Indigenous Writing Retreats: Native American Community Members and Scholars in action!

Abstract

Writing retreats provide time away from distractions to write manuscripts, grant applications, books, or dissertations. A unique characteristic of writing retreats is that they form a “community of scholars,” which is culturally congruent with Indigenous intellectuals, who are familiar with community as an essential way of life. This article presents two case studies and data about the experiences from a national Native American scholars’ cohort (n=6) and an Indigenous writing retreat from mainly Haudenosaunee writers in Mohawk Country (n=22). Evaluative feedback from aggregated writing retreats endorses the feasibility, growth, and advocacy of future writing retreats. Results shared that protective writing times increased meaningful productivity. Core values related to a community-based participatory research framework learned from a confederacy of tribes and their urban partners were also shared.