Research paper, performative lecture series
In “These Parties Had Feelings: Indigenous Nightlife, Indigenous Existentialism, and Contemplating the Significance of Resurgent Practices for Reconnecting Natives”, Harjo argues for the continued maintenance of secular non-commercial urban spaces like underground nightclubs, music venues, and bars as crucial locations for urban Indigenous peoples to exercise bodily sovereignty – acts of consensual physical self-expression – while maintaining relations with body, mind, community and traditional frameworks.
As Harjo contends, the wide-ranging performances of Indigeneity witnessed within Indigenous nightlife suggest the need to define an Indigenous existentialism, a resurgent concept upholding individual agency within wider relational networks.
A selection of screenshots from the lecture: