This text brings together American Indian intellectuals discussing traditional and contemporary philosophies and philosophical issues. It covers topics such as: knowledge; time; place; history; science; law; religion; nationhood; ethics and art.

This text brings together American Indian intellectuals discussing traditional and contemporary philosophies and philosophical issues. In a straightforward and accessible style, the essays address philosophical questions pertaining to knowledge, time, place, history, science, law, religion, nationhood, ethics and art, as understood from a variety of native American standpoints. It represents several different tribes and nations and shares a voice of contemporary American Indian culture struggling for respect and autonomy. Taken together, the essays collected here show how American Indian perspectives enrich contemporary American philosophy.

Part I: American Indians and Philosophy: 1. Why We Respect Our Elders Burial Grounds: Vine Deloria, Jr. Part II: Epistemology and Knowing: 2. What Coyote and Thales Can Teach Us: Brian Yazzie Burkhart. 3. Approaches to Native American Philosophy: V.F. Cordova. 4. Epistemology and Understanding: John Dufour. Part III: Science, Math, Logic: 5. A Philosophy of Native Science: Gregory Cajete. 6. Indigenous Numerical Thought: Thomas Norton Smith. 7. That Alchemical Bering Strait Theory: Anne S. Waters. Part IV: Metaphysics and Being: 8. Notes on Identity, Time, Place, and Space: Ted Jojola. 9. Language Matters: NonDiscreet NonBinary Dualism: Anne S. Waters. 10. Crippling the Spirit, Wounding the Soul: Native American Spiritual and Religious Suppression: Maureen E. Smith. Part V: Phenomenology and Ontology: 11. On Authenticity: Marilyn Notah Verney. 12. The Phenomenology of a Mugwump Life: Leslie Nawagesic. 13. Ontology of Identity and Interstitial Being: Anne S. Waters. Part VI: Ethics and Respect: 14. Ethics: The We and the I: V.F. Cordova. 15. Choctaw Conceptions of the Excellence of the Self, with Implications for a Native Education: Thurmond Lee Hester. 16. Commodification of Knowledge: Laurie Anne Whitt. Part VII: Social and Political: 17. Jurisprudence of Colonialism: Steve Russell. 18. Oral Traditions and the Politics of (Mis)recognition: Dale Turner. 19. Repatriation: Religious Freedom, Equal Opportunity, and Institutional Racism: Annette Arkeketa. Part VIII: Aesthetics: 20. Ethics: From an Artist's Point of View: V.F. Cordova. 21. Along the Horizon A World Appears: George Morrison and the Pursuit of an American Indian Aesthetic: David Martinez. 22. On Philosophical Discourse: Some Intercultural Musings: Thurmond Lee Hester.