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Native American and Indigenous Studies

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Wings of Achievement: Student Success at the University of Oregon
May 1, 2024
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, POLITICAL SCIENCE - Success at the University of Oregon looks different for each student, from academic achievement to personal growth to career readiness.
Kirby Brown
NAIS professor receives endowed chair, will support research
February 28, 2024
NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - A three-year endowment fund is supporting Kirby Brown's work on his family’s Cherokee oral history and material archives to better understand Cherokee Nation literature, history, intellectual production, and lived experience in the 20th and 21st centuries. Brown is an associate professor of Native American and Indigenous literary and cultural production in the Department of English and the director of Native American and Indigenous studies.
Virgina Beavert
NILI co-founder Átway Tuxámshish/Dr. Virginia Beavert (Yakama Nation) Walks On at 102
February 13, 2024
NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - It is with a heavy heart, but with an enormous sense of gratitude and love, that we send prayers for a good journey for Átway Tuxámshish/Dr. Virginia Beavert (Yakama Nation), who walked on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. She was 102. During her life, she co-founded the Northwest Indian Language Institute, earned a PhD in linguistics at 90 years old, was an instructor and founder of the Ichishkíin language classes at UO—and more.
an image from Lana Lopesi's book
New book showcases creativity, diversity in New Zealand
January 23, 2024
INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - Edited by Lana Lopesi, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, the book shows a mosaic of narratives that delve into the complex and unique history of Aotearoa New Zealand. “What’s unique about this book is that it includes the artists' voices themselves. With this diversity of voices and perspectives, you get a truer understanding of the range and complexity of the voices presented," Lopesi said.
a group of women
NAIS Faculty Member Theresa May featured in CSWS Article about Inspiring Women and Their Inspirations
January 17, 2024
For 50 years, faculty at the University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society have researched the complexity of women’s lives and the intersecting nature of gender identities and inequalities. In celebration of the center’s fiftieth anniversary, Oregon Quarterly featured five faculty — three of whom are in the College of Arts and Sciences.
students at a desk
Apply to Sapsik’ʷałá Grow Your Own Future Teachers Program (GYO)
January 10, 2024
NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - The Sapsik’ʷałá Program’s Grow Your Own (GYO) Future Teachers Program is a 12-week mentorship program for American Indian/Alaska Native high school and undergraduate students. Applications are due Feb. 9 for mentors and Feb. 16 for high school and college students.
students with a yard sign
Finding Strength in Community - CAS Connection
January 10, 2024
NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - Tiera Garrety is working to improve the academic experiences not only of the current generation of Indigenous students like herself but for the generations that will follow. Garrety is a University of Oregon senior majoring in Native American and Indigenous studies and pursuing minors in legal studies and sociology.
Brian Bull
New professor brings radio news expertise to the SOJC, NAIS
January 9, 2024
NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - Brian Bull is an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Communication and a faculty member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program.
Angie Morrill, headshot
IRES Alum and Klamath Tribal Member, Angie Morrill, Named Director of Native and Tribal Programs at Oregon State University
January 3, 2024

INDIGNEOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUIDES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES--Angie Morrill, an accomplished scholar and experienced leader in Native education and cultural support, has been named the inaugural director of Native American and Tribal Programs for the Oregon State University Division of Extension and Engagement. Morrill is an alum of UO Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies and a citizen of the Klamath Tribes. 

Miss Indigenous UO, Keyen Singer, modeling the Home Flight Blanket from 8th Generation
UO celebrates Native American heritage through November
November 7, 2023
INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES--Native American Heritage Month is being celebrated all through November on the UO campus with a series of events, including Native-themed films, speakers, and more.
Routledge Handbook Cover_Brown Book Award Feature
Kirby Brown Wins Modernist Studies Association Book Award
October 31, 2023
INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - Kirby Brown, along with co-editors Stephen Ross and Alana Sayers, win the Modernist Studies Association award for Best Edited Collection for the "Routledge Handbook of North American Indigenous Modernisms."
Carbon Sequestration: UO/Coquille Tribe Collaboration, NSF Grant
Accounting for carbon from forest to estuary
October 9, 2023

INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES-The issue of climate change is so large it’s easy to feel powerless. How can any one person, community, or institution tackle a problem global in scale, in which the unintended consequences of choices made on one side of the globe affects people on the other? The short answer is, they can’t. But by mitigating the effects of a changing climate in a local area, groups of people can have an impact and provide an example for other communities to do the same.

Michelle Jacob, professor of Indigenous studies and director of the Sapsik’ʷałá (Teacher) Education Program in the Department of Education Studies.
Placing kinship traditions at the center of research with the Yakama Nation
October 4, 2023
INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - Michelle Jacob, professor of Indigenous studies and director of the Sapsik’ʷałá (Teacher) Education Program in the Department of Education Studies  at the UO, has received an award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to examine how kinship, as practiced in Indigenous communities, can inform research and evaluation as practiced more broadly in the US.
A mural of comic panels by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
Speakers will explore Indigenous comic art over the coming year
September 28, 2023
INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES- Three Indigenous artists whose work deals extensively with environmental questions will take part in the Indigenous Comics Speaker Series over the coming academic year. The series begins with Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, an award-winning visual artist and author, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, in the Knight Library Browsing Room.
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Northwest Indian Language Institute Awarded U.S. Department of Education Grant
September 8, 2023
INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES-The Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI) was awarded a $1.7 million US Dept. of Education grant to assume the role of the Northwest Native American Language Resource Center for the Pacific Northwest. They will work directly with tribal nations in the region on language documentation and revitalization, curriculum development, teacher training, and other crucial needs.