Forty Years of Native and Indigenous Literature and Literary Criticism: Reflections on Native Literary Nationalism(s) and Other - Isms

This paper examines the Wicazo Sa Review’s (WSR) impact on Native and Indigenous literary studies over the past forty years. Specifically, it explores the journal’s role in shaping Native literary nationalism(s) and assisting with ongoing efforts to reclaim and revitalize our rich intellectual/literary traditions. The WSR, cofounded by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (Dakota), Beatrice Medicine (Lakota), William Willard (Cherokee), and Roger Buffalohead (Ponca) in 1985, has been instrumental in shifting the field of Native and Indigenous literary studies from western-dominated (i.e., cosmopolitan) approaches to tribally specific, place-based (i.e., nation-centered) literary analysis. This article provides an overview of the major literary milestones, theoretical frameworks, and ongoing discussions about tribal nationalism that continue to influence the field of Native and Indigenous literary studies today.