In response to MAPACA’s special call for papers on Indigenous resurgence, resistance and decolonization, we propose a roundtable discussion of Indigenous SF—texts which have been resisting hegemonic histories and imagining decolonial futurisms for years. Despite having been frequently excluded from mainstream SF narratives and all too often resigned to historical stereotypes, Indigenous inclusions in this genre have been on the rise. More importantly, we consider how an increasing number of Indigenous authors have been transforming the genre, crafting their own SF narratives within cultural traditions, a trend which Grace Dillon importantly anthologizes in her recent book, Walking the Clouds. We are particularly interested in: (1) how storytelling/oral tradition is central to survival/resistance/reclamation in Indigenous SF texts and their future worlds, and (2) how alternate history narratives might be of particular significance/effectiveness to Indigenous resistance/decolonization, in that they more directly allow Native peoples to craft new narratives, correct problematic old ones, and make space for self-determined futurisms. In the vein of Dillon’s work, drawing attention to a variety of older as well as more recent Indigenous SF authors (Gerald Vizenor, Stephen Graham Jones, Cherie Dimaline, Waubgeshig Rice, etc.), our round table intends to discuss recurring themes of resistance and decolonization and their significance within the SF genre to understand how these frameworks are vital to narratives of Indigenous futurisms.
About the presentersKatelyn Lucas
Katelyn is a Ph.D. Candidate at Temple University. She’s interested in Indigenous Studies & History, Native & Early American Literatures, Historical Fiction, Indigenous SF, Ecocriticism, Museum & Public Memory Studies. She also works as a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for Delaware Nation, a federally-recognized Lenape tribal nation. Her dissertation aims to prioritize Lenape sovereignty in scholarship and explicate a history of literary representations of the Lenape.
Brian Russell Lutz
Brian Lutz is the youngest person ever named Poet Laureate of Bucks County. A full-time faculty member at Delaware Valley University since 2006, Lutz, an associate professor of literature, has published widely in various local, national, and international journals. His scholarly focuses revolve around critical trends in contemporary literature, millennial poetics, and spatial studies—especially as it pertains to the fantastic.
Carlos Mamani
I am Peruvian and Aymara by birth. My interests are Indigenous cultures, globalization, popular culture, relationships of power.