American Indian Culture and Research Journal

The world has seen in recent years what can only be described as an “Indigenous Resurgence” to which even governments are taking notice. There is a rise in popular culture regarding Indigenous peoples’ epistemologies, culture, languages, curation, and arts everywhere from New Zealand, the America’s, Africa, Australia, and other parts of the world. Historical fascinations with those systems have often been by and for the perspective of non-natives who exploited and romanticized Indigenous cultures to form their own national identities, write popular books, or make popular movies about their brief time with a tribe. The appropriation of Indigenous cultural and aesthetic motifs extended to Europe, with philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke and literary figures such as Karl May to Dylan Thomas. But now, many aspects of the resurgence arise directly from and for Indigenous peoples around the world expressing their own cultural values. Like any cultural resurgence, it is difficult to trace the precise genesis, however, it only recently became a transcontinental phenomenon, uniting disparate Indigenous peoples in the process. 

This essay offers a theoretical and historical framework for understanding the current global rise in this movement. We argue that the return of the Buffalo to Turtle Island provides one such example of Indigenous cultures and their spiritual relatives overcoming colonial boundaries and addressing the social ills of modernity by rebuilding relationships with each other and the earth. As guest editors, we also take time to introduce and celebrate the current special issue of the American Indian Culture and Research Journal on the topic of Indigenous resurgence and the work of the inspiring group of authors who have found pathways for hope, action, healing, and wellbeing in the ongoing struggle against colonialism.