Description
Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about American Indians contains twelve essays by eleven scholars and builds upon the 1996 issue of American Indian Quarterly entitled "Writing about American Indians." These Native American scholars from the disciplines of English, Philosophy, History, Education, and American Indian Studies all explore the issues surrounding scholarly research and publishing as it relates to American Indian history and education. Native American scholars question the research, methodology, ethics, and responsibility surrounding the works of anthropologists, historians, and literary critics. All Native academics identify serious issues surrounding the current scholarship and writing on Native Americans. Each author brings personal experiences from their respective disciplines. The historians discuss the issues of race, power, ethics, and responsibility as well as the lack of Native sources and voices that can be found in the recent scholarship of Non-Native historians. These essays argue persuasively for the incorporation of first-hand accounts of living tribal members when any historian pursues the task of writing about specific tribal groups. Vine Deloria provides a scathing review of the articles that appear in James Clifton's The Invented Indian. Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, professor of English and Indian Studies, argues strongly to dispel the belief that there are no Native American intellectuals. Cultural Imperialism and the Marketing of Native America are explored by professor of philosophy Laurie Anne Whitt. Educator Karen Gayton Swisher makes the case, "Why Indian People Should Be the Ones to Write about Indian Education." Devon A. Mihesuah, Angela Cavender Wilson, Paula Gunn Allen, Vine Deloria Jr., Donald L. Fixico, Susan A. Miller, Theodore S. Jojola, Duane Champagne, and Karen Gayton Swisher also offer contributions to the dialogue. Overall the essays comment on the current state of scholarship regarding Native Americans and all make the argument that there a new collaborative model is imperative. Anyone interested in understanding what Native academics think about researching and writing about American Indians should add this book to their libraries.