Gather Here. Go Far

NSU is where success begins. Here professors know their subjects and how to get you ready for a career after you graduate. We empower individuals to become socially responsible global citizens by creating and sustaining a culture of learning and discovery.

Gather Here. Go Far

NSU is where success begins. Here professors know their subjects and how to get you ready for a career after you graduate. We empower individuals to become socially responsible global citizens by creating and sustaining a culture of learning and discovery.

Gather Here. Go Far

NSU is where success begins. Here professors know their subjects and how to get you ready for a career after you graduate. We empower individuals to become socially responsible global citizens by creating and sustaining a culture of learning and discovery.

Gather Here. Go Far

NSU is where success begins. Here professors know their subjects and how to get you ready for a career after you graduate. We empower individuals to become socially responsible global citizens by creating and sustaining a culture of learning and discovery.

Gather Here. Go Far

NSU is where success begins. Here professors know their subjects and how to get you ready for a career after you graduate. We empower individuals to become socially responsible global citizens by creating and sustaining a culture of learning and discovery.

Symposium Agenda

50th Annual Symposium on the American Indian
Envisioning Indigenous Futurity

April 10-15, 2023

Tentative Agenda

 

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Monday, April 10

Tuesday, April 11

Wednesday, April 12

Thursday, April 13

Friday, April 14

Saturday, April 15

 

Monday | April 10 | 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Wilson Hall 407

Mapping Tahlequah History Keynote Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Rule (Chickasaw Nation)

Dr. Rule will present on her Guide to Indigenous DC, a digital map and mobile app featuring sites of importance to Native peoples across the Nation's capital, and her affiliated full-length book.

Topic Area: Special Event

 

Monday | April 10 | 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Redbud (3rd Floor)

Native Student Org Banquet (Invitation Only, RSVP required)

Opportunity for our Native students to honor and recognize one another and celebrate their achievements.

Topic Area: Special Event

 

Tuesday | April 11 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Webb Auditorium

ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak)

ᎤᎶᎩᎳ/Schon Duncan (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), Director

Michael McDermit, Director; ᎨᎳᏗ/Keli Gonzales (Cherokee Nation), Producer; Laura Heberton, Producer

This feature-length documentary was shot on-location in Oklahoma and North Carolina throughout 2019-2022; through intimate interviews, vérité footage of community gatherings, and extensive archival materials, the film explores the nuanced ways the Cherokee language is vital to maintaining a unique cultural identity and relationship with the world. The collaborative project is also meant to act as an empowering agent of hope for Indigenous voices despite enduring inequity.

Topic Area: Film Screening; Language Preservation

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 9:30 am - 11:00 am

Ballroom (2nd Floor)

Opening Ceremony & Keynote Presentation: Indigenous Community Futurity: Kin-Space-Time

Dr. Laura Harjo (Muscogee (Creek) Nation), Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma

Kin-space-time envelopes place the highest importance on our relationship to our relatives—human, and more-than-human. Instead of using time to organize and think about the world--our kinship relationships to structure the world. The focus is on who, not when. Kinship takes primacy, and functions as the organizing principle of our collective lifeforce. Looking after our kinship network shifts thinking away from ideas of death that mean a person's life has ended but focuses on the ongoing vitality of the person’s lifeforce. Kin-space-time envelope creates a space for relatives that have transitioned to the spirit world to continue their relationship with material-form relatives and vice versa. Our future kin—which are those that we have yet-to-meet--also speak to us and appeal to our love of and responsibility to future kin

Topic Area: Opening & Keynote

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 11:00 am- 11:50 am

222 (2nd Floor)

Keetoowah Rivercane Conservation

Roger Cain (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), Tribal Ethnobotanist

Discussing river cane conservation and subsequent annihilation of canebrake ecosystems over the past two centuries, and how the Keetoowah Rivercane Conservation project will address these issues for the future.

