Athens, Ga.

During a three-day conference held at the University of Georgia this past weekend, Native American and indigenous scholars from around the world voted overwhelmingly to form what organizers say is the first-ever membership-based, interdisciplinary, scholarly association.

Registered attendees at the second annual meeting approved the formation of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association by a vote of 172-12, according to Dr. Jace Weaver, director of the Institute of Native American Studies at Georgia’s flagship public university.

“Because all of use who do Native American or indigenous studies have our disciplinary meeting that we have to go to, there might be three, four, half-a-dozen if we’re lucky, panels on indigenous issues,” says Weaver, a professor of religion and Native American studies. “But there’s no place where we can talk across interdisciplinary boundaries. That’s necessary if we’re going to move forward.”

The association was first conceived by Dr. Robert Warrior, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, who “started with a phone call” three years ago that set a conversation in motion. That conversation led to the formation of a steering committee that organized the first Indigenous Studies meeting last year in Oklahoma. Because Native American and indigenous scholars are spread out in fields such as religion, sociology and political science, just to name a few, Warrior says that it is up to those who focus on and have a stake in these issues to come together.

“This is the obsession of our field,” says Warrior, who last month was named director of the American Indian Studies Program and the Native American House at the University of Illinois. “It does come down to us and it also becomes this larger circle.”

The next step for the association is to elect a slate of officers who will be installed at the next meeting, which will be held at the University of Minnesota in May 2009.