Lisa King, Rose Gubele, and Joyce Rain Anderson, eds. Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story: Teaching American Indian Rhetorics. Utah State University Press, 2015. 240 pp. ISBN: 9780874219951.

https://upcolorado.com/utah-state-university-press/item/2805-survivance-sovereignty-and-story

Huia Tomlins-Jahnke, Sandra Styres, Spencer Lilley, and Dawn Zinga, eds. Indigenous Education: New Directions in Theory and Practice. University of Alberta Press, 2019. 560 pp. ISBN: 9781772124149.

https://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/922-9781772124149-indigenous-education

Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story is a foundational book that introduces American Indian rhetorics into the field of composition. The editors develop the book on the foundation that stories shape and share worldviews and that Indigenous stories are, in fact, rhetorical (3). This foundation becomes the exigence for the book: there is no shortage of books about how to teach American Indian literature, but this is perhaps the first about teaching American Indian rhetorics (6). Because this book is meant to be accessible to a non-Native audience, the pieces in this collection offer theoretical and practical insights about including American Indian rhetorics in writing classrooms. To accomplish this goal, the editors identify three themes included in the title: the role of survivance in American Indian rhetorics (7); the importance of sovereignty as a lens for American Indian rhetorics (8); the centrality of story for American Indian rhetorics (9).

Indigenous Education is likewise foundational. Tomlins-Jahnke, Styres, Lilley and Zinga curate a panoramic view of Indigenous education theory and practice in its current state. The pieces in this collection acknowledge the importance of Indigenous peoples' connection to place--specifically, places in Aotearoa, Hawai'i and Turtle Island (xvi). Within these colonized places, though, the authors in this collection write about education as a contested space--a physical, social, and deeply political space where Indigenous voices are often silenced (xvii). This collection seeks to equip educators at all levels and in all academic fields to reclaim Indigenous voices in the contested space of education. To better highlight this contestation, Indigenous Education includes some pieces by non-Native authors, but the primary audience is Indigenous educators (xix). The editors organize the chapters by the themes of Vision (xxi), Relationships (xxii), Knowledge (xxiv), and Action (xxv).

Together, these collections provide educators with a range of tactics for including Indigenous voices in the classroom. First, though, they ensure that readers have a firm grasp of the problems surrounding Indigenous sovereignty and education. In Indigenous Education, the first chapter by Margaret Maaka sets the foundation for the book, particularly the chapters about Māori education, by summarizing the institutionalized assimilation of Māori children in the mid-twentieth century (3-38). In the very next chapter, Sandra Styres draws attention to issues of (de)colonization and the fine line between indigenizing and appropriating (39-62). Both of these issues could be further analyzed through Huia Tomlins-Jahnke's argument that "epistemologies of ignorance" perpetuate systems of oppression that continue to marginalize Indigenous peoples and their ways of knowing and being (83-102). Indeed, Dwayne Donald critiques the epistemologies of ignorance embedded in public school curriculum (103-125). All of these problems echo Lisa King's opening chapter in Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story which draws a connection between the misrepresentation of Indigenous peoples and the centuries-long struggle for sovereignty.

After explaining the problem of Indigenous oppression, both collections offer diverse strategies for moving toward a solution based on Indigenous epistemologies. Specifically, Gabriela Ríos shares the Nahua wisdom of in ixtli in yollotl as an alternative rhetoric for first year composition (King et al. 79-95) and Leonie Pihama calls for kaupapa Māori as a holistic standpoint in the broken world of higher education (Tomlins-Jahnke et al. 63-82). Additional tactics in Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story include Sundy Watanabe's socioacupuncture--a method for breaking up the whitewashed curriculum of the academia (35-56)--and Qwo-Li Driskill's decolonial skillshare--a unique way of including Indigenous embodied practices in advanced rhetoric classes (57-78). On a larger scale, Jean-Paul Restoule and Angela Nardozi write about their experiences as part of the Deepening Knowledge Project, a collective of Canadian educators working to include Indigenous history and culture in teacher education programs (Tomlins-Jahnke et al. 311-337).

