The new Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton (NAISIP) seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the cultural traditions and experiences of Indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere and globally. It has formed a working group consisting of faculty, staff, and students from across the disciplines and the University, and this fall it presents a seminar series that brings leading Native scholars, artists, and activists to campus as a way of fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue in our community and beyond.
The seminar series is a Collaborative Humanities Project of the Humanities Council, supported by a 2021-22 Exploratory Grant. These Council grants help to spark new collaborations at Princeton and to develop multi-institutional collaborations and scholarly networks across the globe.
Convened by Sarah Rivett, Professor of English and American Studies, the NAISIP working group designed the seminar series to rethink the academic domains of knowledge and power in order to transform Indigenous-settler relationships. Its first speaker is Nick Estes, a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and professor in the American Studies Department at the University of New Mexico, who reconsiders two decades of terror wars as a continuation of the Indian wars by examining the criminalization of Indigenous resistance and the present danger of climate.
Details about the four seminars in the NAISIP series are below. Each event is scheduled for 12 noon to 1:30 PM in 209 Scheide Caldwell House.
- September 23, 2021
The Original Red Scare: The Criminalization of Indigenous Resistance
Professor Nick Estes, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, University of New Mexico - October 28, 2021
Languages of Emergency, Infrastructures of Response and Everyday Heroism in the Circumpolar North
Professor Olga Ulturgasheva, University of Manchester
Barbara Bodenhorm, University of Cambridge - November 4, 2021
LUNAAPAHKIING, HULUNIIXSUWAAKAN, LUNAAPEEWAK
Munsee Land, Munsee Language, Munsee People
Karen Mosko, Munsee-Delaware Nation, Munsee Language Keeper
Ian McCallum, Munsee-Delaware Nation, Munsee Language and History Keeper
This event will continue on November 5 with a sunrise ceremony followed by online panel discussions - November 11, 2021
Native Americans and the Legacy of Residential Boarding Schools: Why America Needs a Truth and Reconciliation Effort
Professor Anton Treuer, Bemidji State University
Open to members of the University community, these events are hosted by the Princeton University Humanities Council. Co-sponsors include the Program in American Studies and the Fund for Canadian Studies.
Pre-registration is required for each event, and in-person attendance is capped at 20 participants. Registrations will be confirmed via email on a first come, first served basis. Registrants must be confirmed to attend.
Read about NAISIP on the initiative’s website, and learn more about the Council’s Global Initiatives and Exploratory Grants here.
