Sovereign Histories, Gathering Bones, Embodying Land: Visiting with Contributors

Founded in 2013, the Indigenous Literary Studies Association was created to address the need for a scholarly body based in lands claimed by Canada that focused specifically on the study and teaching of Indigenous peoples' literatures.1 Our Guiding Purpose is To honour the history and promote the ongoing production of Indigenous literatures in all forms; to advance the ethical and vigorous study and teaching of those literatures; to reaffirm the value of Indigenous knowledges and methodologies within literary expression and study; to foster respectful relationships within and between academic and non-academic communities; to facilitate mentorship and professional development; and to advocate for responsible institutional transformation. [...]we find inspiration in Kimberley Blaeser's watershed 1993 essay "Native Literature: Seeking a Critical Center," in which she writes that we must "recogniz[e] that the literatures of Native Americans have a unique voice and that voice has not always been adequately or accurately explored in the criticism that has been written about the literature" (53). [...]in writing this introduction, our purpose is not to analyze or foreclose interpretation of the essays, but rather to open a door and invite you in. Cariou, through his reflections, also asks us to question the entire peer review process.