Hemispheric Indigenous Studies: Introduction

Abstract

This special issue approaches Native American Studies across the Americas in order to emphasize connections between indigenous people that are often overlooked and/or suppressed in scholarship by both Native and non- Native scholars. Together, the contributors call for a broader discipline that challenges the political, cultural, and linguistic dominance of settler-nations, ranging from Latin America and the Caribbean to Canada and the United States. The collection features multidisciplinary articles that address an interconnected indigenous world and traverse the fields of literature, history, photography, music, and museum studies. Articles confront issues pertain- ing to American Indian cultures from the pre-contact period to the present, and in dialogue with inter-American and transatlantic studies. In keeping with the mission of Comparative American Studies, the guest-editors argue for the value of a transnational and inter-American scholarly paradigm vis-à-vis the indigenous communities of the western hemisphere.