This course is an exploration of the intersection of colonial archives and Indigenous knowledge and practices. Much research has interrogated archives as the site for what is “known” about Indigenous peoples throughout the world. As Edward Said argues, colonial archives are the sources used by western writers, observers, travelers, philosophers, and imperial officers of their colonial countries, among others, to structure knowledge about the “Other.” These structures of knowing have material effects and consequences that have profoundly facilitated the dispossession and disenfranchisement of Indigenous peoples. Within the U.S., Indigenous peoples, especially during the era of Red Power, critiqued and challenged knowledge making of colonial archives in myriad ways, including drawing on these sources as forms of cultural revitalization, repatriation of material culture and intellectual and culture knowledge, and as sources to foster storytelling and remembering. Our work surveys definitions of colonial archives and their uses and simultaneously, examines these same archives as sites of Indigenous sovereignty and revitalization.
The NCAIS Summer Institute is a three-week-long intensive graduate course held during the summer at The Newberry Library in Chicago. Participants are provided with housing in Chicago, receive a $600 living stipend, and will be reimbursed for travel expenses up to $750. Leftover funding will be used to more fully reimburse students whose travel accommodations exceed this amount. If you have questions about the institute, please contact [email protected].
Participants
Jonathan Cabrera, Yale University
Briki Cajandig, University of California - Davis
Joshua Coleman, University of Nevada - Las Vegas
Camryn "Rocky" Tahquette Despain, University of Oklahoma
Teagan Dreyer, Oklahoma State University
Ashley Ens, University of Alberta
Sandra Howard, Northwestern University
Ashik Istiak, University of New Mexico
Hunter Kennedy, University of Chicago
Ash King, University of Washington
Patricia Lillo, Pennsylvania State University
Emily Nisch, Michigan State University
Emerson Parker Pehl, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Marina Perez, University of New Mexico
Cheyenne Reel, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Cameron Roman, Michigan State University
Saffron Sener, Harvard University
Aliyah Siva, University of Washington
Cheyenne Travioli, University of Michigan
Anca Wilkening, Harvard University
Cost and Registration
The Summer Institute is only available to graduate students in NCAIS-affiliated institutions.