In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we want to acknowledge how the oppression of Indigenous populations shaped the United States and what can be done to remediate it. Each one of these titles exposes a different way in which settler colonialism reinforced systemic聽 racism still embedded in our society today. In a country forged by Indigenous exploitation, these books encourage critical conversation about racial justice and equality.
Redface
Race, Performance, and Indigeneity
by Bethany Hughes
In Redface, Bethany Hughes explores the theatrical practice of redface, revealing it as more than just makeup and theatrical costume鈥攊t鈥檚 a deliberate, collaborative, and curatorial process of defining which bodies are qualified to be “Indian” and which are not. Through this analysis, Hughes highlights how such portrayal of Indigenous people perpetuate this marginalization and exclusion from full citizenship in the United States. Tracing the history of the “Stage Indian” from its nineteenth-century roots to the present day, Redface is a brilliant analysis of the impact of redface in American theater, race, and politics.
Queer Childhoods
Institutional Futures of Indigeneity, Race, and Disability
by Mary Zaborskis
In Queer Childhoods, Mary Zaborskis takes a deep dive into how oppression from institutional facilities has shaped the childhoods and futures of these young people. Zaborskis weaves together the lived and literary experiences of children subjected to reform schools, schools for the blind, African American industrial schools, and Native American boarding schools. Queer Childhoods is an original archive that exposes a queer social history entangled with genocide, eugenics, and racialized violence.
Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law
Why Structural Racism Persists
by Natsu Taylor Saito
Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law proposes that, instead of focusing on false equality promises, recognition and protection of Indigenous sovereignty is a more effective path to dismantle structural racism in the United States. Natsu Taylor Saito argues that addressing the current racial inequalities is crucial to fighting against the ongoing legacy of Anglo-American settler colonialism, which appropriated and exploited Indigenous lands and labor. Named by Choice Magazine a “2021 Outstanding Academic Title,” Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law places Indigenous rights to self-determination at the center of the fight against structural racism.
Healing Movements
Chicanx-Indigenous Activism and Criminal Justice in California
by Meghan S. Raschig
Healing Movements explores how a grassroots abolitionist project of cultural healing counters the carceral state in a Chicanx community in California. Drawing from extensive fieldwork in Salinas, Raschig highlights the transformative work of formerly gang-involved Chicanx individuals who, drawing on the social network formed during their involvement in gangs, are creating new pathways for cultural healing. This vivid ethnography demonstrates how Chicanx-Indigenous communities are reimagining activism and organizing to forge strong relational ties that counter the criminal justice system.
Indigenous Memory, Urban Reality
Stories of American Indian Relocation and Reclamation
by Michelle R. Jacobs
Indigenous Memory, Urban Reality offers a nuanced yet comprehensive analysis of the complex experience of the American Indian in urban environments, particularly in the wake of forced relocation and assimilation. Jacobs argues that while one group of individuals is looking to reclaim Indigenous identity, another is trying to adapt to the urban context. Based on ethnographic research from the past two and a half years, Indigenous Memory, Urban Reality paints the portrait of a divided community, ultimately landing on the question: who can claim Indigenous identity?
Whom do Museums Serve?聽by Rafael Cruvinel