Teaching for a Future of Freedom: Native American and Indigenous Religious Traditions

This roundtable asks two questions: How might those who teach Native American and Indigenous religious traditions nurture greater respect, more nuanced understanding, more care-full critical thought, and deeper community engagement with Indigenous nations and communities across the Americas, in their teaching? How might teaching with Native American and Indigenous religious traditions, instead of about them, create the possibility for better understanding the ongoing creation of settler colonial societies, and for imagining and enacting Indigenous and non-Indigenous futures in more responsible and respectful ways? The inseparability of religion and politics in Native American and Indigenous religions, as cites of Indigenous self-determination, are foregrounded in this roundtable. Together, the participants speak to historical, theoretical, ethical and legal case studies, constructing the conversation toward contemporary assets and challenges in pursuing the religious and political flourishing of Indigenous and Native American peoples.