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| Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures | |
|---|---|
| Name | Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures |
| Abbreviation | ASAIL |
| Formation | 1971 |
| Type | Scholarly organization |
| Purpose | Promotion of Native American, First Nations, and Indigenous literatures |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Region served | North America |
Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures is a scholarly organization devoted to the study, teaching, and dissemination of literatures by Native American, Indigenous, and First Nations writers. Founded during a period of rising Indigenous activism and cultural resurgence, the association connects scholars, poets, novelists, playwrights, and community members associated with institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, and Cornell University. Its activities intersect with publishers, archives, museums, and cultural centers including University of Oklahoma Press, Beacon Press, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, and American Philosophical Society.
The association emerged in the early 1970s alongside movements represented by American Indian Movement, Red Power, and legislative shifts like the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act; its founders included scholars and writers affiliated with programs at University of California, Los Angeles, University of Washington, Stanford University, and University of New Mexico. Early conferences featured figures connected to literary developments exemplified by N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, James Welch, Simon J. Ortiz, and Joy Harjo, while archival collaborations engaged repositories such as Newberry Library, Bancroft Library, and Haskell Indian Nations University. Over decades the association adapted to debates involving canonical contests with critics and institutions like Modern Language Association, PEN American Center, National Endowment for the Humanities, and American Council of Learned Societies.
The association articulates goals that parallel advocacy efforts by organizations such as National Congress of American Indians, Native American Rights Fund, First Nations Development Institute, and Indian Health Service for cultural sovereignty and representation. It seeks to foreground authors including Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Vine Deloria Jr., and Linda Hogan while engaging broader dialogues with historians connected to Berkeley Free Speech Movement, theorists associated with Edward Said-style postcolonial critique, and legal contexts shaped by decisions like Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe and statutes such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The association promotes pedagogy that draws on collections at New York Public Library, National Museum of the American Indian, Yale University, and Columbia University.
Membership spans faculty and students from institutions like Indiana University Bloomington, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of British Columbia, and McGill University as well as writers associated with presses such as UCLA Press, University of Nebraska Press, SUNY Press, and Princeton University Press. Organizational structures include elected officers, regional representatives, graduate student liaisons, and editorial boards that coordinate with bodies like Native American Literature Symposium, Western Literature Association, and Conference on College Composition and Communication. Committees collaborate with archives at Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and legal advisors conversant with precedent from Worcester v. Georgia and administrative practice at Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Annual meetings and panels occur within larger gatherings such as the Modern Language Association convention, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association conference, and regional symposia at locations including University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, University of British Columbia, and University of Toronto. Keynote speakers historically have included poets and novelists with affiliations to Poets & Writers, National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, and institutions like MacArthur Foundation fellows; panels have examined intersections with film festivals such as Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, theatrical work at Public Theater, and collaborative projects with museums like National Museum of the American Indian. Workshops often partner with community centers such as American Indian Cultural Center and Museum and youth programs connected to Tribal Colleges and Universities.
The association sponsors a peer-reviewed journal and occasional edited volumes produced with university presses such as University of Nebraska Press and Oxford University Press, and it recognizes achievement through awards comparable to prizes administered by Native Writers' Circle of the Americas, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the National Book Foundation. Publications have featured scholarship on canonical texts by N. Scott Momaday, Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Drew Hayden Taylor, Thomas King, Daniel Heath Justice, and archival recoveries involving writers such as Zitkala-Ša, John Joseph Mathews, Chief Dan George, William Apess, and Charles Eastman. Collaborative projects have produced bibliographies and critical editions used by instructors at University of California Press and in curricula at Iowa Writers' Workshop and Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.
The association has influenced syllabi at institutions including Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Brown University, and Dartmouth College and has shaped public-facing initiatives at venues like Smithsonian Institution and National Endowment for the Arts. Critics have debated its role relative to tensions exemplified by controversies at Modern Language Association meetings, representational disputes involving authors such as Sherman Alexie and institutions like Poets House, and debates over canonicity that invoke figures such as Toni Morrison and Edward Said-informed critics. Internal critiques have asked whether governance mirrors power dynamics seen in larger organizations such as American Council on Education or whether outreach adequately centers community protocols upheld by tribal governments like the Navajo Nation and the Sioux Nation. Supporters argue the association has promoted curricular innovation, archival recovery, and partnerships with cultural institutions including Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and American Folklife Center.