The author's two main arguments in her discussion include: teaching and researching Native literatures within the disciplinary context of Native Studies enhances the understanding of these texts; vice versa, Native writers address topics that are intrinsic components in epistemological processes of decolonization promoted in a Native Studies curriculum. In this article, the author wants to discuss interpretations of Native literatures that speak to their significance as literature and beyond by addressing hermeneutical and pedagogical implications of institutional contexts. She hopes to exemplify the richness of Native-authored texts that lend themselves to multiple interpretations in defiance of either/or approaches. At the same time she wants to illuminate their special role within a department that works toward decolonization, transformation, and rebuilding. (Contains 6 notes.)