The contested nature of Indigenous autobiographies that are publicly presented through the intermediation of an anthropologist became a matter of open debate when David Stoll questioned the authenticity of the narrative in I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala (1984). This controversy did not halt the production of such testimonios, but it did lead scholars to reflect much more critically on the representations contained in such works. Duke University Press's Narrating Native Histories series seeks to advance these debates through serious engagement with the role of native intellectuals and cultural interpreters in publicizing Indigenous knowledge and political perspectives.
Anthropologist Myriam Jimeno's presentation of the life history of Colombian Indigenous activist Juan Gregorio Palechor is an excellent contribution to our understanding of how narratives are constructed and publicly expressed. The book is a translation of a 2005 Spanish-language publication and is based on interviews Jimeno conducted with Palechor before...
