Indigenous Narratives of the Past, Present, and Future

Long before the first Europeans set foot on Turtle Island, Indigenous people shared and recorded their stories and histories. In a conversation moderated by scholar Joseph M. Pierce (Cherokee Nation), novelists Eliana Ramage (Cherokee Nation) and Greg Sarris (Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria), along with historian Linford D. Fisher, will consider Native literature from cultural, anthropological, and fictional perspectives. As many commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the authors will offer a clear-eyed examination of America’s past while celebrating Indigenous presents and futures.

This panel will bring together Fisher’s rich account of the long history of Indigenous enslavement and land dispossession; Ramage’s and Sarris’s fictional depictions of a Depression-era shape-shifter and a modern-day aspiring Cherokee astronaut, respectively; and Pierce’s theorization of future worlds and imaginaries that illuminate Indigenous thought and practice. A book signing will follow the event.