Buffalo, NY - The Canisius University History Department will welcome Linford D. Fisher, PhD to campus on Thursday, April 9 to discuss his forthcoming book, "Stealing America: The Hidden History of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History" The event is free and open to the public, and takes place at 6:00 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge of the Richard E. Winter '42 Student Center.
Fisher's new book offers a sweeping historical account of the intertwined systems of Native American enslavement and dispossession from the time of Columbus through 1980, shedding light on a critical but frequently underexamined aspect of American history.
Professor Fisher is an associate professor of history and the faculty director of the Center for Digital Scholarship at Brown University.
He holds a doctorate from Harvard University. Fisher's research and teaching focus primarily on the cultural and religious history of colonial America and the Atlantic world, including Native Americans, religion, material culture, and Indian and African slavery and servitude.
He is the author of "The Indian Great Awakening: Religion and the Shaping of Native Cultures in Early America," co-author of "Decoding Roger Williams: The Lost Essay of Rhode Island's Founding Father," and co-author of "Reading Roger Williams: Rogue Puritans, Indigenous Nations, and the Founding of America--A Documentary History."
Fisher is also the founder and principal investigator of the Stolen Relations: Recovering Stories of Indigenous Enslavement in the Americas project. This collaborative, tribal community-centered initiative aims to build a public, centralized database documenting Native enslavement across the Americas and throughout history. The project seeks to recover lost narratives, support descendant communities, and expand public understanding of Indigenous experiences.
His lecture is made possible, in large part, by the Frank Walter Endowment.
Canisius was founded in 1870 in Buffalo, NY, and is one of 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S. Consistently ranked among the top institutions in the Northeast, Canisius offers undergraduate, graduate and pre-professional programs distinguished by close student-faculty collaboration, mentoring and an emphasis on ethical, purpose-driven leadership.
