Carpio’s Indigenous Albuquerque is a solid contribution to the narrative of the urban Indian experience in America. For those who are looking for examples to round out their bookshelf of Indigenous urban placebased events, this is a great addition. It could have been more. It should be more. Alas, we just have to await the expanded edition.

Old Wives, the Same Man, and a Baby: Location and Family as the Foundation of Home in Tales of Burning Love and Bingo Palace

Abstract: We never ask for all this heat and silence in the first place, it’s true. This package deal. It’s like a million-dollar worthless letter in the mail. You’re chosen from the nothingness, but you don’t know for what. You open the confusing ad and you think, Shall I send it in or should I just let the possibilities ripen? You don’t know shit! You are left on your own doorstep! You are set there in a basket, and one day you hear the knock and open the door and reach down and there is your life. (156) Lipsha Morrissey, in Bingo Palace

Velroy and the Madischie Mafia (review)

Abstract: is unfortunate since the Skywalk exposes one of the most interesting cases of balancing cultural conservation against economic development in recent history. Despite these minor shortfalls, Shepherd’s work on Hualapai history successfully integrates traditional archival research with the tribal narrative and encases this package within a sound theoretical framework. We Are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People is an important contribution to Native American studies.