A round the world responses to AIDS and HIV are expressed in material form through idioms mediated by particular social and historical contingencies. In this article 1 examine at the case of AIDS memorial quilts produced by contemporary Native Americans. The invisible connections between people, their histories, and cultures that are materialized in this particular form of textiles make them culturally significant vehicles for healing practices for many Native Americans, who maintain that the acknowledgment of customary meanings ensures ritual efficacy and curing success. As a particular response to AIDS, grief, death, and healing these objects reveal the social relevance of expressing materially culturally encoded messages that are simultaneously rooted in universally shared idioms and the uniqueness of local experiences.

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The article looks at historical narratives of enslavement circulating among contemporary Native Americans. These narratives, the author argues, constitute an important element in the construction of current tribal identities as much as they are relevant for a reflection about the role played by hegemonic racial discourses in the politics surrounding ethnically‐tied resources.

Art, shamanism and animism are mutable, contested terms which, when brought together, present a highly charged package [...]

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