The Future Imaginary in Indigenous North American Arts and Literatures

 SFU's big convocation is tomorrow. I decided not to go for a few reasons, including the fact that there is a conference that I really want to go to happening at the same time, and also because I have an ergonomic thing going on right now. But I did go to the Indigenous grad. I was really happy my family was able to make it as well. 

The event was very beautiful. For me, the highlight was definitely the Nisga'a dance group. I enjoyed listening to all of the speakers. I did feel emotional, but I did not cry. I actually did cry the day that I submitted to the library in March. I had the day off on a weekday and after I submitted to the library, I went to a matinee of the Lion King and there was no one there. And then I randomly cried... I think it was out of relief. And also, just tiredness from carrying this for so long. I don't know. Anyhow, while waiting to cross the stage, I told myself "I already cried at Lion King, so no need to cry now."

I liked the way that the organizers subverted the logic of colonialism in the way that they set up the event. Rather than sitting at the front after crossing the stage, graduates went and sat with their families. Syeta'xtn (Director of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation) explained that this was inspired by what happens in his community, where after one is done, they are presented to and returned to their families. Overall, I found SFU to be a supportive institution. There were difficult moments, but doing a PhD is an inherently difficult endeavor. In my experience, there are a lot of people at SFU who wish to be part of changing the institution in order to make it less colonial and more responsive to the needs of Indigenous people, and that means a lot to me. 

I did have a weird moment, though, where I remembered something that happened shortly after I finished my masters. Way back then, about ten years ago at a community event, someone said something really terrible to someone else in front of me. I expressed discouragement to the person who said the hurtful thing. I also followed up with the person who said the hurtful thing afterwards, to do some awareness building. It was a calling in - where an educational rather than adversarial approach was taken, but not all of it was in the moment. But I always had a weird feeling after that I wish I had reacted more quickly and loudly in the moment, or even acknowledged the impact of the words on the person who the words were directed to. It was not the first or last time that I wished I could respond more quickly, but it was definitely one of the most dramatic instances. People always ask - "what's next?" Now that I am certified book smart, I think that my next learning goal is to just become better at reacting in the moment, and becoming better at interrupting and interjecting when something really bothers me. That sounds like a weird goal. But I really want to live a life without regrets, and I think that developing this skill of overcoming my freeze reaction is a key element in that. 

And, of course, my goal is to just keep reading. 

My dissertation was on Indigenous speculative fiction, but I did not approach it through literary theory. In fact, once I did my qualifying exam, I tried to shift my focus to the stories themselves. The way that I structured my methodology was also sort of a turn away from literary theory. So now I am kind of in a weird spot where I am now reading literary theory stuff that I did not read, because my attention was elsewhere. I am catching up, in the visiting sense (catching up with my old friend - the field of literary studies), not in the remedial sense (because I am not behind, I am exactly where I need to be). 

So, in that spirit, I did obtain a copy of The Future Imaginary in Indigenous North American Arts and Literatures by Kristina Baudemann. The future imaginary is a literary term coined by Jason Edward Lewis (Samoan, Hawaiian). "The concept describes visions of the future that are shared by a group of people and used to motivate change in the present. Future imaginaries provide groups with a shared vocabulary for discussing the future and strategies for getting to the future they desire." (Lewis, 2023, p.11). 

I did cite Baudermann in my dissertation - but an article, not this book. I only became aware of the book after I finished. The book is a version of her dissertation. A free sample of the book can be found here.

She captures a range of media in her study, including visual art, film, literature, jewelry, and virtual reality. Something that I found really interesting right off the bat is that when describing the actions of colonial governments, she does mention eugenics (Baudemann, 2022, p.5) alongside things like residential schools. I am in Canada, and it is extremely unusual for people to acknowledge that eugenics against Indigenous people here occurred very recently... and some might even question whether it even ended. It's just not a word that comes up in common conversation. Perhaps due to the public liability of calling it what it is. There was actually just a decision last month in which an Alberta court denied the attempt to do a class action lawsuit on forced sterilization of Indigenous women, and instead said that if people want to pursue this, they have to do so as individuals. Baudemann's dissertation was done in Germany. I actually wonder - if it were carried out in Canada, would this matter of fact statement of eugenics have been readily accepted without having to justify it? 

When I first started reading the book, I found it a little disorienting. I'm used to reading Indigenous scholarship in education. Usually, the first thing people do in that context is state their place-based relationality. It was a little bit weird to begin reading a book length text on Indigenous creative works that did not ground itself in place-based relationality, and for a minute I thought "not sure whether or not I like this." But when I saw the inclusion of eugenics, I thought "there is value in reading things that are written from different perspectives, even if it is initially uncomfortable" and "maybe the fact that she is writing from Germany and not North America enables her to say things that we cannot easily say here." 

I haven't read the whole book yet. I read a few of the first chapters and then the conclusion. And then I started reading the chapter on Stephen Graham Jones. It's slow going because it is very abstract and theoretical. I think I would get more out of it if a googled each creative work and read summaries of the works or viewed the visual items. If I don't read the whole book, I might still use it just for inspiration to look up creative works by Indigenous people.

I definitely would not recommend this book for a general audience. It is not light and easy reading. There are some good nuggets in it. For example, she says "In a colonial context, the future belongs to the colonizer." (p. 21). And then goes on to talk about how creative works by Indigenous people about the future challenge the colonial context, and in doing so, assert Indigenous futures. So even though it is not an easy read, I do like her writing. 

Bauadermann, K. (2022). The Future Imaginary in Indigenous North American Arts and Literatures. Routledge. 

