CHEROKEE

• The seemingly fantastical world of the Middle Ages has held western popular culture in fascination since (at least) its nostalgic reimagining by Victorian antiquarians.
• “The medieval” is used to evoke both magical stories for all ages, and mature stories featuring senseless violence.
• With literature professor Elizabeth Edwards, I have examined how medieval studies can gain insight from Indigenous worldviews and perspectives.
• Here, I consider the impact of white supremacy on historical and contemporary scholarly and popular understandings of the Middle Ages, and focus on how scholars are shifting the narrative with critical race and Indigenous approaches.

White nationalism

• Critical race scholars like Dorothy Kim and Eduardo Ramos have highlighted the colonial histories of medieval studies and its associated myths and stereotypes.
• As critical race literature scholar Matthew X. Vernon notes in
  The Black Middle Ages: Race and the Construction of the Middle Ages, white supremacist theorists have seen medieval England as “available for being imaginatively constructed as an era of racial purity and military subjugation on ‘foreign peoples.’” Such “extrapolations of the Middle Ages” have served to “racializ[e] bodies and then fi[x] horizons of expectations for what a race could achieve.”
  Medievalist scholars Mary Rambaran-Olm and Erik Wade note that some American and English writers rebranded “Anglo-Saxon” to include false narratives around white racial superiority.

Indigenizing approaches to the Middle Ages

• The idea of the Middle Ages is arguably tightly interwoven with settler colonial ideology.
• Indigenous and non-Indigenous with a decolonial focus have begun to understand the European medieval period through global historical and Indigenous perspectives.
• How have Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars approached the Middle Ages from a decolonial lens?
• Red Reading
  “Red Reading,” a form of literary analysis that uses Indigenous approaches and methodologies to read non-Indigenous texts, was first coined by Jill Carter (Anishinabek), and simultaneously developed by Scott Andrews (Cherokee).
• Hsy showcases the work of Osage medievalist, Carter Revard, who studied, translated and wrote in the Old English Riddle style.

Shifting the public perception

• Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation celebrated a monumental achievement on May 16 as its inaugural class of 46 medical students graduated from the country’s first tribally affiliated medical school.
• Cosby was among the inaugural class of students from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Okla. (Photo: Business Wire)
  The commencement ceremony, which graduated students from OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation, was held at the Mabee Center in Tulsa.
• About 35% of the students from the inaugural class from OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation matched with a rural or tribal residency program.
• Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., said as the tribe celebrates this historic milestone they also honor the resiliency of their ancestors.

• The American Indian College Fund aims to change lives and communities by investing in Native students and tribal college education.
• To purchase tickets or learn more about NYC EATSS, follow this link.
• These Native artists and students are empowered to develop their artistic style without being confined by tradition and history, and to embrace their creativity with no limitations.
• Our Native children and youth, and indeed, all young people, deserve to see themselves in positive ways,” remarked Crazy Bull.

• Leading U.S. digital water testing and data management platform 120Water announced today that the state of Rhode Island selected it to manage the lead service line inventories for all water systems across the state.
• “Ensuring Rhode Island residents have access to safe, clean drinking water is a top priority for the state.
• 120Water is working closely with the Rhode Island Department of Health to distribute licenses, communications, and training to onboard all eligible systems.
• Additional training support will be provided through 120Water’s recent partnership with the Rhode Island Rural Water Association.