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First Peoples Blog
Guest Blogger: Michael J. Zogry on Sports, Religion, and Native Identity
September 1, 2010
Anetso, a centuries-old Cherokee ball game still played today, is a vigorous, sometimes violent activity that rewards speed, strength, and agility. At the same time, it is the focus of several linked ritual activities. Is it a sport? Is it a religious ritual? Could it be both? Michael J. Zogry, author of "Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game," describes the junctures between ritual, sport, and...

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Jennifer Nez Denetdale: A Treasured and Storied Dress Returns Home
August 27, 2010
In the introduction to her book, "Reclaiming Diné History: The Legacies of Navajo Chief Manuelito and Juanita," Jennifer Nez Denetdale speaks of traveling to the Southwest Museum in Pasadena, California to view photographs of her great-great-great grandmother, Juanita, as well as her woven dress or biil, in Navajo. The dress, which had been a treasured possession of Juanita's, had been appropriated by George Wharton James in 1902. Now, the dress has been returned to the...

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Featured Books
Ritual and Remembrance in the Ecuadorian Andes
From The University of Arizona Press
Ritual and Remembrance in the Ecuadorian Andes
By Rachel Corr
Based on eighteen years of fieldwork in the Ecuadorian Andes, Anthropologist Rachel Corr provides a knowledgeable account of the Salasacan religion and rituals and their respective histories. Corr's book illuminates how Salasacan culture adapted to Catholic traditions and recentered, reinterpreted, and even reshaped them to serve similarly motivated Salasacan practices, demonstrating the link between formal and folk Catholicism and pre-Columbian beliefs and practices.  Learn More
Indigenous Writings from the Convent
From The University of Arizona Press
Indigenous Writings from the Convent
Negotiating Ethnic Autonomy in Colonial Mexico
By Mónica Díaz
While colonial sources that refer to Indigenous women are not scant, documents in which women emerge as agents who actively participate in shaping their own identity are rare. Looking at this minority agency in New Spain, shows that an Indigenous identity recast in Catholic terms was able to be effectively recorded and that the religious participation of these women at a time when Indigenous parishes were increasingly secularized lent cohesion to that identity.  Learn More

Upcoming Events
  • First Nations, Lasting Nations: Community and University Partnerships in Indigenous New England
    September 17th - September 18th, 2010
    The theme is partnerships between universities and indigenous communities. We seek to initiate a conversation among academics and community activists who wish to move beyond (or who have already moved beyond) the "expert" model, whereby academics "study" Native communities or Native "guests" make isolated appearances on campus. What obligations do universities have to local Native American communities? How can Native activists partner with academics to produce (and protect) new knowledge? What have been some of the challenges and rewards of academic/community partnership?
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  • LASA2010 / Crisis, Response, and Recovery
    October 6th - October 9th, 2010
    First Peoples will be exhibiting at the Latin American Studies Association's conference in Toronto. Come visit us at booth 104 and check out our many new publications focused on the Indigenous peoples of Latin America.
    Learn More
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