The author mentions some of his recent works that he values and uses, without becoming a kind of academic costermonger cataloguing all the produce for sale in the shop. At the same time, he suggests some substantive things, while not falling prey to mere rant. In his books, the author discusses the characteristics of Native American Studies (NAS). One of the things, in fact, that marks the "discipline" of NAS is its "interdisciplinary" character. A second characteristic of NAS is that it is "comparative" in nature. Third, NAS is more than any text or class about Indians or in which Indians play a part. Fourth, NAS involves a commitment to Native American community. Finally, the best trend in NAS is viewing it as a borderless discourse, encompassing all the Indigenous peoples of the hemisphere. In this article, the author discusses the current state of NAS. He says that this field is a mess. There is much more poor and sloppy scholarship being produced than solid, thoughtful, and innovative work. The graduate students often have trouble finding jobs. There is careerism. There are silly rivalries and petty jealousies. If the people in NAS are committed to Native community, if they want to be relevant to Native peoples on the ground, if they want to understand and explain the world as it really is, they must deal with these realities. Only then will they stand a chance of consistently generating more light than heat. (Contains 40 notes.)