Indigenous Diasporas and Dislocations (Vitality of Indigenous Religions Series) (Vitality of Indigenous Religions Series)

The juxtaposition of the concepts of "indigenous" and "diaspora" might at first seem a touch oxymoronic, but as the ten papers presented by Harvey (religious studies, Open U., UK) and Thompson (religion and cultural anthropology, Duke U., US) demonstrate, such a juxtaposition allows for the posing of questions that have perhaps been neglected in earlier discussions of indigenous peoples and their religions. The papers reflect on academic and other categories of identity in the case of Pacific Islanders, the Garifuna of the Caribbean, and the Mapuche of Chile; the discourse and practices by which people maintain Jacalteco Maya, Wabanaki, Yoruba, and Maori identities; and "contesting disappearance" in the cases of Native Americans and the diaspora of Ocean Island. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR