By Lauren Gilger
KJZZ
June 9th, 2021
In Western lore, the “border town” was a lawless outpost on the fringe of society, serving as the buffer against the unknown — across the border into Mexico. But Melanie Yazzie’s work focuses on a different kind of border town.
Yazzie is an assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico and co-author of the new book “Red Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation.”
She says there are particular dynamics that happen in these border towns that challenge the traditional settler colonialism we’ve seen in this country, which has tried to erase native people for centuries.
The Show spoke with Yazzie to learn more about the book and the history of anti-Indigenous violence in these border towns that still persists today.
