The Pre-Loved edit from Shopbop
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Yakama Rising: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization, Activism, and Healing (First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies) Kindle Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

The Yakama Nation of present-day Washington State has responded to more than a century of historical trauma with a resurgence of grassroots activism and cultural revitalization. This pathbreaking ethnography shifts the conversation from one of victimhood to one of ongoing resistance and resilience as a means of healing the soul wounds of settler colonialism. Yakama Rising: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization, Activism, and Healing argues that Indigenous communities themselves have the answers to the persistent social problems they face. This book contributes to discourses of Indigenous social change by articulating a Yakama decolonizing praxis that advances the premise that grassroots activism and cultural revitalization are powerful examples of decolonization.



Michelle M. Jacob employs ethnographic case studies to demonstrate the tension between reclaiming traditional cultural practices and adapting to change. Through interviewees’ narratives, she carefully tacks back and forth between the atrocities of colonization and the remarkable actions of individuals committed to sustaining Yakama heritage. Focusing on three domains of Indigenous revitalization—dance, language, and foods—Jacob carefully elucidates the philosophy underlying and unifying each domain while also illustrating the importance of these practices for Indigenous self-determination, healing, and survival.



In the impassioned voice of a member of the Yakama Nation, Jacob presents a volume that is at once intimate and specific to her home community and that also advances theories of Indigenous decolonization, feminism, and cultural revitalization. Jacob’s theoretical and methodological contributions make this work valuable to a range of students, academics, tribal community members, and professionals, and an essential read for anyone interested in the ways that grassroots activism can transform individual lives, communities, and society.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“There are many ethnographies of Native communities, but relatively few written by members of those communities. Jacob provides a different picture of contemporary Native communities by focusing on what they are doing to organize for a better future within the context of U.S. capitalism.”—Andrea Smith, author of Native Americans and the Christian Right: The Gendered Politics of Unlikely Alliances

Yakama Rising makes a unique contribution to Native/Ethnic Studies, American History, Anthropology and applied scholarship; it is neither a personal platform for polemics and exploration of heritage nor is it a disconnected, naïve analysis of people and their practices. It is an intense and robust examination of decolonization, tradition, and survival. There is no other book like it.”—Barbra A. Meek, author of We Are Our Language: An Ethnography of Language Revitalization in a Northern Athabaskan Community

About the Author


Michelle M. Jacob (Yakama) is an associate professor of ethnic studies and affiliated faculty in sociology at the University of San Diego. She is also the director of the Center for Native Health and Culture at Heritage University on the Yakama Reservation.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ECGI082
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Arizona Press; First edition (September 26, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 26, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1923 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 152 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Michelle M. Jacob
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Michelle M. Jacob is an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation and is currently Professor of Indigenous Studies in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Oregon, where she also serves as Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies, and Affiliated Faculty in the Environmental Studies Program. Michelle engages in scholarly and activist work that seeks to understand and work toward a holistic sense of health and well-being within Indigenous communities and among allies who wish to engage decolonization. Michelle’s first two books, Yakama Rising: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization, Activism, and Healing, and, Indian Pilgrims: Indigenous Journeys of Activism and Healing with Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, were published by the University of Arizona Press. Dr. Jacob’s third book, On Indian Ground: A Return to Indigenous Knowledge-Generating Hope, Leadership and Sovereignty through Education in the Northwest, was co-edited with Stephany RunningHawk Johnson, and published by Information Age Publishing. Michelle has numerous articles published in social science, education, and health science research journals, and grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation. Her research areas of interest include: Indigenous methodologies, spirituality, health, education, Native feminisms, and decolonization. Michelle is grateful to all her family and friends for their love and support including her many blessed Aunties who inspired her book, The Auntie Way. Michelle's book, Huckleberries and Coyotes, celebrates the generous teachers (human and more than human) who surround us. Michelle's book, Fox Doesn't Wear a Watch, encourages us to deeply reflect upon our relationships with time and place. Dr. Jacob's latest book, Anakú Iwachá: Yakama Legends and Stories, is the 2nd edition, and is a cultural treasure of Yakama peoples, featuring the traditional stories Elders requested be shared in the book.

Follow Michelle’s blog at: www.auntieway.com

Sign up for Michelle's email list at: www.anahuymentoring.com

Thanks for reading!

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
40 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2015
    Dr. Jacob is a brilliant writer, and this book reflects the depth of her personal and intellectual experience with this community. As a tribal member she writes with empathy and insight born of first hand knowledge. As a scholar she frames this experience in light of broader sociological and historical movements. She presents an insightful look at cultural revitalization and healing that everyone interested in American Indian cultures, religions, and healthcare should read. A great choice for students, teachers, and general readers.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2014
    An excellent, insightful book.
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2014
    Michelle Jacob, a professor of sociology at UCSD, argues that the problems in Native American families can be easily fixed when the tribe acts together. I don’t blame you if you respond to this with “well duh!” and I won’t blame you, because we all heard the saying “it takes the village to raise the child.” But this is different; Native Americans were once a communal society, and since the 1880’s the US (and Canada) have tried to force on them the nuclear family ideal, with private property and general privacy. It doesn’t seem to work.

    The first chapter explores how traditional dances, above all else, have had a great impact in steering Native American youth from alcohol and crime. It focuses on a woman named Sue Rigdon, a school counselor who grew up in a dysfunctional family, and founded an extracurricular group to teach traditional dancing to kids in Washington State. Others are making efforts to have kids learn the language to that it won’t die out. If that’s not enough, how about the traditional way of preserving fish?

    Yakama Rising is something you’ve got to read if you’re looking into grassroots activism. Wherever you go in the USA, you’ll see teens getting into trouble because they’re bored. Afterschool activities have always been a cure-all for social ills, and the social ills always start with the kids.
    One person found this helpful
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?