Indigenizing the Future: Why We Must Think Spatially in the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

I have been saddened by the recent death of Vine Deloria, Jr. My sadness is compounded because outside of indigenous communities, institutions, and nations of North America, too few Americans knew and understood his work.In this essay recalling his life and work, which was completed before he started his journey to the stars, I write about my friend and mentor Vine Deloria, Jr. and his contributions as an indigenous thinker, public intellectual, and one of the most important voices of the twentieth century.Vine Deloria, Jr. had a profound impact on American Indian scholarship and activism; few indigenous thinkers have been so influential.1 As anthropologist Don Stull has written, "North American anthropology can be divided into two ages: BD and AD-Before and After Deloria." 2 Deloria achieved recognition through his intellectual energy, virtuosity, and activism, but he never called attention to himself-it was unnecessary.Through five decades, Deloria articulated in his teaching and twenty-odd books the importance of tribal knowledgeindigenous wisdom.He called attention to American Indian ways of knowing and knowledge not as historical artifacts, but as practical knowledge relevant to the modern world.Given the breadth of Deloria's work, in this essay I will focus on three important themes that have had an enormous influence on twentieth-century scholarship generally and indigenous thought specifically and have shaped my own thinking and activism.

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