Audra Simpson facts for kids

Audra Simpson is a Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University. She studies the politics of Indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada. Her work combines ideas from anthropology, Indigenous studies, Gender studies, and Political science.

Professor Simpson has won many awards for her book, Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of Settler States. She has also received several teaching awards from Columbia University. She is a citizen of the Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Nation.

Education and Early Focus

Audra Simpson earned her first degree in anthropology from Concordia University in 1993. She then continued her studies at McGill University for her master's and PhD degrees.

In 2004, she completed her PhD in anthropology at McGill. Her main research was about "To the Reserve and Back Again: Kahnawake Mohawk Narratives of Self, Home and Nation." This research looked at how Mohawk people from Kahnawake and other Iroquois groups keep their identity strong. It explored how their homes, movements, and political discussions help them maintain their collective identity, even with borders around them.

During her studies, Professor Simpson became aware of how different the challenges were for Indigenous women. She realized that many common feminist ideas did not fully address the specific issues faced by Indigenous women. Because of this, she decided to focus on helping her own community. She joined the local group of the Native Women's Association of Canada to work for change. She explained her decision by saying, "I stopped being the other kind of feminist and I just started being a responsible Mohawk."

Academic Career and Research

After finishing her PhD, Audra Simpson worked at Cornell University for three years. In July 2008, she joined Columbia University as a professor of anthropology. She has been a key Indigenous faculty member at Columbia, helping to support the university's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

Mohawk Interruptus Book

Professor Simpson's PhD research became her first book, Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of Settler States. It was published in 2014. The book explores how the United States and Canada, as "settler states," have tried to control and define Iroquoian identities. It argues that these states often ignore the true nationhood of Indigenous peoples.

In her book, Simpson introduces two important ideas:

• Nested Sovereignty: This means that Indigenous nations have their own power and rights, even when they are located within larger countries.
• Refusal: This is about Indigenous people saying "no" to unfair rules or ideas from settler states. It's a way to challenge power and bring attention to ignored stories. It's different from just resisting, because refusal denies the very right of others to control Indigenous lives.

Mohawk Interruptus has been very well-received and has won many awards. It received an Honourable Mention for the Delmos Jones and Jagna Sharif Memorial Book Prize in 2014. In 2015, it won major prizes from the American Studies Association, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA), and the American Ethnological Society. Many academic journals have reviewed the book, praising its portrayal of the complex lives of Indigenous peoples.

Other Contributions

Audra Simpson has also written about important topics related to Indigenous women. She has discussed how gender affects Indigenous status and the violence faced by Indigenous women. For example, she has highlighted how Indigenous women have been treated unfairly by settler societies.

In 2017, Professor Simpson was asked to join New York City's Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers. This group was formed to discuss public statues and monuments in the city.

She has also spoken out in the news about people who falsely claim to be Indigenous. She explains that these false claims are part of a long history of colonial theft and "playing Indian."

Professor Simpson has won multiple teaching awards from Columbia University. She was only the second anthropologist to win the Mark Van Doren Award for Teaching, which is a very special honor.