Although both books are fundamentally concerned with issues of Indigenous land rights, some chapters offer a more precise synthesis of Indigenous concerns about place and education. Because of the primary importance of place in Indigenous Education, several chapters deal more directly with the issue. First, Katrina-Ann R. Kapāʻanaokalāokeola Nākoa Oliveira discusses traditional Hawai'in understandings of place and metaphor as evidenced by Kānaka mapping practices (171-187). In the very next chapter, Spencer Lilley tells of the importance of the Māori language--actually, te reo Māori--in understanding relationships to place in New Zealand as opposed to colonized views of place (189-204). Similarly, Wiremu Doherty uses Kaupapa Māori to understand and explain traditional connections between language and place (405-425). These chapters all bear some similarities to Joyce Rain Anderson's chapter in Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story which urges writing teachers to include local tribal cultures as a sort of tribal place-based object-oriented ontology (160-169).

Much like issues of land and place, language is a central theme of both books, though it is examined more acutely in some chapters than others. K. Laiana Wong and Sam L. No'eau Warner argue that rhetorical sovereignty is a necessity when it comes to Indigenous language revitalization, lest the colonizer be given the authority to censor what language is "appropriate" (149-170). Frank Deer explains the struggles of students for whom identity and language are deeply connected; being forced to attend school in an English-only setting can be damaging to their cultural identity (Tomlins-Jahnke et al. 233-253). Conversely, the next chapter by Margie Hohepa and Ngarewa Hawera argues for the importance of training and preparing teachers to facilitate classes te reo Māori (255-276). This sets Mari Ropata-Te Hei up to write a reflective piece about her experiences in teacher education and the Te Aho Tātairangi immersion program (339-361). In Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story, Rose Gubele takes a look into history to interrogate the ways colonization changed language development for the Cherokee people (98‑115) while Jessica Safran Hoover writes about codeswitching as an intentional act of sovereignty (170-187).

A few other themes present themselves in these collections. One such theme is the importance of multiple modes of learning and communicating. For example, in Indigenous Education Robert Jahnke takes a closer look at Māori art and its global context (427-452) which relates to Angela Haas' argument about decolonizing digital and visual rhetoric classes (King et al. 188-208). Beyond the visual, Kimberli Lee explores contemporary Native American music as a space of survivance (116-137). Daniel Lipe takes us even further beyond the expected by relating Indigenous culture and ontologies to the weaknesses in current science curriculum and research practices (453-481).

Although there are many themes tying these books together, they were edited under different contexts for different purposes. Consequently, we must look at them separately to identify their particular strengths and uses. As mentioned above, Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story has already become one of the books on the forefront of the conversation about Indigenous rhetoric education. King, Gubele, and Anderson offer a thoroughly deep look into the practical application of Indigenous rhetorics in the writing classroom. This book is a must-have for any writing teacher who cares about developing a classroom ethos that values and respects Indigenous rhetorics. The authors give succinct, practical tactics for making small, positive changes in the writing classroom. However, this book might not be as useful or accessible for educators in other disciplines and positions. The insights about sovereignty and Indigenous rhetorics are obviously applicable to any interested reader, but some of the lingo and expertise make this book most suitable for a specific audience.

In contrast, Indigenous Education aims for breadth rather depth. The collected chapters cover a broad range of experiences, education levels, and expertise, which makes it more practical for a general audience. This book would be a useful starting place for Indigenous educators looking for solidarity and inspiration for making changes to the systems in place. Although the editors state that the primary audience is Indigenous people, this book would be just as useful for a non-Native reader looking for a foundational knowledge of the issues surrounding Indigenous education at large. The inverse of this, of course, is that the breadth of this collection can be somewhat overwhelming and less helpful in a practical capacity. Educators looking for day-to-day tactics for developing classrooms inclusive of Indigenous cultures might have a hard time engaging with any of the practical wisdom in these chapters. This book is most suitable for a general audience and purpose.

Both Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story and Indigenous Education have done necessary work for the inclusion of Indigenous epistemologies and cultures in education. Although these books offer theoretical insights, the editors make it clear that each book is a call to action: Indigenous and non-Native educators alike have a responsibility to support and include the Indigenous peoples on whose land our universities sit. The chapters in these collections offer ideas and encouragement to this end, and the hope is that readers will know and do better.

Noah Patton, University of Oklahoma