CAMBRIDGE, MA | March 27, 2018 — The Dakota Access Pipeline protests raised the visibility of Native people in the United States to levels not seen since the takeover of Wounded Knee in 1973. But a profound lack of awareness of the unique, sovereign, and central role that Native Americans have played in the United States persists. And there is little recognition of how the knowledge of Indigenous people could contribute to a better shared future. Shelly Lowe, the Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, diagnoses the situation succinctly: “What’s missing is not voices, but ears.”
The Spring 2018 issue of æ岹ܲ, Journal of the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences, offers Native and non-Native voices on subjects ranging from political movements, adaptive leadership, and representational politics to the production of scientific knowledge, the ethics of bioscience, and language preservation. The 15 essays in the volume are informed by the authors’ shared goal of addressing two questions: What have we learned from the past? And how can we better the future?
The guest editors of this issue include Philip J. Deloria (Harvard University; Member of the American Ƶ), K. Tsianina Lomawaima (Arizona State University), Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy (Arizona State University), Mark N. Trahant (Indian Country Today; Member of the American Ƶ), Loren Ghiglione (Northwestern University; Member of the American Ƶ), Douglas Medin (Northwestern University; Member of the American Ƶ), and Ned Blackhawk (Yale University). Together, they conceived of an issue of æ岹ܲ dedicated to Indian ways of knowing deep enough to grapple with issues of racism and erasure and broad enough to encompass academia, the legal system, the public and nonprofit sectors, cultural institutions, and family life.
More information about the volume and select essays are available online. To support efforts to find “more ears” for the voices in this volume, the American Ƶ will provide copies of the issue for course instruction, research, libraries, foundations, and other entities seeking a better understanding of the Native American experience and impact. For issue requests and more information, please contact daedalus@amacad.org.
In their introduction to the issue, the guest editors write that “Americans don’t tend to tell stories in ways that leave room for Indian people.” With this issue of æ岹ܲ, there is room for Native stories about both a challenging past and a better future shaped by Indian people. The Spring 2018 issue of æ岹ܲ on “Unfolding Futures: Indigenous Ways of Knowing for the Twenty-First Century” features the following essays:
- Unfolding Futures: Indigenous Ways of Knowing for the Twenty-First Century
Philip J. Deloria, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, Mark N. Trahant, Loren Ghiglione, Douglas Medin & Ned Blackhawk - Nenabozho Goes Fishing: A Sovereignty Story
Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark & Kekek Jason Stark - Recognition, Antiracism & Indigenous Futures: A View from Connecticut
Amy E. Den Ouden - Alaska’s Conflicting Objectives
Rosita Kaaháni Worl & Heather Kendall-Miller - Making ‘Aha: Independent Hawaiian Pasts, Presents & Futures
Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua & Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada - Genetic Ancestry Testing with Tribes: Ethics, Identity & Health Implications
Nanibaa’ A. Garrison - Reclaiming Representations & Interrupting the Cycle of Bias Against Native Americans
Arianne E. Eason, Laura M. Brady & Stephanie A. Fryberg - Why Don’t More Indians Do Better in School? The Battle between U.S. Schooling & American Indian/Alaska Native Education
Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy & K. Tsianina Lomawaima - Revolution in Higher Education: Identity & Cultural Beliefs Inspire Tribal Colleges & Universities
Cheryl Crazy Bull & Justin Guillory - The New World of the Indigenous Museum
Philip J. Deloria - The Story of Indian Health is Complicated by History, Shortages & Bouts of Excellence
Mark N. Trahant - Indigenous Leadership
Gary Sandefur & Philip J. Deloria - Critical Investigations of Resilience: A Brief Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Studies & Sciences
Kyle Whyte - If Indigenous Peoples Stand with the Sciences, Will Scientists Stand with Us?
Megan Bang, Ananda Marin & Douglas Medin - Hear Our Languages, Hear Our Voices: Storywork as Theory & Praxis in Indigenous-Language Reclamation
Teresa L. McCarty, Sheilah E. Nicholas, Kari A. B. Chew, Natalie G. Diaz, Wesley Y. Leonard & Louellyn White
NOTE: Please credit æ岹ܲ, the Journal of the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences, when citing this material.