ABSTRACT
WITHIN THE ARENA OF DIASPORA STUDIES, THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THE field’s analytical techniques might be usefully applied to the indigenous population of the United States is seldom raised. In large part, this appears to be due to an unstated presumption on the part of diaspora scholars that because the vast bulk of the native people of the U.S. remain inside the borders of that country, no population dispersal comparable to that experienced by Afroamericans, Asian Americans, Latinos-or, for that matter, Euroamericans-is at issue. Upon even minimal reflection, however, the fallacy imbedded at the core of any such premise is quickly revealed.
