Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Of Living Stone: Perspectives on Continuous Knowledge and the Work of Vine Deloria, Jr. is a collection of new essays on the legacy of the late Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Lakota), one of the most influential thinkers of our time. This insightful collection features thirty-five original pieces bringing together Tribal leaders, artists, scientists, activists, scholars, legal experts, and humorists. A group of French scholars offers surprising perspectives on Deloria's continuing global influence. Readers will find thoughtful and creative views on Deloria's wide-ranging and world-changing body of work. Some build upon his ideas while others offer important criticisms. In addition to its content, this volume is unique, as it was designed to center the traditional exercise of continuous knowledge, whereby information is routinely shared, considered, and pragmatically adapted as it flows between generations. In this way, people, ideas and traditions remain alive and relevant - not set in stone - as the past is honored by those living in the present as they prepare for the future.
Contributors include:
- Climate expert Margaret Hiza Redsteer (Crow);
- Melanie Yazzie (Din ), scholar and host of The Red Power Hour podcast;
- Actress and writer Tantoo Cardinal (Cree-Metis);
- Education experts Vivian Arviso (Din ) and Cheryl Crazy Bull (Sicangu Lakota), president of the American Indian College Fund;
- Activists Suzan Shown Harjo (Muscogee), Faith Spotted Eagle (Yankton Dakota), and Lauren Schad (Cheyenne River Lakota);
- Journalist Mark Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock), Editor-at-Large for Indian Country Today;
- Writer, producer, and 1491s-member Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca/Ojibwe);
- Environmental scientists Ryan Emmanuel (Lumbee) and Kyle Whyte (Citizen Potawatomi);
- Experts on Tribal Governance Deron Marquez (Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel), Frank Ettawageshik (Little Traverse Bay), Martin Case, Norbert Hill (Oneida), Megan Hill (Oneida), and Sam Cook;
- Artists Cannupa Hanska Luger (MHA-Three Affiliated Tribes) and James Johnson (Tlingit);
- Legal Scholars Sarah Deer (Muscogee), Rebecca Tsosie (Yaqui descent), Gabe Galanda (Round Valley), and Kiros Auld (Pamunkey descent);
- Social scientists Tiffany Lee (Din ), Wendy Greyeyes ( Din ), Kyle Mays (Saginaw Chippewa) and Tom Biolsi;
- Archaeologist Paulette Steeves (Cree- Metis);
- Scholars of Indigenous Traditions Noenoe Silva (Kānaka Maoli), Natalie Avalos (Chicana of Mexican Indigenous descent), Tom Holm (Cherokee), Jordan Lewis (Aleut), and Greg Cajete (Tewa- Santa Clara Pueblo);
- International scholars Marine Le Puloch, C line Planchou, and dith Patrouilleau.
TIME magazine named Vine Deloria, Jr. one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century, and his research, writings, and teachings on history, law, religion, and science continue to influence generations of Indigenous peoples and their allies across the world. He authored many acclaimed books, including
God is Red; The Nations Within;
Red Earth, White Lies; Spirit and Reason; and
Custer Died for Your Sins.