Topic Area: Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Anthropology, Environmental Justice

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 11:00 am- 11:50 am

223 (2nd Floor)

Gathering of Native Americans (GONA) Without Borders: International Healing From Historical and Intergenerational Trauma and Uniting for Change

Maria Trevizo, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas/Tarascos of Mexico, Master GONA Facilitator

Pedro Chan Mazariegos, Maya K'iche, Teacher/Director; Fernando Rafael, Maya popti', Musician; Dr. Jami Bartgis (Cherokee Nation), President/CEO One Fire Associates

An international collaborative partnership will describe the Gathering of Native Americans (GONA) framework and how it is being used to unite indigenous peoples healing together without borders.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Sustainability, Community Building, History (from an Indigenous perspective), Indigenous Knowledge, Healing

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 11:00 am- 11:50 am

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Diabetic Retinopathy: New Tool Development & Oxidant Stress Implications

Dr. Cammi Valdez, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Northeastern State University

NSU Undergraduate Students: Anne Martin (Cherokee); Bethany Mejia, (Cherokee); MacKenzie Bethel (Cherokee)

Indigenous scholars presenting their scientific research on diabetic retinopathy in the Valdez Lab.

Topic Area: STEM

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Indigenous Truth Telling of Boarding Schools

Farina King (Diné), Horizon Chair of Ecology and Culture and Associate Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma

Midge Dellinger (Muscogee (Creek) Nation), Oral Historian at Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Lindsay Chapman (Pawnee), employee of the Museum of the Pawnee Nation; Native American Studies (NAS) students in Dr. Farina King's course in American Indian Education: Amelia Cook (Chickasaw), Doctoral Student in the University of Oklahoma; Mercedes Garner (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Undergraduate Student at University of Oklahoma; Maeci Crotts (Muscogee/Cherokee), Undergraduate Student at the University of Oklahoma

This panel features professionals of tribal nations, educators, and students who are part of the growing collaboration for Indigenous truth telling of boarding schools, which works with Indigenous communities to understand and share sources and stories that introduce the public to complicated Indian boarding school histories.

Topic Area: Education

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Sharing Our Visions: The Role of Elder’s in a Restorative Future

Alissa Baker (Cherokee Nation), Assistant Professor of Psychology at Northeastern State University

Simeon Gipson (Cherokee Nation/Choctaw descendent); Sol Bird Mockicin, (Cherokee Nation/Choctaw descendent); Bryan Warner (Cherokee Nation)

Panelists will take questions and share wisdom as professionals, athletes, and elders. Discussion will include how elder’s roles need to be restored and perhaps even re-aligned to support communities.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, Community Building, Education, History (from an Indigenous perspective), Indigenous Knowledge

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Re-Indigenizing Education Through the Pedagogy of Mother Earth

Amelicia Santacruz, GunaDule, Executive Director of the Indigenous Organization of Antioquia

Olowaili Green Santacruz, GunDule, Director of SentARTE; Dr. Abadio Green Stocel, GunDule, Advisor to the Colombia Ministry of Education for Ethnic Matters

Identify strategies to re-indigenize education; learn effective practices in partnerships between indigenous communities and universities; and increase motivation to implement educational decolonizing strategies across the United States and the world.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, Sustainability, Community Building, Education, History (from an Indigenous perspective), Indigenous Knowledge, Language Revitalization, Environmental Justice, Healing

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Tribal Anthologies: Recording Our Stories for the Future

Leslie Stall Widener (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Project Manager of the Choctaw Cultural Center

Create Short Story Anthologies. Give others the chance to have their stories published. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity or the catalyst for a new creative career.

Topic Area: Education, Indigenous Knowledge, Literature

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Constructing Pathways for Indigenous Art and Cultural Workers: A Panel Discussion

Stacy Elaine Pratt (Mvskoke), Art Writer for the First American Art Magazine

Adrienne Lalli Hills (Wyandotte Nation), Director of Learning & Community Engagement at First Americans Museum; Kayln Fay Barnoski (Cherokee Nation/Muscogee), interdisciplinary artist and educator

Three Indigenous arts workers share the personal and professional journeys that brought them to the art world and the lessons they have to share with emerging Indigenous arts workers.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Education, History (from an Indigenous perspective), Art

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

CEREMONIALS: Carrying our ancestors into the future

JJ Lind, Cherokee and Loyal Shawnee, director/producer at Immediate Medium; Brit Hensel (Cherokee Nation), Director/Producer at TBC; Olowaili Green Santacruz, Guna Dule, filmmaker, Founder of sentARTE; Dr. Jonathon Hook (Cherokee Nation), Moderator

This series of three documentary films and panels illustrates ongoing efforts by artists and cultural leaders from Oklahoma to Colombia to embody, preserve and promote ancestral practices and values.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, History (from an Indigenous perspective), Indigenous Knowledge, Art

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Museum Work from a Tribal Heritage Center Perspective

Cheyhoma Dugger (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Director of Development and Membership of the Choctaw Cultural Center

Alexandria Gough, Archivist of the Choctaw Cultural Center; Claire Green Young (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Curator of the Choctaw Cultural Center

This session will provide attendees with a glimpse into the museum field looking at what happens in publicly accessible areas and behind the scenes at the Choctaw Cultural Center.

