SPIRAL TO THE STARS

MVSKOKE TOOLS OF FUTURIT Y

LAURA HARJO

Empowering Indigenous community making from within

All communities are teeming with energy, spirit, and knowledge, and Spiral to
the Stars taps into and activates this dynamism to discuss Indigenous commu-
nity planning from a Mvskoke perspective. This book poses questions about what
community is, how to reclaim community, and how to embark on the process of
envisioning what and where the community can be.
Geographer Laura Harjo demonstrates that Mvskoke communities have
what they need to dream, imagine, speculate, and activate the wishes of ances-
tors, contemporary kin, and future relatives—all in a present temporality—­which
is Indigenous futurity.
Organized around four methodologies—radical sovereignty, community
knowledge, collective power, and emergence geographies—Spiral to the Stars pro-
| INDIGENOUS STUDIES |
vides a path that departs from traditional community-making strategies, which
are often extensions of the settler state. Readers are provided a set of methodol-
ogies to build genuine community relationships, knowledge, power, and spaces
for themselves. Communities don’t have to wait on experts because this book
helps them activate their own possibilities and expertise. A detailed final chapter
June provides participatory tools that can be used in workshop settings or one on one.
288 pp. This book offers a critical and concrete map for community making that
6x9 leverages Indigenous way-finding tools. Mvskoke narratives thread throughout
32 b&w illustrations, 2 maps, 1 table the text, vividly demonstrating that theories come from lived and felt experi-
Cloth ences. This is a must-have book for community organizers, radical pedagogists,
978-0-8165-3801-0 / $55.00 S and anyone wishing to empower and advocate for their community.

Electronic edition available

L A U R A H A R J O is a Mvskoke scholar, geographer, planner, and Indigenous meth-
Critical Issues in Indigenous Studies odologist. She is an assistant professor of community and regional planning at the
University of New Mexico.

“Laura Harjo’s Spiral to the Stars clearly articulates the importance of Mvskoke futurity.
All Indigenous communities can use this book as a tool for decolonizing knowledge.”

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—Michelle M. Jacob (Yakama), University of Oregon

“Spiral to the Stars is a rigorous, heartfelt, and urgent contribution to Mvskoke stud-
ies. Laura Harjo develops and validates a collection of way-finding tools—Mvskoke
with code knowledges, methodologies, and practices—that are critical to (re)claiming Indige-

AZFLR
nous futurities.”
—Kimberly Robertson (Mvskoke), California State University, Los Angeles
www.uapress.arizona.edu
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