Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities

In recent decades, American historians have significantly re-evaluated the role of Native Americans in the continent's history. Largely, of course, this was done by academics who were not themselves of that ethnicity. A roundabout way of saying that most were white, and male, for that matter.But there has also been an increasing number of Natives ascending the academic ladder. First as students, and then as faculty. A decades-long process. It has produced enough people, thus far, to enable the editors to put together this book. Here, the emphasis is not so much on changing a typical view of Natives in history, but instead on the academic environment itself, and how it impacts Natives trying to fit in. Which can be very difficult, as some articles in the book attest. A typical Native student might not have a family tradition of reaching college as a student, let alone as an academic.The editors have amassed very articulate concerns. Quite readable.