Visualities: Perspectives on Contemporary American Indian Film and Art

Preface

xi Preface Over the past decade, each contributor in this volume has presented her or his work on american indian literatures and visual and popular culture at such national and international conferences as the native american literature symposium (nals)—a conference held annually at a continental united states’ tribal venue—the native american and indigenous studies association (naisa), the society for cinema and media studies (scms), and the national Popular culture and american culture associations (Pca/aca), to name just a few. (so, too, have the contributors been published widely, including in Studies in American Indian Literatures [sail].) i have been fortunate to attend many of their presentations and, specifically, to be present at every nals meeting that has been held to date. i have therefore had the distinct privilege of hearing my colleagues present and take part in the continuing conversations and intellectual excitement that drives and draws from their efforts. their work, broadly understood, and these conversations provide the inspiration for this book. my own inquiry into this subject is a continuation of my ongoing study of indigenous literatures and cultures, american indians in and on film, and visual culture in general; these are of a piece with my interest in american culture as a whole. many of the ideas presented in the chapters in this book have thus been conceived from papers and visual presentations given at meetings of scholars, writers, theorists, artists, critics, activists, and community members. in particular , nals—with its “many Voices, One center” maxim—is not only a site for the “academic” conversation in which we as academics all partake, but also a site for lived experience and indigenous survivance. significantly, too, each of the contributors in this volume is an accomplished teacher/scholar. the work they offer here will undoubtedly assist in the classroom, and not just because we are all mindful that popular culture and visual culture have great pedagogical value. indeed, our work in the classroom—that particular ongoing conversation—is not separate from the imperatives and realities of lived experience. these crucial conversations and how we conduct our daily lives in our communities are really all one and the same. ...