A Letter for Missing and Disappeared Archives

Authors

  • Elspeth Iralu Assistant Professor of Indigenous Planning, University of New Mexico

Keywords:

Nagaland, archives, colonialism and decolonization, sovereignty, storytelling

Abstract

In this letter, Elspeth Iralu initiates a time-travelling correspondence with her paternal grandfather, Vichazelhu Iralu, about his dreams for the Naga sovereignty movement. The letter grieves the loss of personal and political archives that were stolen, disappeared, and destroyed through processes of colonization. Iralu offers letter-writing, shaped by Naga modes of storytelling, as an anticolonial epistemology that enacts Naga sovereignty in the here and now.

References

Iralu, Kaka D. 2016. A reluctant second reply to Robert A. Silverstein. Morung Express. https://morungexpress.com/reluctant-second-reply-robert-silverstein-0 (accessed 3.12.24).

Iralu, Niketu and Christine Iralu. 2023. Personal communication with the author. September 2, 2023.

Iralu, Vichazelhu. 1964. "Production of Trypanosoma cruzi Cysts in vitro." Nature 204: 4957, 486-487.

Krishnan, Sneha. 2023. Open Peer Review for ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies. September 23, 2023.

Lhousa. Zapuvisie. 2020. Personal communication with the author. Nagaland: Sechü-Zubza. January 2020.

Longkumer, Arkotong and Meren Imchen (illustrator). 2023. A Path Home: A Graphic Novel on Naga Repatriation. Guwahati: RRaD, Dimapur & North Eastern Research Centre.

Ozeki, Ruth. 2013. A Tale for the Time Being. New York: Penguin Books.

A collage of photos and materials provided by issue authors. These include: a photo of a landscape with stars shining above a curved snowy road disappearing into a wooded horizon along the coast of Gichigami/Lake Superior; a cutout of cursive text written by Caitilin McMillan’s mother that reads “to the world's best heart”; a photo of Neelofer Qadir’s hand holding colorful postcards in front of the blue water of Gris Gris, Mauritius; a handwritten letter in Spanish dated August 1983 from Alana de Hinojosa’s grandmother to her mother, Evelina “Bebe”, asking for her to come back home to Calexico, California; a black-and-white troll block print and a Valentine's Day card with porcupine quills piercing a red-and-black heart and the handwritten message “Happy Valentines Day! Contains two genuine porcupine quills, picked clean by ravens. Love, Elspeth”; a black-and-white photograph of Dr. Donald Deskins Jr. in a three-point stance wearing a football uniform; a colourful poster with doves and peace flowers and text that reads “Viva! Viva! Palestina!”; an orange envelope reading “don't you dare write back!” with a hand-drawn scowling figure; a screenshot of a Zoom grid of smiling attendees at the American Association of Geographers 2021 Desirable Futures sessions; and background text and images from valentines written by Elspeth Iralu.

Downloads

Published

2024-04-15

How to Cite

Iralu, E. (2024). A Letter for Missing and Disappeared Archives. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 23(2), 161–165. Retrieved from https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/2396

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2024): Desirable Futures

Section

Special Issue: Desirable Futures

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Elspeth Iralu

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