Scholars@Duke
Courtney Lewis

Courtney Lewis

Crandall Family Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology
courtney.lewis@duke.edu
Box 90091, Durham, NC 27708
1316 Campus Drive, Box 90677, Durham, NC 27708

Featured Works

Agency in Economic Justice: Typology of Native Nation Sovereignty and Settler-Colonial Acts of Economic Aggression

Journal article Interventions · January 1, 2023 Featured Publication This essay expands upon the current theoretical construction of colonialism to make settler-colonial societies’ economic strategies more explicit. These strategies, which I term economic violence and economic hegemony, have been used by US federal and stat ... Full text Cite

Brief Research Commentary: The US Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movement’s Impact on Understandings of COVID-19 in Indian Country

Journal article Culture Agriculture Food and Environment · December 1, 2021 Featured Publication This research commentary provides an overview of contemporary anthropological research regarding the US Indigenous food sovereignty movement and demonstrates how it informs the impacts of COVID-19 on Indian Country. Past anthropological research on US Indi ... Full text Cite

Banning Change: The South Carolina Heritage Act

Journal article Museum Anthropology · September 1, 2018 Featured Publication Full text Cite

Frybread wars: biopolitics and the consequences of selective United States healthcare practices for American Indians

Journal article Food Culture and Society · August 8, 2018 Featured Publication The simplicity of American Indian frybread, composed only of flour, water, salt, and lard, belies a complex—and contentious—history and ecology. Tracing this bread’s ecology allows us to map the broader physical and epistemic violence levied by US settler- ... Full text Cite

Betting on Western North Carolina: Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort’s Regional Impacts

Journal article Journal of Appalachian Studies · April 1, 2017 Featured Publication AbstractThe Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ (EBCI) launch of the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort on their Qualla Boundary homeland marked the beginning of a new and flourishing industry for western North C ... Full text Cite

The case of the wild onions: The impact of ramps on cherokee rights

Journal article Southern Cultures · June 1, 2012 Featured Publication Full text Cite