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"Indigenizing the Academy": Keynote Talk at the Sixth Annual American Indian Studies Consortium Conference, Arizona State University, February 10-11, 2005

2006; University of Minnesota Press; Volume: 21; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/wic.2006.0008

1533-7901

Devon A. Mihesuah,

Asian American and Pacific Histories

"Indigenizing the Academy":Keynote Talk at the Sixth Annual American Indian Studies Consortium Conference, Arizona State University, February 10-11, 2005 Devon A. Mihesuah (bio) Halito moma. Chim achuckma? Sa hochifo vt Devon Mihesuah. Ohoyo vpi hvmma ikhana sia. Sanayukpa anumpoli. Hello everyone. How are you? My name is Devon Mihesuah, and I am a teacher of American Indian history,1 and I am happy to speak. Indigenizing the academy is about as timely a topic as one can talk about, and I know that this is what many of my colleagues are discussing among themselves right now. I will say that the opinions expressed here are my own, and I'm not talking for anyone or any group. What I will present today is a quick overview of what I see is happening in the academy and what we need to do in order to make things better. All of these ideas are doable and nothing is far-fetched or unrealistic. But, again, they are my views and I'm not saying you have to agree with me. Changes I See Happening As someone who travels a good bit and meets a lot of people and has visited quite a few AIS programs, and especially as editor of American Indian Quarterly since 1998, I've seen some changes in the field we've come to know as American Indian studies, Native American studies, Indigenous studies, and so forth. Many changes are for the good; there is productivity, [End Page 127] activism, and decolonization efforts that directly affect the well-being of tribes. Without question, there is much courage and personal sacrifice going on. And, I've also seen how the fields haven't changed from the days of marginalization, racism, and extreme prejudice. On the positive side, I see that some of our journals are publishing more useful papers. When I took over as editor of AIQ in 1998, I made it clear that I no longer wanted to publish repetitive topics and would be actively looking for papers that address the real-life issues that Natives face. After I did that, I didn't receive much of anything for almost a year. I began to think that all was lost and that few people in the academy were doing work that dealt specifically with issues that affect tribes. But all at once, it seems, I've received so many papers on useful decolonization topics that I've filled the 2005 issues and we're headed into 2007. I see that other journals such as Wicazo Sa Review, headed by James Riding In, for example, are also publishing interesting and provocative papers. There are Native studies programs popping up everywhere, and, while some are quite good, others are not and simply offer courses that have no relation to the realities of Native life. I've visited many of the better programs in the last few years, and it's interesting to see the numbers of students doing important work. Usually it is work that applies to their tribes, but we also have many non-Native allies who are doing applied work. These are people we must cultivate and include in most of our discussions. While, yes, many of us are still grumbling about the very real racism, sexism, and general prejudice against Natives in society in general and in the academy in particular, I want to make it clear that everyone I know who makes commentary about our situations in print, on listservs, and at conferences not only do so with good reason, but all of us also are writing about many other topics that we hope will show by example. I've heard recently that those of us who contributed to Natives and Academics and Indigenizing the Academy only bitch and moan and criticize. This is absolutely not true. I would argue that there is a tireless effort among many of us, and some are in this room, to bring important issues about oppression and discrimination to light and then get busy to practice what we preach about finding solutions to problems. This is the difference between us and those who complain about us: except for one person...