Dear all,
below is the answer to my email to Laura Phillips. It is clear, that she does not know who we are and what we do – and I have the impression she thinks we are total idiots over here in Europe.
I get many emails like this from people who are dissatisfied e.g. with CFPs I am sending out, telling me I should not have sent out certain CFPs, because they don’t like them, and who want to press me into endless discussions. Usually, I do not answer to their emails anymore, because I have more important things to do.
Interestingly it is always Canadians who are that dogmatic and start such discussions with me!
I will stop the discussion with here now, but if you want to continue the discussion, feel free to write to her. Moreover, I had a nerve removed from a tooth yesterday and my answer would not be too polite, I fear.
Have a nice weekend!
Renate
Von: laura phillips <laulaupip@yahoo.co.uk>
Gesendet: Freitag, 27. Januar 2023 13:24
An: bartl@american-indian-workshop.org
Betreff: Re: AW: List Servs name
Hi thank you - I wanted to send this just to the list Serv moderator not the whole list Serv.
Thanks for the explanation and your contact details. I'm writing from Canada where the term Indian in any capacity is absolutely unacceptable. Perhaps you would have more Indigenous members from turtle Island if the organization had a meeting say, on Turtle Island, rather than only in Europe ? Or if you made the meetings available virtually so there could be more Indigenous presence? Is the purpose of your organization to talk 'about' or 'with'? I do hope you will virtually watch the upcoming talk by Nikita Collinson at the Canadian Museum Association conference on 'nothing about us, without us'.
In any case as a settler living on stolen land, which I assume you are not, i chose to be cautious and respectful to all of my many Indigenous colleagues, friends and hosts :) you may not have considered the power dynamics at play and how the Indigenous people present at the meeting may have felt scrutinized and expected to perform for the white gaze - all things I try to keep in mind when assuming people feel comfortable and free to express their opinions when in fact they do not.
Regarding the vote - I assume only the Indigenous members present were invited to vote? Since the name impacts them directly?
If you could share your email contact details with me I can pass them on to any Indigenous colleagues who share my dislike of this old fashioned terminology.
Regards, Laura
On Fri., 27 Jan. 2023 at 6:34 a.m., AIW - Bartl
<bartl@american-indian-workshop.org> wrote:
Dear Laura Phillips,
You have written an email to our mail server, but I cannot release the email, because this will initiate a discussion on the name of our organization and the AIW mail server cannot function as a discussion platform.
The American Indian Workshop is an organization which operates the list server, so what you are actually asking is to change the name of our organization. This can only be done by our members at the general meeting of our organization which is the AIW Business Meeting during our annual workshop.
We are fully aware of the problems regarding terms like “Native American,” “(American) Indian,“ “Indigenous,” “First Nation,” or “Turtle Island,” and we have discussed name changes several times in the past during our general meetings. The last time we had this discussion was at the AIW Business Meeting 2016 in Odense/Denmark. At this Business Meeting Native American, American Indian, Indigenous, and First Nation people were present and there was a democratic vote for keeping our name. Our Native American colleagues suggested to keep the name American Indian Workshop, because it is a traditional term used since 1980 and our workshop should stay specialized on Native American, American Indian, First Nation and Inuit people. The term “indigenous” was seen as too inclusive.
Maybe you can accept this democratic vote of our members? If not, the proper procedure would be to come to our AIW Business Meeting in Budapest in June this year and suggest the name change, presenting arguments why we should do so. Then we can a democratic vote on your claim.
Additionally, I want to inform you that there are ca. 850 members and institutions on our mailing list from all over the world, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, including First Nation people. They all can live with our name and are not embarrassed. Maybe you can live with it, too?
If not, let me know whether you will take part in the AIW Business Meeting in Budapest and will suggest a name change and I’ll reserve time for you on our speakers list.
Best regards
Renate Bartl
-----
American Indian Workshop (AIW)
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Cell ++49 151 4128 2632
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44th American Indian Workshop, June 28-30, 2023
ANCESTRAL SHADOWS: Ethnocultural encounters carried in body and mind
OMBRES ANCESTRALES: Rencontres ethnoculturelles portées par le corps et l'esprit
Department of American Studies, School of English and American Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest/Hungary
Email: aiw2023budapest@gmail.com
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45th American Indian Workshop, 2024
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of Pardubice, Pardubice/Czech Republic
Von: members <mailman-bounces@list.american-indian-workshop.org> Im Auftrag von laura phillips
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 25. Januar 2023 03:03
An: members-owner@list.american-indian-workshop.org
Betreff: List Servs name
Hi, I feel embarrassed sharing this list Servs with my First Nations & Indigenous friends because of the name being so horrendously old fashioned. Can you rename the list Servs to Indigenous Turtle Island workshop ? Something like that? This would be far more respectful. If you need some references that help with this, written by Indigenous scholars, please let me know.
Thanks Laura