Queer Indigenous Studies

by Driskill, Qwo-li; Finley, Chris; Gilley, Brian Joseph; Morgensen, Scott Lauria

• ISBN13: 9780816529070
• ISBN10: 0816529078
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arizona Pr

Summary

"This book is an imagining." So begins this edited collection examining critical, Indigenous-centered approaches to understanding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit (GLBTQ2) lives and communities. This book is not so much a manifesto as it is a dialogue--a "writing in conversation"-- among a luminous group of scholar-activists looking back at the history of gay and lesbian studies in Indigenous communities while forging a path for Indigenous-centered theories and methodologies. The bold opening to Queer Indigenous Studies is indicative of the fresh and creative approach its contributors take in their dialogue about this emergent field of study. Rooted in a conference session held at the 2008 Native American and Indigenous Studies Association meeting, this edited collection represents a growing conversation about the new directions and larger implications of queer Indigenous studies. Through examples rooted in international Indigenous communities and disciplines ranging from literary criticism to anthropology, the contributors to Queer Indigenous Studies analyze the relationship between colonialism and heteropatriarchy. In doing so, they also engage in decolonizing methodologies while centering Indigenous knowledge as a basis. Building upon the work of Andrea Smith, Robert Warrior, Craig Womack, Daniel Heath Justice, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith, this volume has the potential to radically reshape and contribute to Native studies, queer studies, transgender studies, and Indigenous feminisms. Based on the reality that queer Indigenous people "experience multilayered oppression that profoundly impacts our safety, health, and survival," this book is at once an imagining and an invitation to the reader to join in the discussion of decolonizing queer Indigenous research and theory and, by doing so, to partake in collective resistance working toward positive change.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Performing Queer Indigenous Critiques
Decolonizing the Queer Native Body (and Recovering the Native Bull-Dyke): Bringing ôSexy Backö and Out of Native Studies' Closet	p. 31
Queer Theory and Native Studies: The Heteronormativity of Settler Colonialism	p. 43
A Queer Caste: Mixing Race and Sexuality in Colonial New Zealand	p. 66
Fa'afafine Notes: On Tagaloa, Jesus, and Nafanua	p. 81
Situating Two-Spirit and Queer Indigenous Movements
D4y DßC (Asegi Ayetl): Cherokee Two-Spirit People Reimagining Nation	p. 97
Exploring Takatapui Identity within the Maori Community: Implications for Health and Well-Being	p. 113
Two-Spirit Men's Sexual Survivance against the Inequality of Desire	p. 123
Unsettling Queer Politics: What Can Non-Natives Learn from Two-Spirit Organizing?	p. 132
Reading Queer Indigenous Writing
Indigenous Fantasies and Sovereign Erotics: Outland Cherokees Write Two-Spirit Nations	p. 155
The Erotics of Sovereignty	p. 172
Gifts of Maskihkîy: Gregory Scofield's Cree Métis Stories of Self-Acceptance	p. 190
The Revolution Is for Everyone: Imagining an Emancipatory Future through Queer Indigenous Critical Theories	p. 211
Works Cited	p. 223
About the Contributors	p. 239
Index	p. 243
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.