as Joyce Dugan and Wilma Mankiller became the first female chiefs of the Cherokee Nation

Among the lakes and the cedars

inviting readers follow Grandmother

on our relationship to the animal world

injustice bleeds into betrayal

Why Indigenous Literatures Matter ecology as Joyce Dugan and WilmaPart survey of the field of Indigenous literary studies, part cultural history, and part literary polemic, Why Indigenous Literatures Matter asserts the vital significance of literary expression to the political, creative, and intellectual efforts of Indigenous peoples today. In considering the connections between literature and lived experience, this book contemplates four key questions at the heart of Indigenous kinship traditions: How do we learn