In this paper, the author begins by saying how privileged he feels to be included in the celebration of the American Indian Culture and Research Journal (AICRJ) and to toast forty years of American Indian studies at UCLA. He looks back over the field of Native American literature and criticism, then peeks at the present, and last, makes some predictions as to where American Indian studies are going. As educators celebrate forty years of American Indian studies at UCLA--together in their differences and radically poised to take American Indian studies (not to mention Native languages and cultures along with it) for another forty-year ride, the author believes that they are on the cusp of an explosion of expression and reinvigoration.