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Performing a Strategic Transborder Citizenship: Delfina Cuero Remaps Kumeyaay Presence through Storytelling and Place-Naming

Performing a Strategic Transborder Citizenship: Delfina Cuero Remaps Kumeyaay Presence through... Performing a Strategic Transborder Citizenship Delfi na Cuero Remaps Kumeyaay Presence through Storytelling and Place- Naming Annette Portillo In her life story, published as Delfi na Cuero: Her Autobiography, an Account of Her Last Years and Her Ethnobotanic Contributions, Delfi na Cuero disrupts the erasure and silence of the Kumeyaay by remapping her people’s presence through storytelling and place- naming. In my analysis of the book I would like to both contribute to as well as complicate theories of Native American autobiography and sovereignty by arguing that Cuero’s narrative affi rms cultural and traditional practices as she unmaps colonialist notions of be- longing and identity by (re)righting Kumeyaay histories. I briefl y examine theories of Native American life stories and by so doing contextualize Cuero’s narrative within a Kumeyaay- centered under- standing of belonging as explained by the Kumeyaay creation story, which counters Western- centered notions of origin. Additionally, I argue that Cuero performs a strategic transborder citizenship through her use of storytelling and place- naming, thus challenging state- sanctioned Western notions of citizenship that are defi ned solely by “legal” and legitimate documents. Although Cuero’s book is defi ned as an “as told to” narrative, my reading of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Western American Literature University of Nebraska Press

Performing a Strategic Transborder Citizenship: Delfina Cuero Remaps Kumeyaay Presence through Storytelling and Place-Naming

Western American Literature , Volume 50 (3) – Oct 10, 2015

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Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
ISSN
0043-3462

Abstract

Performing a Strategic Transborder Citizenship Delfi na Cuero Remaps Kumeyaay Presence through Storytelling and Place- Naming Annette Portillo In her life story, published as Delfi na Cuero: Her Autobiography, an Account of Her Last Years and Her Ethnobotanic Contributions, Delfi na Cuero disrupts the erasure and silence of the Kumeyaay by remapping her people’s presence through storytelling and place- naming. In my analysis of the book I would like to both contribute to as well as complicate theories of Native American autobiography and sovereignty by arguing that Cuero’s narrative affi rms cultural and traditional practices as she unmaps colonialist notions of be- longing and identity by (re)righting Kumeyaay histories. I briefl y examine theories of Native American life stories and by so doing contextualize Cuero’s narrative within a Kumeyaay- centered under- standing of belonging as explained by the Kumeyaay creation story, which counters Western- centered notions of origin. Additionally, I argue that Cuero performs a strategic transborder citizenship through her use of storytelling and place- naming, thus challenging state- sanctioned Western notions of citizenship that are defi ned solely by “legal” and legitimate documents. Although Cuero’s book is defi ned as an “as told to” narrative, my reading of

Journal

Western American LiteratureUniversity of Nebraska Press

Published: Oct 10, 2015

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