Abstract
Critically Sovereign is an anthology of edited essays on the politics of gender and indigeneity that leaves the reader well informed. Yet the questions this work has prompted for me, an Indigenous woman and scholar, have also filled me with mixed emotions.
I begin in the manner appropriate to my tradition but also to many other Indigenous cultures. My name is Wendy M. K. Peters. I am Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), originally from the island of Oahu, where my family still lives and has lived, long before Western or Missionary contact. My co-reviewer is Julii Green who is an African American and a descendent of the Eastern Band Cherokee. Sharing this information first is not merely in keeping with cultural protocols but also the traditional way to authenticate our perspectives and prerogative as Native people.
The essays in this book are relevant and important to both feminist studies and the histories and conditions in which many, if not most, Indigenous people and cultures find themselves at present. The book’s introduction, written by the editor, deftly explicates incongruencies between Western and Indigenous perceptions of contemporary issues such as cultural appropriation, marginalization, and racial stereotypes. However, the editor also sets the tone for the book, and it is this aspect that has given me, and others, considerable consternation and confusion.
Indigenous scholars and researchers Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999) and Shawn Wilson (2009) have each asserted that research and scholarship about Indigenous people must have relevance and meaning for the people and communities who are the subject of that research or scholarship. Yet this book, with its diverse representation of Indigenous scholars, was written with such complex language and use of uncommon terminology, that it renders itself all but inaccessible to the persons for whom the messages would hold the greatest value. Similarly, although merely an opinion, the cover art seems visually abstract, somewhat misleading, and in no way resembling or conjuring my recognition of any Indigenous peoples in the United States.
The chapters are in keeping with the introduction in overall tone and complex use of language. However, although there did not appear to be any specific logic in the way that the chapters were presented, each was a critical essay that offered a necessary perspective regarding the respective indigeneity of the people and culture about which it was written. Chapter 1, for example, is an impassioned recount of the many perspectives that arose in Hawaii during a time of political tumult and change. The eventual outcome was the ratification of same-sex marriage, with an ironic twist. Another chapter focuses on an historical account of an uprising against the U.S. government by the Navajo Nation at Beautiful Mountain in 1913. The event was presented from a Native feminist queer perspective and acknowledges the influences of colonization as well as gender-based violence and genocide on Navajo families. The author describes the shift within the tribal culture from historical support of Two-Spirit individuals to the present day in which the tribe voted to ban same-sex marriage. Other chapters continue in the vein of addressing aspects of gender-based violence and its impact on First Nations/Aboriginal families. One chapter offers a textual account of Iñupiaq (Alaska Native) culture, from then and now, through the sights and sounds of its vast landscapes and traditional and acculturated music. Other chapters explore case law in the context of Indigenous communities, sovereignty, and queer feminist theory. Referencing legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act, Indian Child Welfare Act, and Defense of Marriage Act, authors highlight limitations and loopholes within the laws, as well as the settler/colonizer influence on these laws. The final chapter conveys the sensual relationship that exists between most indigenous people and their natural environment.
In conclusion, I reiterate my confusion. For whom is this book intended? The collection of essays, although appropriate for women and gender studies courses, ethnic studies, and political science courses, could be considered a difficult read even for an academic. However, it does not seem suitable for anyone other than an academic, and it is not constructed in a way that its relevance or meaning can be readily accessible to most Native people or their communities.