Guidelines for Indigenous Writers in Cultural Survival Quarterly encourage sharing of stories
This item is from the current issue of Cultural Survival (www.culturalsurvival.org).
Cultural Survival Quarterly magazine working with indigenous people
One of our goals at Cultural Survival Quarterly magazine is to help nonindigenous people understand and support Indigenous Peoples. One of the best ways to do that is to have indigenous writers talk about their communities, their families, and their lives. We invite you to submit that kind of article to the magazine.
We are especially looking for articles that are personal, that tell your story in your voice. We want to know how you live, who your family is, what your spiritual life is like, what your children are learning, how your community is changing and what traditions are being carried forward. We want to see the world through your eyes and have your perspective on what is going on around you. We want to hear the sounds of your community and smell the smells, see the sights, feel the weather. We want to know what people are wearing, what they are talking about, what they are working on. We want to know what your land is like-what animals and plants live there, what those animals and plants and the land itself means to you. We want to know what your home is like, what you eat, what you hope for, what you worry about. Tell us about your grandparents, your children, and your own childhood. Real understanding for readers comes from little things, from daily life, from the small differences in how you think about and do ordinary things. That sort of thing also makes for good stories.
Although we will certainly consider articles that are about an issue, we prefer that the issue be presented in the form of a story. If, for example, you want to write about a mining company operating on your land without permission, write a story about your community and your land and what it is like to live in your community. Obviously, part of that story would be the mine-perhaps children are getting sick from the water polluted by the mine or maybe your brother works at the mine and no longer hunts-but the information about the mine will have more impact on readers because they will see it in context and understand how it is affecting your people.
There are many ways to structure your story. You can do something simple, like walking us through a day or a season in your community, or you can tell us about a particular event or significant change in your life or your community and how that came to be. Or you can use any other structure or approach that works for you.
We are also very happy to have you submit traditional stories, descriptions of traditional spiritual practices, or articles about hunting, fishing, or farming techniques, descriptions of how people do weaving, carving, or other crafts, or pieces about how your people dance, sing, or play musical instruments. We also want traditional cooking recipes, games, jokes, and insults. We also would be interested in articles about your language-about expressions, words, and structures that make your language unique or reflect a special understanding of the world. Anything, really, that gives readers an insight into your people and your world.
Articles can be almost any length, from a paragraph up to about 5,000 words. Every article is subject to editing by the editors, and you may be asked to rewrite part or all of the article if the first draft doesn't work. Editing can include cutting out some text, changing some wording, rearranging some elements, and other technical and formatting changes. Any of these changes are done to make the article clearer or more effective or technically correct. In all cases we try very hard to keep your voice as the author, and we always send the edited version to you for your approval before we publish it. We prefer articles written in English, but we can translate articles from Spanish, French, Russian, and other major languages.
We also welcome photographs, artwork, and illustrations. If you don't have photographs but know where we might find some, it would be very helpful to know about that. We post our magazine on the Cultural Survival website in addition to the print edition, so all articles, photographs, and illustrations that appear in the magazine also appear on the Cultural Survival website. In all cases, you are the owner of your work and you are free to sell it to another publication or use it in any other way after we've published it.
Unfortunately, our budget is very small, and we cannot now pay writers and photographers for their work, but we can offer you and your community international visibility and understanding, and if your community has a website or a larger organization that it is part of, we are happy to give readers that information.
In addition, for writers who live in countries where contributions to non-profits are tax deductible, we offer a letter acknowledging your donation, and we can offer guidelines about market rates for articles and photographs for deduction purposes. In the United States this deduction can be worth as much as a thousand dollars.
Thank you very much for considering sending your work to Cultural Survival. If you have any questions or would like more guidance, please contact the editor, Mark Cherrington, at Cherrington@cs.org.