Topic Area: Cultural Preservation, Community Building, Museum Practices and Career Paths

Wednesday | April 12 | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Decolonization & Re-Indigenization as a Practice in Self-Care for the Future of Indigenuity

Lily Drywater (Cherokee Nation), Undergraduate Student at Northeastern State University

Panel of current Indigenous students and alumni of NSU in an open discussion on the topic of: "What does it mean to decolonize and re-Indigenize?"

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, Sustainability, Community Building, Education, Indigenous Knowledge

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Cherokee Language Revitalization: Student Perspectives on Media as Tool for Learning

Dr. Candessa Tehee (Cherokee Nation), Associate Professor of Cherokee and Indigenous Studies at Northeastern State University; NSU Undergraduate Students; Shadow Hardbarger (Cherokee Nation); Leslie Bigaouette (Cherokee Nation)

Student presentation of short Cherokee language video along with discussion of production and creating media by and for learners.

Topic Area: Language Education and Language Revitalization

 

Wednesday | April 12 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Ballroom (2nd Floor)

"Designing Our Futures" Fashion Show

Organized by Alissa Baker (Cherokee Nation)

Co-Organizers: Charlotte Wolfe (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) and Callie Chunestudy (Cherokee Nation). Emcee: Stacy Pratt, PhD (Mvskoke)

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Symposium, we are bringing back an old school favorite, the fashion show. This event is meant to celebrate Native/Indigenous beauty, skill, expertise, style, art, traditions, values, and diversity.

Topic Area: Special Event

 

Thursday | April 13 | 9:00 am - 9:50 am

222 (2nd Floor)

Art in Numbers: Empowering Indigenous People Through STEM

Dane West (Choctaw), Data Analyst for Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

NSU Alumni (Class of 2020)

Learning about STEM isn't necessarily difficult, but the outcomes that it can generate are often miraculous. This is not a presentation about why you need to get a degree in STEM, however. This is intended for people to learn how to find innovative ways to solve problems utilizing STEM regardless of their degree. Technology doesn't have to be full of foreign concepts, the most important thing is learning what is possible. If you know what is possible, then getting there is the easy part.

Topic Area: Education

 

Thursday | April 13 | 9:00 am - 9:50 am

223 (2nd Floor)

HB1775: Tribal Sovereignty in an Anti-CRT World

James D. Wagnon (Cherokee Nation), Graduate Research Assistant, University of Oklahoma

Madhunika sai Suresh, M.H.R -- Graduate Research Assistant, University of Oklahoma

This scholarly paper considers how anti-Critical Race Theory legislation reflects ongoing colonial violence against Indigenous Peoples. We examine one bill—Oklahoma’s HB1775—identifying how the law suppresses tribal sovereignty of knowledge production. We conclude by discussing how TribalCrit can resist HB1775, among other tactics of erasure in higher education.

Topic Area: Tribal Sovereignty, Education

 

Thursday | April 13 | 10:00 am - 10:50 am

222 (2nd Floor)

Representation in the Modern Media Landscape

Jennifer Loren (Cherokee Nation), Senior Director, Cherokee Film; Maggie Cunningham (Citizen of the Pawnee Nation), Sr. Manager, Video and Film Production, Cherokee Film; Colby Luper (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation), Producer, "Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People," Cherokee Film; LeeAnn Dreadfulwater (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation), Project Manager, Cherokee Film

Learn how the Cherokee Nation is bringing more Natives to both sides of the camera by producing its own content, forming its own film commission, opening a world-class soundstage and creating a first-of-its-kind database for Native actors and filmmakers.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership

 

Thursday | April 13 | 10:00 am - 10:50 am

223 (2nd Floor)

Creating a Professional Space for Young Indigenous Leaders

Corey M. Still, Ph.D. (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees), Lecturer in Native American Studies, University of Oklahoma

Come and learn from four young Indigenous Leadership as they each present over their respective research and capstones. These four speakers will be selected by a juried panel at the University of Oklahoma to present at the 2023 Symposium of the American Indian.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Community Building, Education

 

Thursday | April 13 | 10:00 am - 10:50 am

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Interpreting Our Ancestors' Dreams: Indigenous Approaches to Art History

America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), Publishing Editor, First American Art Magazine; Stacy Pratt, PhD (Mvskoke), independent scholar and art critic; Jordan Poorman Cocker, MS (Kiowa/Tongan), Osage Nation Museum, collections manager and Ph.D. student at Auckland University of Technology; Joleen Scott, MA (United Keetoowah Band), Adjunct Professor at Bacone College

Indigenous scholars present case studies of their Native American art historical research. They share how they balance protocols from their own Indigenous communities with Western art history methodologies.

