Journal of Indigenous Studies - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Journal of Indigenous Studies (French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: La Revue des Etudes Indigenes) was a multilingual, biannual, peer-reviewed

Peer review

Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...

academic journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

. It was established in 1989 and was sponsored by the Gabriel Dumont Institute

Gabriel Dumont Institute

The Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research is a post-secondary educational institution in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is administered by and services the Métis population of Saskatchewan...

, a Métis

Métis people (Canada)

The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

-directed educational and cultural entity in Saskatoon

Saskatoon

Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....

(Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada), affiliated with the University of Regina

University of Regina

The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated...

. The journal's scope was interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinarity

Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....

and cross-cultural

Cross-cultural

cross-cultural may refer to*cross-cultural studies, a comparative tendency in various fields of cultural analysis*cross-cultural communication, a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate...

, with a focus on indigenous people, from the perspectives of a variety of academic fields, including archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

, education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, law, linguistics

Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

, philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, and sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

. The journal was one of several Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s and periodicals under the auspices of the Aboriginal Multimedia Society of Alberta.

While all six volumes were written in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

and French

French language

, three of them (Nos. 3, 5, and 6) were also in Cree

Cree language

Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

. The last of the six volumes was published in 1997.

Other journals exist on indigenous peoples' studies. For example, in 2005, New Zealand’s National Institute of Research Excellence in Māori Advancement and Development (University of Auckland

University of Auckland

The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...

) began publishing a journal, AlterNative
Alternative
Alternative may refer to:* Alternating -Genres of music:* Alternative rock* Alternative metal* Alternative hip hop* Alternative country* Alternative dance* Alternative bouyon-Mathematics and science:...

, with a similar multi-disciplinary approach and similar themes. Other examples include Indilinga, the International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, and the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

's Indigenous Peoples Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance.

History

Dana F. Lawrence was the founding editor-in-chief.

1989
The first issue, Winter (January) 1989, written in English and French, circulated in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Topics included native self-government, indigenous values in a colonial education system, Indian/Métis language programs with French immersion, and death/reburial. There were also two book reviews. The second issue, Summer (July) 1989, featured articles on Aboriginal

Aboriginal peoples in Canada

Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....

languages, Michif language

Michif language

Michif is the language of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations women and fur trade workers of European ancestry...

, and First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

women. There were also three book review

Book review

A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review could be a primary source opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review. It is often carried out in periodicals, as school work, or on the internet. Reviews are also often...

s .

1990s
There were no issues printed in 1990 during a personnel turnover while Lawrence moved on to the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

. Catherine Littlejohn, free-lance historian, researcher, author and consultant, was introduced as the new editor for the third issue, published in Winter (January) 1991. As with her predecessor, Littlejohn urged for international participation. Besides English and French, it was also written in Cree. There were articles on archaeology, health, and spirituality, as well as two book reviews.

Summer (July) 1991, the fourth issue, saw several major changes: the associated editors of previous issues were replaced by a review board

Editorial board

The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...

entirely made up of participants from Canadian institutions, article abstract

Abstract (summary)

An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a...

s were written in Cree syllabics

Cree syllabics

Cree syllabics, found in two primary variants, are the versions of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics used to write Cree dialects, including the original syllabics system created for Cree and Ojibwe. Syllabics were later adapted to several other languages...

, APA format was no longer required for articles written in a discipline that used another style, and citations for traditional knowledge had to be validated by the indigenous community. The issue contained articles on education, law, policy, and residential schools, as well as two book reviews. McNinch wrote the opening editorial of the Winter (January) 1992 issue, as Littlejohn had left the journal. Circulation expanded to New Zealand and included the topics of Maori language

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

, Maori music

Maori music

Te Pūoro Māori or Māori Music is music composed or performed by Māori, the native people of New Zealand, and includes a wide variety of folk music styles, often integrated with poetry and dance, as well as modern rock and roll, soul, reggae and hip hop....

, and a literary biography

Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...

on Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

Paula Gunn Allen

Paula Gunn Allen was a Native American poet, literary critic, lesbian activist, and novelist.Born Paula Marie Francis in Albuquerque, Allen grew up in Cubero, New Mexico, a Spanish-Mexican land grant village bordering the Laguna Pueblo reservation...

. There was one book review.

The sixth and final issue did not appear until Winter (January) 1997, and with it, another editor, Karla Jessen Williamson. The previous long list of editorial board members or assistant editors was gone, replaced by a list of manuscript

Manuscript

A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

evaluators. The topics of this issue included education, employment/training, native/newcomer relations. Indigenous Australians and North American Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

were the subject populations. There were three book reviews.

Publishing

The front cover was designed by Sherry Farrell-Racette and, while the colours of the front cover changed for the different issues, the design never changed. Earlier issues of the journal were typeset by ABCOM Publishers and the last one was typeset by The Little Print Shop (Saskatoon). All but the last issue were printed and distributed by University of Toronto Press

University of Toronto Press

University of Toronto Press is Canada's leading scholarly publisher and one of the largest university presses in North America. Founded in 1901, UTP has published over 6,500 books, with well over 3,500 of these still in print....

. The journal did not accept paid advertising.

Scholarly references

The short-lived journal and individual articles were subsequently cited by other scholars. For example, White's "Forced Sterilization amongst American Indian Women" (1989) was quoted by Davies & Clow (2009), American Indian sovereignty and law, and Douglas' "Maori Language Nests" (1992) was mentioned in Abley (2005), Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages. At least one article was reprinted as a chapter in a later book: Watson's, "The affirmation of indigenous values in a colonial education system" in Stone & MacKenzie (1990), The Excluded past: Archaeology in education. Likewise, a chapter previously published elsewhere (for example, Hubert's, "A proper place for the dead: a critical review of the 'reburial' issue", chapter ten, in Layton (1994), Conflict in the archaeology of living traditions), was reprinted in JIA.

History

Publishing

Scholarly references

See also