PART II: Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories

Native Americans are often invisible in our public discussion of America, and even more so in any discussion of Muslims in the United States. There is an absence of awareness and lack of representation of Native American and Indigenous Muslims both in the broader US public and within the US Muslim community. Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories: Reclaiming the Narrative project (NAIMS), the first comprehensive study of its kind, is centered around spreading awareness of the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States.

On this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, ISPU Director of Communications, Katherine Coplen, sits down with NAIMS Principal Investigator, Brennan McDaniel, to discuss the findings of the two-part NAIMS report. Brennan and Katherine last spoke in February 2022 on Deep Dives with ISPU to give a preview of what this research could look like. A year and a half later, this episode is part two of that conversation, and we're thrilled to have them back to discuss the findings now that the report is complete.

Brennan is a PhD student in the American Studies department at Yale University. He received an MA from Columbia University in 2019 and a BA from Vassar College in 2017. Brennan’s work is nested primarily between Islamic Studies and Native American/Indigenous Studies, and his research interests revolve around histories of ideas, emotions, and political economies among Muslim communities and tribal nations in North America.

NAIMS: Visions and Voices is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. ISPU researchers conducted 17 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Native American Muslims over a period of six months. Interviews explored identity, ways to navigate multiple marginalized communities, and insights into participants' struggles, hopes, and dreams.

NAIMS: Trends and Treasures is a thematic report of the strengths and struggles of Native American and Indigenous Muslims. It draws on the narratives of participants in the Visions and Voices portion, as well as on a series of focus groups with Native American and Indigenous people of other faiths and no faith.

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