Topic Area: Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Art

 

Thursday | April 13 | 11:00 am- 11:50 am

Ballroom (2nd Floor)

ᏗᎦᏓᏤᎵᎢ (Digadatseli’i) Panel Discussion

Julie Reed, Ph.D. (Cherokee Nation)

ᏗᎦᏓᏤᎵᎢ is a diverse collective of Cherokee scholars, writers, and educators who are citizens of the Cherokee Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. For more information see: www.thinktsalagi/scholars.

Topic Area: General Session
ᏗᎦᏓᏤᎵᎢ (Digadatseli’i - roughly translates as we belong to one another)

 

Thursday | April 13 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Ballroom (2nd Floor)

Native Arts: Holding Our Futures in Our Hands

Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis (Zuni and Tlingit)

Assistant Professor, University of Washington

Native arts build upon ancient knowledge and a vibrant present to ensure knowledge transfer into the future. Knowing the specifics of how and why tribal art forms, symbols and materials work the way they do, provides a tangible pathway towards a future that imagines American Indian peoples as the center of our own stories.

Topic Area: Keynote Presentation

 

Thursday | April 13 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Using a Community Based Participatory Research framework to Build Data Leadership, Capacity and Sovereignty in Indian Country

Dr. Jami Bartgis, (Cherokee Nation), President/CEO, One Fire Associates

Dr. Corey Still (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), One Fire Associates

Learn strategies for building research and evaluation leadership with indigenous youth and adults; identify capacity building strategies, and learn about opportunities to protect and promote data sovereignty.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Sustainability, Tribal Sovereignty, Community Building

 

Thursday | April 13 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Talking Circles for Conflict Resolution

Bridgette Hoshont'omba (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Culture Bearer

Talking Circles for Conflict Resolution will allow participants to learn an action-orientated way of advancing their workplace and building community through the use of Indigenous knowledge.

Topic Area: Community Building, Indigenous Knowledge

 

Thursday | April 13 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

“The Chickadee and the Woodpecker”: Translating and Learning from a Cherokee Traditional Story (VIRTUAL PRESENTATION, LIVE AUDIENCE)

Eva Marie Garroutte (Cherokee Nation), Research Associate Professor, Boston College; JW Webster (Cherokee Nation), Adjunct Professor, Wichita State University; Alice Jumper Wilder (United Keetoowah Band), Elder and Independent Scholar

One second-language learner and two first-language speakers of Cherokee collaborated to translate and learn from a previously unpublished traditional story, yielding distinct outcomes and suggesting a model for such efforts.

Topic Area: Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Language Revitalization

 

Thursday | April 13 | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Riding into the Future: Health and Wellness at Any Age

Simeon Gipson (Cherokee Nation, Choctaw descendant), Retired; Senior athlete; Alissa Baker (Cherokee Nation)

Local senior athlete Simeon Gipson shares videos, stories, and discussion about his journey from dependency on diabetes medications to cycling 300+ miles a week.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, Community Building, Education

 

Thursday | April 13 | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Little Cherokee Seeds

Lead Teachers-Fluent Speakers:  Phyllis Sixkiller (Cherokee Nation citizen); Kathy Sierra (Cherokee Nation citizen); Bobbie Smith (Cherokee Nation citizen)

Program Participants: Jasslynn Snell (Cherokee Nation citizen); Merinda Adair (Cherokee Nation citizen); Jessica Wolfe (Cherokee Nation citizen); Chelsea Carey (Cherokee Nation citizen); Tesla Hodges (Cherokee Nation citizen)

Melissa Lewis (Cherokee Nation citizen), Program Director

Carolyn Swepston (Cherokee Nation citizen), Program Coordinator

Kenny Glass (Cherokee Nation citizen), Teacher Assistant

This panel will present an overview of the Little Cherokee Seeds program, as well as the current state of the literature regarding Indigenous language revitalization and Indigenous child language acquisition.

