Anthropology, sovereignty, settler colonialism: Circe Sturm, ‘Reflections on the Anthropology of Sovereignty and Settler Colonialism: Lessons from Native North America’, Cultural Anthropology, 32, 3, pp. 340–348 | settler colonial studies blog

Anthropology, sovereignty, settler colonialism: Circe Sturm, ‘Reflections on the Anthropology of Sovereignty and Settler Colonialism: Lessons from Native North America’, Cultural Anthropology, 32, 3, pp. 340–348

29Aug17

Excerpt: Any consideration of what sovereignty has come to mean in Native North America, as a conceptual framework that names a particular kind of lived indigenous experience, has to be understood within the context of settler colonialism. Yet anthropology has been slow to take up settler colonialism as a key analytic, even though the discipline has long been engaged with understanding different types of colonial orders. This hesitation results in a missed opportunity for anthropologists to learn from scholars working in indigenous studies. Sovereignty and settler colonialism are frequently expressed as entwined critical frameworks that center indigenous perspectives. Each has merits when considered on its own, but taken together, they offer greater theoretical insights about the nature of political authority, ones widely applicable beyond the confines of Indian Country. In this brief essay, I outline some of the key conversations regarding sovereignty happening in Native North America, specifically within cultural anthropology, indigenous studies, and other related fields, paying particular attention to those that have proven highly productive for scholars working in the region and that hold the greatest promise for advancing intellectual debates in the discipline as a whole.

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