Department and Review Guidelines for Cultural Survival Quarterly

We have three departments: on indigenous food, indigenous arts, and profiles of indigenous women.

The object of the food and arts departments is to give readers an inside look at indigenous culture as expressed in those subjects. The food department should focus on traditional foods, either on a particular plant or animal or on a dish. It should provide the cultural context for the food in question—how it was used traditionally, how that might or might not be changing, and the role it plays in the culture generally. The arts department is more wide ranging. It takes the broadest possible definition of arts—from painting and sculpture to music and dance to textiles and clothing to the decorative arts; almost anything that can be considered human expression of abstract cultural values. And here we are interested in both traditional and contemporary expression.

The profiles of indigenous women are fairly straightforward. The woman in question should be someone who is making a difference in her community or in the world and someone who is promoting her culture or indigenous rights generally (simple personal accomplishment, however elevated, is not sufficient; if an indigenous woman has become a successful lawyer but is not using her skill to defend indigenous rights or promote her people, then she would not make a good subject for this department).

All three departments should be no more than 1,200 words in length and should wherever possible include high-quality photographs. Like the feature articles, departments are subject to extensive editing for style, length, and technical accuracy, and all are routinely fact-checked and reviewed by the indigenous people in question and/or experts in that field.

Reviews can deal with books, films, exhibits, or performances. The subjects should be suitable for general audiences—that is, academic or scholarly works are usually not appropriate. The reviews should be no more than 800 words long, and it would help if you can offer a photograph of the book or a still from the film, exhibit, or performance. In terms of content, we want reviews to enlarge our understanding; you should not simply tell us what the subject matter is and whether or not you liked it. We need reviews that put the content in context, that comment on the accuracy of the information and the point of view, that tie this work to similar works, and that add a larger perspective to the subject.

Unfortunately, we cannot now afford to pay our writers. But we do offer letters acknowledging your contribution to a 501(c)3 organization, which allows you to deduct the full market value of your work on your taxes—a benefit that can be worth several hundred dollars to you.

A note on timing: we are a quarterly publication with many demands on our limited pages, so it may be a significant wait until you piece is published. Also, because we have limited staff and unlimited work, the editor may not be able to respond to your submission as quickly as he (or you) would like. Please be patient.