Tag: Native American Studies

Where do cultures go when they die? The story of Codfish, the Indian, and the phonograph.

October 22, 2014

When the Edison phonograph was first made in the 1890s, people used it torecord their own voices. It later became one of the first commercially producedmachines when it was used to play music. It worked by vibrating the stylus up and downwhile moving across the wax cylinder (Hill & Dale method).Image credit: Museum of Technology. … More Where do cultures go when they die? The story of Codfish, the Indian, and the phonograph.

Linda LeGarde Grover on the merits of time-honored oral tradition and contemporary fictional storytelling.

July 30, 2014

BY LINDA LEGARDE GROVERRecipient of the Flannery O’Connor Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize; associate professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth Although I didn’t know it at the time, The Road Back to Sweetgrass began during a visit to an elderly Ojibwe man’s house some years ago. Invited by … More Linda LeGarde Grover on the merits of time-honored oral tradition and contemporary fictional storytelling.

On cultivating culturally responsive architecture while designing for modern needs

August 14, 2013

Courtyard of the Place of Hidden Waters, Tacoma, Washington. This is thefirst tribal building to be certified LEED Platinum. BY JOY MONICE MALNARAssociate professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and co-author, with Frank Vodvarka, of New Architecture on Indigenous Lands The result of six years of travel, interviews, email correspondences, and … More On cultivating culturally responsive architecture while designing for modern needs

Reauthorizing Indianness (or Acts of Violence against Native Self-Determination)

June 19, 2012

Image source. BY MARK RIFKINAssociate professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro During the past few months, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives both have passed bills reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The law originally was adopted in 1994 and was last reauthorized in 2005, and in its … More Reauthorizing Indianness (or Acts of Violence against Native Self-Determination)

The Way of Kinship, part 2 of 2: The anthology’s early beginnings.

December 16, 2010

In translating and editing the works in The Way of Kinship: An Anthology of Native Siberian Literature (Minnesota 2010), Claude Clayton Smith worked closely with Alexander Vaschenko, another leading scholar in Siberian literature who is based in Moscow. In this second part of our features on this first anthology of Native Siberian literature in English, … More The Way of Kinship, part 2 of 2: The anthology’s early beginnings.

The Way of Kinship, part 1 of 2: Anthology triggers dialogue between Native American and Native Siberian literary traditions.

December 15, 2010

This month, the University of Minnesota Press publishes The Way of Kinship: An Anthology of Native Siberian Literature, the first anthology of Native Siberian literature in English. This stunning volume showcases a diverse body of work—prose fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction—that chronicles ancient Siberian cultures and traditions as well as a dynamic and current … More The Way of Kinship, part 1 of 2: Anthology triggers dialogue between Native American and Native Siberian literary traditions.

Mary Lethert Wingerd unlocks the complex origins of the state of Minnesota on MPR

July 27, 2010

Historian Mary Lethert Wingerd, associate professor of history at St. Cloud State University and author of North Country: The Making of Minnesota, appeared on MPR’s Midday today to talk about the complex origins of Minnesota and the relationships between indigenous peoples and European settlers. Wingerd answers questions and helps unlock truths about Minnesota’s formative years, … More Mary Lethert Wingerd unlocks the complex origins of the state of Minnesota on MPR

Looking back on Tucson

June 17, 2010

Today’s post is by UMP editor Jason Weidemann, who acquires books in sociology, media studies, native studies, anthropology and geography, among other disciplines. ——- In May I had the opportunity to attend the annual Native American and Indigenous Studies meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Always an energetic and passionate gathering, this year’s was even more so … More Looking back on Tucson

Scott Richard Lyons: Making his own x-mark

June 9, 2010

Scott Richard Lyons (Ojibwe/Dakota) is assistant professor of English at Syracuse University, where he teaches indigenous and American literatures. He has also taught at Leech Lake Tribal College, the University of North Dakota, and Concordia College, Moorhead. His new book, X-Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, is a provocative and deeply personal exploration of contemporary Indian … More Scott Richard Lyons: Making his own x-mark