Excerpt

Indigenousness is a slippery thing. Like water, it takes the shape of the container that holds it. And, like water, it can breach walls that were meant to keep it on course or in place.

After decades of debate scholars, activists, politicians and indigenous peoples do not agree on a definition, much less a unifying theory. One definition cannot possibly encompass the diversity of peoples around the world who call themselves indigenous. However, there exists a shared understanding (though not unproblematic) around indigenousness, and boundaries (though not static) around who can claim to be indigenous and who cannot. In other words, when someone says “indigenous” we somehow know what she or he means. It is this tenuous “knowing” that makes it possible for us to put together five papers with a wide range of topics and theoretical approaches, and call this an Indigenous Studies special issue. Despite their varied contents, the articles come together between these covers with surprising complementarity. […]