Topic Area: Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Language Revitalization

 

Thursday | April 13 | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Being a Good Relative: Trauma Informed Care

Dr. Dolores BigFoot (Caddo Nation of Oklahoma), Professor Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Dr. Jami Bartgis (Cherokee Nation), President/CEO, One Fire Associates

This discussion will explore the components and implementation of Being a Good Relative within the context of Trauma Informed Care principles.

Topic Area: Indigenous Knowledge, Healing

Thursday | April 13 | 4:00 pm - 4:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Addictions Symposium: Overview, Diagnoses, & Treatment among Indigenous Americans

Amoneeta Beckstein, Aniyunwiya (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Assistant Professor, Fort Lewis College; Maiya Martinez (Spokane Tribe), Fort Lewis College; Jayme Daniels (Dine Nation), Fort Lewis College;  Elyza Zuni (Pueblo), Fort Lewis College; Elijah Chee (Dine Nation), Fort Lewis College

An interactive mini-symposium presented by Indigenous American psychology students; addresses the Indigenous addictions epidemic; explores decolonizing healing to ensure the futurity of the 7th generation to come.

Topic Area: Psychology of Addictions

 

Thursday | April 13 | 4:00 pm - 4:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Understanding Native American pain inequities:  Findings from the Oklahoma Study of Native American Pain Risk (OK-SNAP)

Joanna Shadlow (Osage), Teaching Professor at Oklahoma State University

Travis Lowe, PhD., University of Tulsa

Native Americans experience higher rates of chronic pain. This presentation provides an overview of the research on psychosociocultural and physiological mechanisms that contribute to the pain disparity.

Topic Area: Health

 

Friday | April 14 | 10:00 am - 10:50 am

222 (2nd Floor)

Synthesizing Stories for Kinship Restoration

Renae Watchman (Diné/Tsalagi, Bitter Water, Born For Towering Hose; Bird Clan)

Associate Professor, McMaster University

This paper offers a comparative critical analysis between select short stories from Métis author Chelsea Vowel’s Buffalo is the New Buffalo (2022) and hane’ (story/ narrative) by Diné creatives and argues that restoration (of languages, land, or kinship) is through storytelling.

Topic Area: Literature

 

Friday | April 14 | 10:00 am - 10:50 am

223 (2nd Floor)

Building the Bench: Education and Career Development for Tribal Professionals in Agriculture

Summer Wilkie (Cherokee Nation), Youth Coordinator Indigenous Food and Agricultural Initiative, University of Arkansas; Kelli Case (Chickasaw Nation), Staff Attorney Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, University of Arkansas

We’ll share opportunities for young people in agriculture and how anyone in education, employers, tribal organizations, or tribal governments can help encourage and invest in young people and our future.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Tribal Sovereignty, Education

 

Friday | April 14 | 10:00 am - 10:50 am

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Our Data, Our Knowledge, Our Culture: Data sovereignty and the Ed Fields Digital Cherokee Archive

Alissa Baker (Cherokee Nation), Assistant Professor of Psychology, NSU

Kaitlyn Wofford, NSU Undergraduate Student

In this session, the Ed Fields Digital Cherokee Library (EFDCL) will be introduced as a community resource for Cherokee peoples, as well as analyzed as a project rooted in community-based research and grassroots activism. Alissa Baker (EFDCL archivist) will define data sovereignty and discuss how it is a vital component of tribal sovereignty and cultural reclamation. The audience will be invited to explore how a digital archive can facilitate (tribal) citizen science and political action.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, Tribal Sovereignty, Community Building, Education, History (from an Indigenous perspective), Indigenous Knowledge, Anthropology, Language Revitalization

 

Friday | April 14 | 11:00 am- 11:50 am

Ballroom (2nd Floor)

Land Back: Histories of Restoring Indigenous Presence

Dr. Doug Kiel (Oneida Nation), Northwestern University, Assistant Professor of History

Dr. Doug Kiel, a Native American historian, focuses on research related to Indigenous populations in the [current] Great Lakes region, specifically these Nations’ efforts to rebuild in the last century. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at Northwestern University, where he is also affiliated with the new Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR). Dr. Kiel will highlight the changes in Tribal governance since the 2020 landmark McGirt decision, including efforts to establish co-governance and recover Indigenous lands.

