Editor's Commentary

This issue contains a wide array of articles with themes important to American Indian studies and to Indigenous communities in both historical and contemporary contexts. These topics include movies, legal issues, genocide, and a theoretical model of literary analysis. The issue also includes a poem about colonization.

Steve Russell and Terri Miles tackle the thorny problem of racism in public discourses as it relates to Indian sovereignty. They assert that the successful legal assault on the special status of Native Hawaiians in Rice v. Cayetano is a precursor for what is to come for Indians, if the antisovereignty forces have their way. They argue that Indians must work collectively to protect their sovereignty, the one commonality that links them.

Tink Tinker and Mark Freeland ask the question "is Christopher Columbus guilty of genocide?" They answer the query by examining demographic sources pertaining to the Taino people of Española during Columbus's reign as governor. Disease combined with the demoralizing effects of Spanish violence took millions of Indian lives prematurely in a short period of time. They blame Columbus for instituting genocidal policies aimed at enriching the colonizers while subjecting Indians under a brutal, and deadly, system of forced labor. Responding to the assertion that Columbus was merely a man of his times, they retort that his actions should be judged by such biblical concepts as "Thou shall not kill."

David Milward addresses issues involving indigenous control over criminal justice. He takes the position that Indigenous people should have full control over their criminal justice systems rather than just minor offenses. Acknowledging that Indigenous peoples are overrepresented in Canadian prisons and that dominant society views Indigenous justice as soft, Milward examines ways in which the indigenous concept of healing, combined with traditional methods of corporal punishment, can be incorporated into contemporary Indigenous approaches to justice.

Seeing a need for a comprehensive theoretical model that remedies the problem of scholarly neglect and misrepresentation of Native epistemology and culture, Billy J. Stratton and Frances Washburn build upon the "peoplehood matrix" devised by Tom Holm, J. Diane Pearson, and Ben Chavis.¹ They stress that the fundamental characteristics of language, sacred history, place, and ceremonial life shared by Indians, and expressed in the peoplehood matrix, are vital for the study of American Indian literature. Indian writers, along with non-Indian writers, rarely incorporate all four elements into their scholarship. Stratton and Washburn conclude by arguing that their approach offers a theory and a methodology for analyzing Indian literature.

Cristine Soliz fills a void in the literature about John Ford's 1956 movie The Searchers. Most studies about this movie, filmed in Navajo country with hundreds of Navajo extras, have ignored the Navajo influences on Ford's imagery of Indians in his story about Comanches and white Americans. The author asserts that elements of Navajo culture are present throughout the movie in terms of language; cultural objects, including dress, rugs, and blankets; and landscape. She also sees historical parallels between the U.S. military's treatment of the Comanches and the Navajos playing them.

Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval's discussion of Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals addresses the theme of forgiveness. He notes that in a dominant society, acts of forgiveness are rarely seen as virtuous. Thus, his analysis spans beyond the film's story to include issues of President George W. Bush's militaristic response to the events of September 11, 2001, and the myth of the United States as a colorblind society. Finally, Todd Fuller's poem provides an excellent example of why poetry is such an important literary device for conveying feelings about such things as people, history, culture, colonialism, and the human spirit.