Mobilizing for Indigenous Futures

At the turn of the century, Indigenous migrations fueled two intertribal movements—the Peyote Religion and the Society of American Indians—that sparked cultural, spiritual, and political revitalization. The chapter argues that both movements imagined and acted on behalf of diverse, expansive, and plural Indigenous futures in the midst of crisis, even as US colonial agents sought to suppress Indigenous presents and futures. Though one centered on spirituality and the other on social and political organization, both preserved Indigenous cultures and traditions while managing sweeping change. Both relied on networks of exchange and movement powered by railroads, taking root in disparate locations.

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Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the ways in which Indigenous migrations at the turn of the century contributed to two intertribal movements that sparked cultural and spiritual revitalization and political mobilization in the early decades of the twentieth century: the Peyote Religion and the Society of American Indians. It aims to reconsider the ways in which these movements imagined and acted on behalf of Indigenous futures in the midst of crisis. Just as US colonial agents sought to snuff out Indigenous presents and futures, Society of American Indian activists and peyotists built and imagined diverse, expansive, and plural Indigenous worlds. Though widely different in orientation—one movement centered on spirituality, the other on social and political organization—they both displayed an ability to manage sweeping change while simultaneously preserving Indigenous cultures and traditions and projecting them forward. The two organizations took root in disparate locations, but both relied on networks of exchange and movement powered by railroads.