News

Native, Inc.

Shari Huhndorf, faculty affiliate of ISSI's Center for Research on Native American Issues, wrote a new article in Washington Monthly telling the history of the largest Indigenous land claim settlement in U.S. history, and how the admittance of Alaska as a U.S. state complicated the battle for Native rights.

Big Give Success - Thank you for your support!

Thank you to everyone who supported ISSI, the parent institute of the Myers Center, during Big Give last week! We received over $3,500 from 25 donors. Special thanks to our second-year Graduate Fellows who helped with outreach.

While Big Give is over, your donations to support social change scholarship are welcome anytime! You can donate here and designate your gift for any of the ISSI centers or programs using the "in honor of" field.

Keeping Alive Our Indigenous Cultures

Jesús I’x Nazario, a graduate student affiliated with ISSI's Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, is featured in this Berkeley News article celebrating the linguistic diversity and multilingualism celebrated by International Mother Language Day. Nazario reflects on the "need for immediate action and long-term solutions toward protecting the rights for everyone to speak their own language."

Professor Peter Nelson Adds Wildland Firefighting to His Expertise

Peter Nelson, faculty affiliate of ISSI's Center for Research on Native American Issues, was featured in this Berkeley News article. Professor Nelson is an assistant professor of environmental science, policy and management and of ethnic studies who is now gaining expertise in wildland firefighting in order to use fire as a tool for reducing risk and building economic resilience against wildfires. Routinely controlling the burning of small areas can help communities avoid the catastrophic damages previous wildfires had left.

The University of California Land Grab: A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land—A Report of Key Learnings and Recommendations

ISSI's Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues & Native American Student Development at UC Berkeley are pleased to announce the release of a new report, The University of California Land Grab: A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land—A Report of Key Learnings and Recommendations. This document is a follow up to the Fall 2020 two-part forum of the same name. The intent of the report is to motivate the University of California to take action regarding accountability to California Indians stemming from the University’s founding as a land-grant institution through Morrill Act land sales and from the ongoing benefits that UC receives from both returns on the original endowment and continued occupation of California Indian territories via current UC land holdings.

Download the PDF of the complete report here (73pp)

Download the PDF of the executive summary and recommendations here (10pp)

Where Have All the Anthros Gone?

In this essay in American Anthropologist, Peter Nelson, faculty affiliate of ISSI's Center for Research on Native American Issues and former ISSI Graduate Fellow, explains how anthropology has tried to claim the intellectual territory of his Coast Miwok family and tribe by shaping the images and stories that are told of Indigenous peoples. However, through slow and steady work, California Indians are recrafting their stories and futures. "We are reframing scholarship 'on' to scholarship 'with, for, and by' California Indian people."

Honoring the Legacy of Joseph A. Myers

On September 25, ISSI's Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues held a memorial for Joseph A. Myers, a Pomo Indian of northern California, co-founder of the Myers Center, and long-time lecturer in Native American Studies at UC Berkeley, among many other accomplishments. Video of the event, Honoring the Legacy of Joseph A. Myers (1940-2020), is available here.

Myers Center Mini-grants - Call for Proposals

The Myers Center invites UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students, who are conducting individual research projects on issues affecting Native American communities in the U.S. today, to apply for mini-grants. Proposals that support undergraduate thesis or graduate dissertation research are strongly encouraged. Undergraduates may apply for grants up to $500. Graduate students may apply for grants up to $1000. Read more about the Myers Center Mini-grant Program and access the online application here. Applications are due on Monday, November 15, 2021 by 4pm.

Deb Haaland’s Confirmation as Interior Secretary to Indigenous Communities

In a new post on the Berkeley Blog, ISSI's Joseph A. Myers Center affiliated scholar Nazune Menka explains the historic impact and symbolic importance of the confirmation of Deb Haaland, an Indigenous woman, as the United States' Interior Secretary. Not only does Haaland symbolize Indigenous strength and resilience, Menka stresses, she is the first Secretary of the DOI who "has a lived understanding of what Tribal sovereignty is and why it is important, and who truly understands that a government-to-government relationship requires collaboration (and not just consultation)."

Harlem Mural depicting collaboration between Yuri Kochiyama and Malcom X

The Myers Center Calls for an End to Anti-Asian Violence

The Myers Center condemns the recent and on-going violence against Asian Americans and grieves with the families of those lost to or injured by these hate crimes as well as all those who are suffering from racist and sexist violence and discrimination. We redouble our commitment to stand in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities as we work collectively for a more just future. We support this statement from our friends and colleagues in the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies program at UC Berkeley. For those who want to learn more about the historic roots as well as contemporary expressions of anti-Asian racism, we encourage you to read this Berkeley News interview with Lok Siu, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, who also emphasizes the often-overlooked interracial solidarity that we need to build upon now.