Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story
Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story
Teaching American Indian Rhetorics
Focusing on the importance of discussions about sovereignty and of the diversity of Native American communities, Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story offers a variety of ways to teach and write about indigenous North American rhetorics.
These essays introduce indigenous rhetorics, framing both how and why they should be taught in US university writing classrooms. Contributors promote understanding of American Indian rhetorical and literary texts and the cultures and contexts within which those texts are produced. Chapters also supply resources for instructors, promote cultural awareness, offer suggestions for further research, and provide examples of methods to incorporate American Indian texts into the classroom curriculum.
Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story provides a decolonized vision of what teaching rhetoric and writing can be and offers a foundation to talk about what rhetoric and pedagogical practice can mean when examined through American Indian and indigenous epistemologies and contemporary rhetorics.
Contributors include Joyce Rain Anderson, Resa Crane Bizzaro, Qwo-Li Driskill, Janice Gould, Rose Gubele, Angela Haas, Jessica Safran Hoover, Lisa King, Kimberli Lee, Malea D. Powell, Andrea Riley-Mukavetz, Gabriela Raquel Ríos, and Sundy Watanabe.
Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story is a necessary call for pedagogical change in the way students learn about native peoples. For too long, teachers have relied on colonial narratives to explain native histories and cultures instead of incorporating native expressions of survivance into their curriculums. The important collection assembled by King, Gubele, and Anderson offers classroom strategies on how to combat cultural appropriations and stereotypes. By using a spectrum of native rhetorics—art, song, oral testimonies, literature, and activist commentary—indigenous voices and perspectives can be placed at the forefront of teaching about indigenous realities.’
—Devon Mihesuah, Cora Lee Beers Price Professor, University of Kansas
'[A] mandatory text for educators.'
—CHOICE
Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story: Teaching American Indian Rhetorics is a significant intervention in the development of pedagogical practices for an understanding of Indigenous literatures. This anthology offers crucial insights into classroom methodologies that can negotiate and challenge racial stereotypes and cultural appropriation. . . . The outcome is a deeply reflexive process that offers a plethora of experiences and encounters scrutinized from Indigenous perspectives.'
—Journal of Folklore Research
'This book is a must-have for any writing teacher who cares about developing a classroom ethos that values and respects Indigenous rhetorics. The authors give succinct, practical tactics for making small, positive changes in the writing classroom.'
—Transmotion
Lisa King is assistant professor in the English Department at the University of Tennessee.
Rose Gubele is director of freshman composition and assistant professor of English at the University of Central Missouri.
Joyce Rain Anderson is associate professor of English and faculty associate for the Pine Ridge Partnership at Bridgewater State University.
