Voices of the River, Volume IV

Volume 4: Indigenous Futurities

The fourth volume focuses on how we come together for Indigenous futurities. Our Lead Editor, Rachel L. Cushman (Chinook Indian Nation), writes:

“Indigenous futurities are shaped by the past and take form in the present through the continuation and resurgence of Indigenous knowledge, philosophies, value systems, and practices, giving life to dreams and possibilities for futures not shaped by colonial imaginings.”

Contributors were invited to reflect on how their insights, research, and creative work inform collective efforts promoting Indigenous futurities. Volume 4 includes works by Christine Dupres, Michelle Jacob, Sage Hatch, Carina Miller, Keri Iyall, Mike Iyall, and Marta Lu Clifford, offering creative perspectives on futures—from poems to curriculum research. Paired with a cover by Toma Villa, these pieces explore pursuing Indigenous futures through the power of ancestors, survivance, and imagining.

Featured works

  • Wusix – Carina Miller (Creative Nonfiction)
  • Apron Strings – Christine Dupres (Poem)
  • Imagining A Curriculum Of Survivance – Sage Hatch (Research Article)
  • Áwna Wínasha Nch’iwánakan – Michelle Jacob (Creative Nonfiction)
  • Seeing Indigenous and American Futures in Indigenous Histories – Mike Iyall and Keri Iyall (Research Article)
  • Coming Together for Indigenous Futurities through Storytelling – Marta Lu Clifford (Creative Nonfiction)

“I get to walk on the spectrum of survival and Indigenous joy and exist in all the sacred spaces in-between.” – Carina Miller, Wusix

Editorial team

Lead Editor: Rachel L. Cushman
Rachel Cushman—is an enrolled citizen of the Chinook Indian Nation, where she is both an elected and hereditary leader. In 2017, Cushman was elected to the Chinook Tribal Council, but her role as a leader stems from her ancestor, Clatsop Tyee Wasilta. Cushman is an Indigenous knowledge practitioner, activist, educator, and canoe skipper. For over 20 years, Cushman has fought to protect Chinook and Indigenous lands, waters, rights, and sovereignty. She is a published scholar and former contributor to Voices of the River (Volumes 1 and 2). Her scholarship engages with the resurgence of Indigenous ways of being/ knowing, Indigenous futurities, pigmentocracy, non-colonial economies, Indigenous land stewardship, and the practice of radical sovereignty. Currently, Cushman is a doctoral candidate in Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon.

Contributors

Sage Hatch
Sage is an enrolled Citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, and is a PhD Candidate in Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education from the University of Oregon, as well as the Teaching & Learning Designer for the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program.

Christine Dupres
Christine Dupres (Cowlitz/Cree) is a therapist, writer, teacher, and citizen of the Cowlitz Tribe. She is the author of Being Cowlitz, and is working on an upcoming book titled Goat and Regoat, Chasing Spring Up the Mountain. Dupres has a PhD in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mike Iyall
Mike served the Cowlitz Tribal Council for over 47 years through Cowlitz Federal Recognition, establishment of the reservation, and opening of the casino, ilani. After his retirement from 37 years in private industry, Mike became the founding director of the Cowlitz Natural Resources Department, and managed the Cowlitz Cultural Resources Department and Cowlitz Transportation Department. Though semi-retired, he continues his commitment to his tribe as Cowlitz Tribal Historian and Tribal Council member.

Keri E. Iyall Smith
Keri E. Iyall Smith, Ph. D. is author of The State and Indigenous Movements and the co-editor of several books on human rights. She is a citizen of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and her sociological research is heavily influenced by her experiences as an Indigenous person living in a settler colonial society.

Carina Miller
Carina lives on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon and is currently focusing on raising her four children, Waluxpylee, Lukwaiya, PowTykes, and Xilani with her husband Mitchell.

Michelle M. Jacob
Dr. Michelle M. Jacob (Yakama Nation) loves imagining and working toward a future in which kindness, fierceness, and creativity saturate our lives and institutions in delicious and inviting ways. Dr. Jacob is an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation and is Professor of Indigenous Studies and Co-Director of the Sapsik’wałá Program at the University of Oregon. Michelle has published eight books and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Marta Lu Clifford
Marta Lu Clifford is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, she is descended from the Chinook, and Marta is co-instructor in the Native Theatre class at the University of Oregon under the direction of Professor Theresa May. She is also an instructor for the NAICS ARC class at UO, and is their Elder in Residence. Marta and Theresa May have created a Native Theatre group called illioo (joyful in the Kalapuya language).

About the journal

In Fall 2021, we announced a new project—Voices of the River journal. Voices of the River features articles, stories, poetry, and artwork by Native American writers and artists from Northwest Tribes. Since then, we’ve been honored to print beautiful pieces of art, research, poetry, and creative nonfiction paired with stunning covers by Tommy Greyeyes, Chanti Manon, and Kitana Connelly.