Topic Area: Keynote Presentation

 

Friday | April 14 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Remember the Removal Bike Ride: Retracing the Northern Route of Cherokee Removal

Kayce O'Field (Cherokee Nation), Activities Coordinator, Remember the Removal Legacy Association (RTRLA); Shadow Hardbarger (Cherokee), treasurer for the Remember the Removal Legacy Association (RTRLA);  Madison Whitekiller (Cherokee), secretary for RTRLA; Lillie Keener (Cherokee), activities coordinator for RTRLA; Mel Giang  (Cherokee), social media coordinator for RTRLA; Eric Budder (Cherokee), president of RTRLA; Tasha Atcity (Cherokee), vice-president of RTRLA

Our presentation will present the history of Cherokee Removal, history of the ride, our experience as riders and how the ride has shaped who we are as indigenous youth.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Cultural Preservation, Education, History (from an Indigenous perspective)

 

Friday | April 14 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

Historical Trauma, Cultural Identity & Resilience: The Relationships Between These in a Native American Sample

Brandon Jones (Cherokee), Graduate, Northeastern State University

I will be presenting the results of my graduate thesis, discussing previous literature regarding the variables analyzed in the study, and future research implications.

Topic Area: Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Historical Trauma

 

Friday | April 14 | 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Restoring Néške’emāne (Grandmother Earth): How community knowledge can bring healing and shape environmental projects

Loren Waters (Cherokee Nation and Kiowa Tribe), Filmmaker; Damon Dunbar (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), Executive Director, Department of Housing; Chieko Buffalo (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), Environmental Protection Agency Director; Gordon Yellowman (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), Director of culture and language program; Dr. Laurel Smith, the University of Oklahoma, Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability

The short film "Restoring Néške'emāne" showcases the decades-long effort to redevelop the Concho Indian Boarding School. Panelists will discuss how community knowledge can bring healing and shape environmental projects.

Topic Area: Environmental Justice

 

Friday | April 14 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

222 (2nd Floor)

Liberating Sovereign Potential through Educational Leadership Program Building: Exploring a New Program at Kansas State University

Kelly Berry (Apache Tribal of Oklahoma), Indigenous Initiatives Research Associate, Kansas State University; Dr. Cornel Pewewardy (Comanche-Kiowa), Professor-of-Practice, School of Education at Kansas State University

This workshop outlines a new 12-credit hour graduate certificate, in Indigenous Educational Leadership at Kansas State University, built around new leadership standards developed by the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly.

Topic Area: Indigenous Leadership, Tribal Sovereignty, Education, Indigenous Knowledge

 

Friday | April 14 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

223 (2nd Floor)

ENVISIONING FUTURITY THROUGH SOVEREIGNTY AND RESEARCHING COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Dannielle Branam (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Graduate Student in Sociology at the University of North Texas

A future with tribally prioritized research, as an act of sovereignty, can honor Indigenous values held for generations upon generations.

Topic Area: Tribal Sovereignty, Community Building

 

Friday | April 14 | 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Ballroom Lounge (2nd Floor)

Socio-Culturally Inclusive COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Translation in Navajo (Diné) Language, Braille, and Podcast at a Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution

Camille Keith (Navajo (Dine)), Research Assistant, Fort Lewis College; Dr. Tapati Dutta, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, Fort Lewis College

Indigenous students and faculty at Fort Lewis College, a Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution, collaborate to translate COVID-19 vaccination information to Navajo language, Braille code and podcast format.

Topic Area: Community Building, Education, Indigenous Knowledge, Language Revitalization, COVID-19 vaccination information

 

Friday | April 14 | 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Intermural Fields

Social Stickball Game and Chunkey Demonstration

Join us for two of our Symposium favorites, traditional games! Co-hosted by the NSU Native student organizations, the Native American Student Association, American Indian Science and Engineering Society and American Indigenous Business Leaders.

Topic Area: Traditional Games

 

Saturday | April 15 | 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Event Center

2:00 pm Gourd Dancing

5:00 pm Dinner Break

6:00 pm Resume Gourd Dancing and Grand Entry

Kyle Sine (Ho-Chunk, Navajo and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees), Head Man

Nicollette Stroud Littlecook (Ponca, Navajo and Cherokee), Head Lady Dancer

Allen Hyde Toppah (Kiowa, Navajo), Head Singer

Stanley John Redshirt (Navajo), Arena Director

Don Stroud (Cherokee), Head Gourd Dancer

Mark Bolin (Cherokee), MC

Topic Area: Powwow