Allow me to introduce myself

I don’t know what happened this week, but a ton of new people subscribed to this stack. I’m honored, and perhaps it would be good for me to say a few things about myself, especially for the new subscribers.

I’m a citizen of Cherokee Nation, an Indigiqueer writer-collaborator-curator, based in Brooklyn, where I have lived for about 12 years now. I have a job at Stony Brook University, on Long Island, where work in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature, and am the founding director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative. Last years I was one of three Scholars-in-Residence at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and have been doing a bit more art writing of late. OK, a few notes.

First, this Substack is a way for me to think through issues relating to Indigenous art, culture, and theory. I try to keep it focused on art and theory, with occasional reflection on major issues like pretendians or political events, without this being a reactive space. By that I mean: I don’t want to always be reacting to things because I want to foreground the work of Indigenous people doing Indigenous things. That, in my humble opinion, is more important than attempting to rubberneck my way to understanding what I already know.

Second, I try to post at least once a month, but not more than once a week. I won’t bombard you.

Third, I am a writer and professor of Native American and Indigenous studies, Latin American studies, queer studies, art, literature, and culture. I have written two books and published a bunch of academic articles and book chapters, all of which are available on my personal website. While I will point you to events I’m doing (talks and such), and to new work when it comes out, I’m also interested in cultivating this space as something more experimental and first draft-y. I really try not to edit myself here too much, so sometimes the writing is less polished than in my published work, and I’m ok with that. I think I need that.

Lastly, I used to maintain a blog, and have migrated all that content to this Substack, so if you would like to peruse the archive, I think that’s a great way to get to know more of my writing and some of the things that I’ve been working on over the past several years.

I try to keep this space accessible, so I keep pretty much everything free, though the paid subscription is turned on, and, honestly, if you are reading this and have an inclination to keep reading and engaging, and if you have the ability, I would encourage you to turn on the paid subscription feature. I’m going to be posting a few things in that way next year such as videos and behind the scenes stuff.

I am really looking forward to getting to know more about you all in the coming weeks and months.

Here I am holding my book in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the most recent American Studies Association Conference. Pick up the book here (with the ASA discount code: ASA25 valid through Jan. 1)!

Joseph