rw's blog

Peru

June 12, 2009 by rw

Since April, Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon have been protesting new laws that would allow expropriation of resources from the Amazon without consultation with the Indigenous peoples who live there.

Over two thousand protesters blocked a road into the region, but were attacked by police this past weekend. According to various reports, 40 or more of the protesters were killed, as were 22 police officers. The US news program Democracy Now! has covered these events:

See: Peruvian Police Accused of Massacring Indigenous Protesters in Amazon Jungle.

The Peruvian Congress has suspended the laws in question, but only temporarily:

See: Peruvian Congress Suspends Land Laws.

One NAISA member, Vicki Grieves, sent the following link, which includes links to sending messages to officials in Peru to denounce these acts. I have already sent a message as NAISA President supporting these Indigenous people, and I hope you will join me in doing so.

See: Latin American Solidarity Network.

Please comment and let other members know what else we need to know and what else we as concerned scholars can do.

Robert Warrior
NAISA President

Last Day at NAISA

May 23, 2009 by rw

Can you believe it? It's the last day at our annual meeting. Time always seems to slip by so quickly.

It's deeply gratifying to hear from people that this meeting and this association are helping them in their work.

See you in Tucson!

Robert

Check out images from NAISA past

May 21, 2009 by rw

There are some great photos from previous meetings. Click on the Image Galleries link on the list to the left.

If you have images from this meeting, send them to me by email and we'll post them (rwarrior@illinois.edu).

Robert

PS--some of my colleagues from the new NAISA council should be joining me soon.

What's your fave?

May 21, 2009 by rw

It's been great to spend the day running into everyone. What's been your favorite moment so far? The best paper you've heard?

Robert Warrior

We're here!

May 20, 2009 by rw

One of my favorite things about the NAISA meetings in Oklahoma, Georgia, and now Minneapolis is the rush I get watching people arrive the night before the meeting starts. Today, I have already run into dozens of people who are here to participate.

What's your favorite chance encounter so far?

Robert

Welcome to NAISA blog

May 18, 2009 by rw

Hello everyone,

As the incoming president of NAISA, let me welcome you to blog.naisa.org and to the first annual meeting in Minneapolis. This is an exciting time for our organization as we move from being in formation to being an active, vibrant association with an annual calendar.

This website is an experiment, a work in progress that I hope will grow and change as NAISA grows and changes. We are fortunate to have expertise within our fold that allows us to move forward in this way. Let us know what you think, and keep logging in to get new and fresh perspectives from scholars from the Indigenous world.

If you are joining us in Minneapolis, thank you and welcome to the Twin Cities! The meeting promises to be a great one, with lots of opportunities to hear from terrific people from our field and the research they are doing.

If you are following us electronically, thank you also. NAISA needs everyone who cares about the scholarly and creative work that's being done in Native and Indigenous studies. Let us know what you think--and keep an eye on what's happening at the meeting.