ASE Annual Meeting Presidential Address 2024

Abstract This presidential address for the American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, 18–22 September 2024, in Fargo, North Dakota, addresses the conference theme of “Colonial Entanglements and (Dis)Entanglements” paired with the concept of engagement as an ethical and methodological principle of ethnohistorians’ work. The essay develops the full meaning of engagement in four interrelated spheres: social, ecological, epistemological, and cosmological. The closely related concepts of entanglement, (dis)entanglement, and engagement bring to the fore the violence of colonialism and its sequel of displacements, forced migrations, and labor demands. At the same time, they illustrate the historical processes for the emergence of new ethnic identities, spatial and territorial claims, and spiritual rituals and cosmologies. Epistemological engagements involve complex webs of technological exchange across imperial frontiers, leading to new forms of knowledge. The essay highlights the perspective of interdisciplinarity as the framework for ethnohistory, built on the foundations of anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, history, and environmental studies. It recognizes the central role of language in the cultural construction of historical memory and the growing ethnohistorical involvement in projects for language revitalization. The essay celebrates the emerging opportunities for co-participatory research designed and carried out with local communities, traditional knowledge keepers, educators, and scholars.