Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Religion
Advisor(s)
Waghorne, Joanne P.
Keywords
babaylan, decolonization, diaspora, Filipino-American, indigeneity, re-indigenization
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | Religion
Abstract
This thesis proposes "diasporic indigeneity" as a new heuristic tool for Religious Studies to capture how diasporic subjects evoke indigeneity through processes of religious/spiritual (re)indigenization. By reconnecting to lost homeland heritages while learning new hostland responsibilities, diasporic indigeneity begins to articulate how diasporic people can "belong to place(s)." Through textual analysis and ethnographic methods, the Center for Babaylan Studies (CfBS) serves as my case study. They represent an organization for Filipinx-Americans who grapple with colonial mentality from the historical colonization of the Philippines and their imbrication in ongoing Turtle Island settler colonialism. To heal from these intergenerational wounds, the CfBS endeavors a dual (re)indigenization project at the heart of their psycho-spiritual movement that learns and practices Philippine indigenous knowledge systems and those of their indigenous Turtle Island hosts for mutual liberation.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Herrick, Elizabeth Rae, "Between Homeland and Hostland: Imagining Diasporic Indigeneity With the Center for Babaylan Studies" (2022). Theses - ALL. 604.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/604
