Call for Papers:  Indigenous geographies

Papers are sought for one or more edited collections of work in the area
of Indigenous Geographies.

The proposed collections(s) reflect not only the growing (if still faint)
voice of indigenous peoples in today's globalized world, but also the
increasing profile of Indigenous Geographies within the discipline of
Geography.  It has long been recognized among a subgroup of geographers
that geographic inquiry is extraordinarily well suited to the study of
indigenous peoples because of the range of land/place/space-based issues
involved in the lives of indigenous peoples, past and present.  In today's
Geography, as we become increasingly aware of the legacies of colonialism
and the ongoing power relationships embedded in neocolonialism, geographic
inquiry has perhaps even more to offer.

With this in mind, we encourage submissions from all subfields of
Geography that may have relevance to Indigenous Geographies, with the aim of
developing a critical overview of the current issues and debates.

Essays should be 12-25 pages in length, and should follow the contributor
guidelines specified at the end of this CFP.  The collection(s) will be
edited jointly by Wendy Shaw (University of New South Wales), Doug Herman
(Towson University), and Rebecca Dobbs (University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill).

Contributions will be considered on a rolling basis until such time that
we feel we have sufficient materials to proceed, hopefully October 15,
2003.

We suggest the following broad categories, drawn in part from current
scholarship as represented at the last three AAG meetings, as themes for
submissions.  Potential contributors are encouraged to go beyond these
suggested themes and push our understandings of the state of Indigenous
Geographies.  We are particularly interested in essays that integrate
practice and theory, or that highlight ways in which geography can play a
role in resolving conflicts.

"Mappings," Representation, and Identity:
As colonized peoples and nations within nations, indigenous peoples are on
the receiving end of dominant discourses of geography, racial science,
ethnicity, and mainstream constructions of identity in various media.
These various "mappings" of indigenous peoples into the modern world
system have posed problems both for internal identity, and for relations
with dominant societies that perceive indigenous peoples according to
these "maps."  Representation, then, plays a critical role in either
empowering or further disempowering indigenous peoples.

Land and nation:
It is difficult to separate the issues of land rights and the sovereignty
of indigenous peoples.  Without a doubt, (lack of) control over
land/country/territory is very often the most important issue facing
indigenous peoples.  In many cases, tenuous control over lands is under
threat.  At the same time, the nesting of indigenous territories within
the larger and more powerful states that surround them creates critical
issues regarding sovereignty, autonomy, mobility, culture, and the
imposition of foreign legal structures.  Where an indigenous territory
straddles borders between nation-states, these issues become even more
complex.  Geography can play an important role in analyzing and
contextualizing these conflicts, and also in resolving them.

Nature, knowledge, and management:
A key area of conflict between indigenous and modernist geographies is the
use of the environment.  This conflict stems not only from differing
notions of appropriate use, but usually also from fundamentally different
conceptualizations of nature.  Recently, some government agencies have
started incorporating "Traditional Environmental Knowledge" (TEK) into
their management plans.  Papers might examine conflicts over environmental
understanding and management, or problems and successes with state use of
indigenous TEK.

Health and well-being:
For indigenous peoples, both physical and spiritual well-being are often
closely linked with homeland.  Among other things, the disruption of this
link through removal, dispossession, desecration of sacred sites, cultural
intervention by the colonizers (including dietary changes), and limited
access to appropriate health care has left many indigenous communities
crippled by ill health, high adult and infant mortality rates, and high
rates of alcoholism, suicide, and self-harming behavior.  Geography can
play a vital role in understanding why indigenous health issues are often
very different from those facing First World "hosts," and in proposing
ways forward which are empowering to indigenous peoples.

Decolonizing Geography:
There is a growing body of scholarship on decolonizing both the processes
and the products of academic inquiry in regards to Indigenous Peoples.
This literature (e.g. Linda Tuhiwai Smith, 1999) argues for a far more
inclusive approach to such research to ensure that further
colonization-intellectual and otherwise-does not result from such
scholarship.  How does Geography reconcile with these notions? Papers here
might focus on methodological issues, fieldwork, the politics of research,
indigenous education efforts, and how the structure of academia and the
discipline of Geography might or should reflect these concerns.

Contributor guidelines:
Contributors are asked to follow the guidelines for Geografiska Annaler B,
Blackwell Publishing.  These guidelines are found at
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/submit.asp?ref=0435-3684

For more information or to submit materials, contact either Rebecca
Dobbs ([log in to unmask]), Wendy Shaw ([log in to unmask]) or Doug
Herman ([log in to unmask]).