Events

Many of our events are video-recorded. You can see a list of available videos on our website. If you subscribe to our YouTube channel, you will be notified when new videos are available.

Fall 2019

Tuesday, October 15 I 11:10am-12:30pm

Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues is pleased to co-sponsor:

Indivisible Tohono: Infiltrating Spaces for the Empowerment of Our People

 April Ignacio and Elayne Gregg with facilitators Fantasia Painter and Seth Holmes

Indivisible Tohono is a grassroots organization working on issues that affect the Tohono O’odham Nation and those that affect the Natives within the state of Arizona and federally. Tohono O’odham is a federally recognized tribe split by the US-Mexico border in what is today southern Arizona, and it has become well known for its refusal to allow a U.S.- built border wall on Tohono O’odham land. This event features two key members of Indivisible Tohono who will discuss their work in education and civic engagement including against the US-Mexico border and border-related militarization on Tohono O’odham land.

Valley Life Science Building, room 2040

Co-sponsored by: Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management; Department of Ethnic Studies; Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society; Native American Student Development; American Indian Graduate Program, Center for Race and Gender, Center for Latin American Studies.

Thursday, October 17 I 11:10am-12:30pm

Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues is pleased to co-sponsor:

Indigeneity and Immigration

Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, Ph.D

Dr. Rivera-Salgado will discuss the process of "Indigenization" of Mexican migration to California and the unique challenges this population faces as they incorporate as long-term migrants into the fabric of US society. He will discuss the emergence of indigenous-led organizations that sustain collective action among these immigrants both here in California and in their communities of origin in Mexico. Some of the questions he will address are: How do we as scholars engage in successful collaborations with diverse communities in California? How do we choose the right research questions and what problems to address? How can we be clear about research roles in a collaboration with organized groups or different marginalized communities? Who are producers of knowledge? Who owns the data of a participatory action research project?

Valley Life Science Building, room 2040

Co-sponsored by: Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management; Department of Ethnic Studies; Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society; Native American Student Development; American Indian Graduate Program, Center for Race and Gender, Latinx Center of Excellence, Center for Latin American Studies.

Tuesday, October 22 I 4:00-5:30pm

Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues Colloquia Series:

Governing Rosebud Reservation:  Anti-Politics, Rendering Technical, Rendering Moral

Tom Biolsi, Professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

This talk will be based on Prof. Biolsi’s recently published book, Power and Progress on the Prairie, which traces the history of “modernization,” “improvement,” or “progress” on Rosebud Reservation. The central question of the book is how ideas about making things “better” were invented and applied to the people—both Indian and white—and the land. The cases examined include plans to “civilize” Indians and “modernize” farmers; to rationally manage agricultural production and land-use; to mitigate environmental problems; to “rationalize” plans for nuclear war to increase the likelihood of “national survival”; and to extend voting rights to Lakota people. Each of these plans or programs is an example of what Biolsi calls governing. Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault on governmentality, the book aims to understand how “problems” requiring correction came into public focus, or were actively made by experts with “remedies” or “solutions” in search of problems to fix. 

Shorb House (Latinx Research Center), 2547 Channing Way

Co-sponsored by Native American Studies Program, Native American Student Development, American Indian Graduate Program, American Indian Graduate Student Association

Tuesday, November 5 I 4:00-5:30pm

Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues Colloquia Series:

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED. We hope to reschedule for spring 2020.

What Drives Native American Poverty?

Beth Redbird, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Faculty Fellow, Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, Northwestern University

It has been nearly 40 years since the last large-scale comprehensive assessment of Indian economic well-being. Since that time, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 gave rise to increased tribal sovereignty and manifested in changes to tribal institutions and policies. Indian nations rewrote their constitutions, generated their own tax and business regulatory structures, set up welfare systems, remade school curricula, and gained control over their land. But, we continue to lack a basic understanding about the economic well-being of America’s first peoples. This project examines the development of new tribal institutions and seeks to disentangles the complex interwoven aspects of modern tribal economies that drive economic well-being.  Using a decomposition model, I find that changes in residence (returning to reservations), family structure, and lack of education play a small role in Native poverty, whereas the structure of employment is the most significant cause in the poverty increase. Findings suggest that the changing nature of tribal labor markets is having significant and unpredicted impacts on Native poverty and inequality. 

Shorb House (Latinx Research Center), 2547 Channing Way

Co-sponsored by Sociology, Native American Studies Program, Native American Student Development, American Indian Graduate Program, Native American Studies Library, American Indian Graduate Student Association, Native American Law Students Association