We’re already gearing up to hit the road for our very busy fall conference season. If you have plans to attend any of the  conferences listed below, please be sure to seek us out to say hello. There are many other exciting conferences and symposia happening this fall so check out our calendar for a more complete listing of Indigenous studies conferences.

Look for the First Peoples booth at these conferences:

Latin American Studies Association
October 6-9, 2010 – Toronto, Ontario
Partner Press Exhibitors: University of Arizona Press, University of North Carolina Press

Western History Association
October 13-16, 2010 – Incline Village, NV
Partner Press Exhibitors: University of Arizona Press, University of North Carolina Press

American Society of Ethnohistory
October 13-17, 2010 – Ottawa, Ontario
Partner Press Exhibitors: University of North Carolina Press

American Anthropological Association
November 17-21, 2010 – New Orleans, LA
Partner Press Exhibitors: University of Arizona Press, University of Minnesota Press, University of North Carolina Press

National Congress of American Indians
November 14-19, 2010 – Albuquerque, NM

We won’t have an exhibit at the National Women’s Studies Association annual meeting (November 11-14, 2010 – Denver, CO) , but we’re excited to attend and listen in on keynotes by Andrea Smith and Renya Ramirez as well as many other sessions on Indigenous feminisms.

There are so many great conferences this fall! Here are a few that look particularly strong that we wish we could squeeze into our schedule:

Inuit Studies Conference
October 28-30, 2010 – Val-d’Or, Quebec

Sovereignty, Indigeneity, and the Law
October 29-30, 2010 – Cornell University

Exploring the Red Atlantic Conference
November 12-13, 2010 – University of Georgia

Do you know of a conference you think we should add to our calendar? Please let us know about it, either by leaving a comment here or emailing nvarner@uapress.arizona.edu.

Last week First Peoples was thrilled to spend time at the Native Nations Media Conference, a week-long joint meeting of the Native American Journalist Association and Native American Public Telecommunications, held in St. Paul, Minnesota. More than 150 journalists, videographers, and journalism students came together to discuss hands-on techniques and big-picture issues facing Native media makers today. Throughout the sessions we attended, participants returned often to issues of sovereignty and the necessity of telling stories–vital reasons for why they do the important work that they do.

Clockwise: Keynote speakers Valarie Fast Horse, director of IT for the Coer d’Alene Tribe, and Syd Beane, Native Public Media advisory council member, discussed the power and possibility of digital communications for tribal communities; videographer Patty Loew gave hands-on training in video editing; University of Minnesota Press authors Jean O’Brien and Robert Warrior listened in as author Mark Trahant discussed his new book; summer in St. Paul provided a colorful backdrop for the week-long conference.

This year marks the 10th anniversary for the  Indigenous Studies PhD program at Trent University. In honor of this milestone, the department hosted the Celebrating Indigenous Knowledges: Peoples, Lands, Cultures conference a few weeks ago on Trent’s campus in Peterborough, Ontario. The nearly 300 attendees included alumni, current students, and professors of the program along with scholars and community members from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hawai’i, and elsewhere in the Americas.

In her opening remarks the conference’s honorary chair, Professor Emeritus Marlene Brant Castellano, encapsulated the tone of the conference and the mission of the PhD program: “We are not teaching about Indigenous knowledge, rather we are reaffirming it as a foundation for contemporary knowledge. We aren’t preserving something from the past, but we are expressing that knowledge as a way of being good citizens in our communities and in the world. We are opening an Indigenous route to credentialing in the academy.” Many conference sessions spoke directly to this point, addressing ways to make Indigenous knowledge central to and viable in the Western academic model.

Internationally acclaimed performance artist James Luna at Peterborough's Ode'min Giizis Festival.

Song, performance, ceremony, and story were also common themes throughout this five-day conference, due in part to its coinciding with Peterborough’s annual Ode’min Giizis Indigenous arts festival. The festival featured performance art pieces by James Luna and Tanya Lukin-Linklater, masterful storytelling by Makka Kleist of Greenland, musical performances by cutting edge Aboriginal performers including Lucie Idlout and Tanya Tagaq, and the Compaigni V’ni Dansi’s portrayal of Métis resistance told through traditional and contemporary dance, among many other events. The influence of this creative atmosphere was evident in a number of sessions on song, dance, and literature,  as well as occasional songs and performances being incorporated into the scholarly presentations.

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Today our partners at the University of Minnesota posted a reflection from editor Jason Weidemann on last month’s meeting of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) in Tucson, Arizona. He wrote:

“In May I had the opportunity to attend the annual Native American and Indigenous Studies meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Always an energetic and passionate gathering, this year’s was even more so given that the meeting took place against the backdrop of Arizona’s recent passage of a stringent new immigration law and a measure banning ethnic studies courses in public schools….”

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Around the world, educators and scholars are coming together throughout the summer at special conferences and institutes to explore new ways to protect, maintain, and transmit Indigenous languages.

Our partner presses publish expert titles in the field of language preservation. "Teaching Oregon Native Languages" from Oregon State University Press

During the past two weeks participants at the American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI), held in Tucson, Arizona, have been investigating ways to use technology to advance their work. “During AILDI each summer, Indigenous language warriors from all over gather to learn, share, and prepare to fight to keep our Indigenous languages alive,” says AILDI faculty member Stacey Oberly, a member of the Southern Ute tribe working on native language revitalization.

To further this goal, sessions at AILDI are focused squarely on innovative techniques that directly impact the way educators work, and they are taking local examples from global sources. One session for a cohort of practitioners from Indigenous communities in Mexico are learning how to use Microsoft Publisher to develop low cost, but effective, educational materials.

The Tohono O’odham Community College cohort looked across the Pacific Ocean for new frameworks, curriculum, and assessment tools. They sponsored scholar Katarina Edmonds, PhD , to come from New Zealand to AILDI to share her experiences as both a native speaker of Māori, as well as a leading teacher and scholar of the teaching of the language. Together each afternoon for almost two weeks, the group has discussed ways the Māori have worked to get people involved in education and on a path to continue and maintain their language. Edmonds has underscored the importance of constant assessment in the development and implementation of Native language programs. “I cannot stress how important it is to know where your language is,” she said.

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