Lewis, J.E. (2023). The Future Imaginary. In T.J. Taylor, I. Lavendar III, G.L. Dillon, & B. Chattopadhyay (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of CoFuturisms (pp. 11-23). Routledge Press. 

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A little plug before I go. I was at the Museum of Vancouver today. My mom arranged a sneak peek of Nexwenen Nataghelʔilh, which is about the repatriation of Tsilhqot'in artifacts from the Museum of Vancouver. It's a beautiful exhibit which includes baskets, photos, a film, and even a quote by my mom. The larger exhibit that it is housed in is called The Work of Repair: Redress & Repatriation at the Museum of Vancouver. It opens on June 20th, and features stories of repatriation of artifacts from a number of communities, as well as stories about projects that bring Indigenous knowledges into the future, so that future generations are able to create as well. What I saw today was not yet complete, but even in a not yet complete stage, I thought it was beautiful and powerful. Highly recommend if you are looking for an activity to do in order to recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21. 

Ways of Being in the World: An Introduction to Indigenous Philosophies of Turtle Island

 I recently went to Bill Reid Gallery for their new exhibit, Vital Signs. Here is a description of the exhibit from Bill Reid Gallery: 

We are currently living through a very critical time of recurring natural disasters caused by climate change. Indigenous people and communities are some of the most impacted by these disasters. Our traditional territories are being affected by flooding, fires, drought, and in many areas a decline of the species that we rely on for hunting and fishing. Indigenous people have been at the forefront of environmental activism for generations and continue to actively fight for our traditional lands. 

Vital Signs is a group exhibition that features artists who are discussing the impact of climate change through personal experiences and effects on their traditional territories in a variety of mediums. The title, Vital Signs, refers to the measurements of the body’s most basic functions, but is also a reference to how the land is essential to our being and is a living entity itself. 

The artists featured in this exhibition are Jade Baxter (Nlaka’pamux), Jasper Berehulke (Syilx/Okanagan), Kali Spitzer (Kaska Dena), Kwiis Hamilton (Hupačasath/Leq’a:mel), Rebecca Baker-Grenier (Kwakiuł, Dzawada’enuwx, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), and Sage Nowak (Tahltan). 

Co-curated by Aliya Boubard and Amelia Rea

The entire exhibit is great, and worth checking out. And Bill Reid Gallery is a fabulous space. The work that spoke to me the most was Jade Baxter's film Why Would I Leave? The film featured audio of Jade reading a poem with footage of the devastating 2021 Lytton fire. You can read more about the exhibit in this IndigiNews article.

And here is the fancy dinner that I had after work and on my way to the art gallery. 

I recently read a book on Indigenous philosophies - Ways of Being in the World. It is an edited collection, created to support post-secondary faculty teaching about Indigenous philosophy. The editor, Andrea Sullivan-Clarke, is Muskogee and has three degrees in philosophy. The book contains an introductory essay. Then it is grouped into five parts and each part has its own brief introduction. And then each selection within the parts has its own blurb. There are seventeen selections, and the authors range from a Mexican American person writing about Aztecs to an Inuit person writing about contemporary life. Each selection also has a few discussion questions and also a QR code which readers can scan with their phones in order to go to webpages which contain videos as well as links to art and poetry. I like the way that it is a book, yes, but it is also a virtual space, allowing for a more dynamic reader experience. 

The essays feature a number of voices which were already familiar to me, such as Vine Deloria Jr. Winona LaDuke, Kyle Powys White, and Jo-Ann Archibald. And it also includes works by people that I am less familiar with, such as Peter Irniq and and Viola Cordova. One of the essays which I liked the most was by Joseph Len Miller, on living in harmony. I think that it would be great to use it as a discussion piece for Indigenous scholars in order to discuss how to navigate that ongoing tension between trying to fit into the academy (harmony with out world) and trying to transform the academy (harmony with one's own inner world). I found the book extremely accessible. I planned to sit down and read one essay at a time with my morning coffee. But I often found myself reading two or three essays per sitting. 

If I were to use it as a teaching resource, I would probably develop my own questions, because I have certain ways that I like to approach things. But the questions included in the book are good for those reading the book on their own, without an instructor. 

The word "philosophy" is laden with many colonial connotations, due to a history of what Marie Battiste calls cognitive imperialism. It would be easy for philosophy to eat up Indigenous philosophies, incorporating them into mainstream scholarly practices in such a way that they become consumed and lose the qualities that make them Indigenous. It is also the opposite of holistic and relational to assume that anyone can know anything about Indigenous philosophies without actually engaging with Indigenous people individually and collectively on their own terms (AKA not within the walls of a mainstream state institution). Can Indigenous philosophy be truly known without interacting with Indigenous people? Maybe not entirely, but I guess one could be introduced to ideas from Indigenous philosophies through a book, and the book title definitely says it is an introduction. Then comes the question, "how can one engage with Indigenous philosophical works without recreating colonial patterns of harm?" The editor of this book provides guidelines in the introduction for working respectfully with Indigenous philosophies. She uses the Muskogee saying "Cokv Kerretv Heret Os" (learning is good) as inspiration to create a list of tips for teaching Indigenous philosophy. I won't share them all, but here are my favourites:

• Focus on the philosophical thought instead of attempting to explain or practice the culture.
• Indigenous philosophical thought is not to be used as a tool to understand or support Western philosophy.
• While we refer to Indigenous philosophy in the general sense, the thought of each community remains distinct. Do not overgeneralize. 
• Acknowledge your sources and seek permission to use Indigenous materials and stories.