Ward Churchill Solidarity Network

Think Critically: Emergency Summit Produces Cutting-Edge Analysis, Action Plans to Defend Ward Churchill and Support Indigenous Studies

The Emergency Summit called by Dr. Michael Yellow Bird and held in Lawrence, Kansas, September 29-30, successfully examined the targeting of Ward Churchill and other academics in the context of the national and international movements to silence and discredit scholars and activists who think critically about the manifestations of colonialism and contemporary expansions of empire.

The Summit was sponsored by the Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Critical and Intuitive Thinking and the Human Rights Research Fund, and endorsed by numerous scholars and activists. The sessions included insightful presentations by:

• Ward Churchill (Cherokee), professor, University of Colorado-Boulder
• Jennifer Harbury, attorney, author, and human rights activist
• Barbara Mann (Seneca), author and lecturer, University of Toledo
• Chris Mato Nunpa (Dakota), professor, Southwest Minnesota State University
• Russell Means (Oglala Lakota), activist, author and attorney
• Glenn Morris (Shawnee), professor, University of Colorado-Denver
• Natsu Taylor Saito, professor, Georgia State University College of Law
• David Stannard, professor, University of Hawai’i-Manoa
• Tink Tinker (Osage), professor, Iliff Seminary, Denver
• Haunani-Kay Trask (Kanaka Maoli), professor, University of Hawai’i-Manoa
• Sharon Venne (Cree), attorney and international indigenous rights activist, Edmonton
• Michael Yellow Bird (Arikara/Hidatsa), professor, University of Kansas

Several plans of action at the local, national, and international levels emerged to counter the attacks on Ward Churchill and other scholars who, after much struggle, have managed to make counterhegemonic perspectives accessible within mainstream education.

Stay tuned – information on emerging actions as well as recordings and transcripts of many of these presentations will be available soon.