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  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

    EVENTS

    Reading of Alexie’s work (Heidi Winters Vogel) September 10, 2013, Tuesday, 8 pm,  Common Grounds

    Graduate Student Book Study Sessions with Biomedicine, Counseling, and CJP

    a.      September 18, 2013, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. Discipleship Center

    b.      October 16, 2013, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. Discipleship Center

    Tues luncheon with shared response essays by faculty: Beth Leaman & Nancy Heisey *Essays available on Moodle  October 8, 2013, noon, West Dining Room

    Mental Health/ Bullying (Pam Comer)- October 7, 2013, 8 pm, Common Grounds

    Smoke Signals                        VaCA/CIE Film Fest, November 8-10, 2013       

    Nov 8, 8 pm, location TBA   

    Plot summary (1998; More at IMDbPro)             Young Indian man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by Arnold.  Arnold soon left his family (and his tough son Victor), and Victor hasn't seen his father for 10 years. When Victor hears Arnold has died, Thomas offers him funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains, but only if Thomas will also go with him. Thomas and Victor hit the road.   Sherman Alexie wrote the screenplay for Smoke Signals.   

    "Restoring Mohawk: History, Identity, Legacy, Family."  Paulette Moore.  TGIW- February 12, 2014, 4 pm, Main Stage theater or Common Grounds.

    Samuel Cook March 26, 2014, 4pm Colloquium in Main Stage theater

    PLECKER, POLITICS, AND PEOPLEHOOD: (RE)BIRTH OF THE MONACAN NATION

     The 20th century was, arguably, one of the most turbulent epochs in the collective histories of Virginia‘s Indian nations.  Eugenic policies designed to perfect the “pure” Anglo-Saxon race through selective breeding and forced sterilization treated Indians as a caste of virtual “untouchables,” by effectively outlawing legal or self-identification as “Indian.”  This presentation examines the experiences and responses of the Monacan people to historic cycles of colonial contact, with the eugenic era marking the watershed of crisis and resistance. Particular emphasis is placed on the manner in which the Monacans have historically responded to colonial forces to sustain community cohesion, even in the face of immense cultural change.  The Monacan experience beckons a unique test of the anthropological concept of Peoplehood given the fact that this group has suffered a great deal of loss in the conventional sense of traditional language, land, sacred historical knowledge, and ceremonial activity, but has nonetheless endured as a community of people who have consistently identified as a unique indigenous group.  For instance, while there appear to be no fluent speakers of the Monacan language efforts to revitalize that language have become symbolic of cultural perseverance while other aspects of Peoplehood, particularly a connection to the land, have become more salient markers of Monacan identity and solidarity. Thus,  the Monacans’ survival as a People, as well as the manner in which the contemporary Monacans have rearticulated their political and ethnic identity with the benefit of historical hindsight, constitutes a creative ethnogenetic process that may become more and more common in the 21st century as tribal cultures become more enmeshed with global forces. 

      Samuel R. Cook  (http://www.sociology.vt.edu/people/Cook.html) received his Ph.D in cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1997.  His research interest in comparative political economy in Indian country and the rural South led to his long-term relationship with the Monacan Nation and other Virginia Indian nations.  He is author of Monacans and Miners: Native American and coal Mining communities in Appalachia (University of Nebraska Press 2000), and numerous articles on the Monacan Nation and American Indian Studies program development.  His current research focuses on indigenous natural resource management, permaculture, and community organization.  He is an Associate Professor in the Department of sociology at Virginia Tech, where he serves as Director of American Indian Studies.  

    Critical responses to the author’s work (general)

    • Berglund, J., & Roush, J. (2010). Sherman Alexie: a collection of critical essays. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
    • Lewis, L. (2012). Sherman Alexie. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.

  • EMU Common Reads Planning

  • TGIW Planning

  • Colloquium Planning

  • Spring Scholarship Day Planning