Place and self (even settlers should think about it): Kerri Malloy, ‘Invoking Place to Confront the Settler-Colonial Self’, in Saghar Shahidi-Birjandian, Sarah Seiselmyer-Snyder (eds), Intergenerational Survivors of Genocide and Mass Atrocities: Lived Experiences of Knowledge Providers, Routledge, 2026 | settler colonial studies blog

Place and self (even settlers should think about it): Kerri Malloy, ‘Invoking Place to Confront the Settler-Colonial Self’, in Saghar Shahidi-Birjandian, Sarah Seiselmyer-Snyder (eds), Intergenerational Survivors of Genocide and Mass Atrocities: Lived Experiences of Knowledge Providers, Routledge, 2026

23Jul26

Abstract: Genocide was not a term Kerri Malloy grew up knowing, though its legacy shaped his family’s story. Coming to understand that his Indigenous ancestors survived United States extermination efforts meant confronting genocide not as distant history but as something deeply personal. The realization that his existence was predicated on the loss of other lives sparked his drive to examine humanity at its worst. His work goes beyond detached academic inquiry into genocide, drawing instead on the lived experiences and memories of family members who endured and fell victim to United States violence, weaving together intimate family stories with broader historical narratives. He grapples with how Indigenous voices and experiences have been systematically erased from official historical accounts. His scholarship emerges directly from the genocidal violence the United States inflicted on his family and the Yurok and Karuk communities. He reflects on what it means to pursue this research while navigating spaces such as policy circles, universities, and professional settings where Indigenous people remain vastly outnumbered. He confronts, too, how his work itself carries danger.

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