Symposium Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Donald Fixico | Keynote for Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
Modern Tribal Sovereignty in the 21st Century
Since American Indian self-determination in the 1970s, the Cherokees, Muscogees, Seminoles, Chickasaws and Choctaws have made tremendous progress. Now, 25 years into the twenty-first century, the Five Nations are demonstrating the success of modern tribal sovereignty for the well being of their people.
Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Donald Fixico is Muscogee, Seminole, Shawnee, and Sac & Fox enrolled. He earned a Ph.D. in History at the University of Oklahoma. Presently, Dr. Fixico is a Regents' and Distinguished Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University. He has worked on 25 documentaries about Native people, and he has written or edited 18 books on American Indians and the West.
Dr. Cornel Pewewardy | Keynote for Thursday, April 10, 2025
The Hunt for Red Pedagogy
"The Hunt for Red Pedagogy” is a power analysis of Gen. Phillip Sheridan’s American aphorism “The only good Indian is a dead Indian, the political strategy for a tenable solution to the so-called Indian Problem during the Indian War Campaigns of the 1860s. Responding to a current national political void in the academy, I want to talk briefly about the identity politics of recognition of Indigenous peoples in the U.S.
Dr. Cornel Pewewardy (Comanche-Kiowa) is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Oklahoma; former Vice-Chair of the Comanche Nation; 2024 Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame; 2024 Outstanding Role Model Award, Oklahoma Native American Students in Higher Education; 2023 Scholar of the Year by the Oklahoma Political Science Association; 2022 National Indian Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award; 2022 Alumni Fellow Award from the Pennsylvania State University; 2021 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity Suzan Shown Harjo Systemic Social Justice Award; and 2021 Oklahoma Council for Indian Education Indian Educator of the Year.
Dr. Sky Wildcat | Keynote for Friday, April 11th, 2025
Reclamation Story of a (former) Graduate Student
As a recent Doctoral graduate, Dr. Sky Wildcat will share about her lessons learned on reclamation. Dr. Wildcat's dissertation and personal reflections of her journey in higher education will guide this presentation.
Dr. Sky Wildcat is a Cherokee Nation citizen and of Mvskoke heritage. Dr. Wildcat graduated from Northeastern State University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Geography and in 2019 with a Master of Science in Higher Education. In May 2024, Dr. Wildcat graduated from the University of Arkansas with a PhD. in Higher Education. As an undergraduate student, Dr. Wildcat was involved in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) NSU Chapter, the Riverhawks Initiating Service and Engagement Scholarship Program, the Native American Student Association, and was inducted into the NSU Hall of Fame. Dr. Wildcat is also a former Miss Cherokee and was named a 25 under 25 recipient and Earth Ambassador by the United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY). Currently, Dr. Wildcat is a senior program officer for AISES and is an aspiring fashion creator.