Tribal Theory in Native American Literature: Dakota and Haudenosaunee Writing and Indigenous Worldviews

Scholars and readers continue to wrestle with how best to understand and appreciate the wealth of oral and written literatures created by the Native communities of North America. Are critical frameworks developed by non-Natives applicable across cultures, or do they reinforce colonialist power and perspectives? Is it appropriate and useful to downplay tribal differences and instead generalize about Native writing and storytelling as a whole?

Focusing on Dakota writers and storytellers, Se...