INDIGENOUS CHILDREN ARE DYING AT THE U.S./MEXICO BORDER Washington, D.C. May 16, 2019 Today, the International Mayan League denounces the latest victim of death and murder at the U.S/Mexico border, a 2½ year-old toddler, a boy from Chiquimula, Guatemala. This tragic loss comes on the heels of the death of 16-year-old Juan de Leon Gutierrez … Read more
By Alexsandra Coltun Schneider May 14, 2019 More than 1.5 billion acres of land have been taken from Native Americans, according to a study by Slate Magazine. Amid the virtual normalization of this process, the idea of returning land to indigenous individuals shouldn’t be left off the table, said author and educator Dina Gilio-Whitaker. UCLA’s … Read more
By Sean Greene and Thomas Curwen May 9, 2019 From the mountains to the sea Long before the development of Los Angeles, with its freeways and suburbs, Southern California was known for its grasslands, estuaries and oak-covered foothills. Tovaangar The original people of Los Angeles, the Tongva, defined their world as Tovaangar. It extended from Palos … Read more
By Thomas Curwen May 9, 2019 From the top of Signal Hill, Los Angeles disappears in the haze. Gauzy light smudges details, so that only the mountains, the sea and the land in between remain. No freeways; no homes, high-rises or palms. Off the coast lies the broad silhouette of Catalina. To the west rises … Read more
A new edited volume, A World of Indigenous Languages: Politics, Pedagogies and Prospects for Language Reclamation, by Professor Teresa L. McCarty, Associate Professor Sheilah E. Nicholas, and Professor Gillian Wigglesworth, was recently published by Multilingual Matters. Spanning Indigenous settings in Africa, the Americas, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Central Asia and the Nordic countries, this book examines … Read more
April 9, 2019 PLEASE POST To: Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, and Administrative Officers Re: New Bunche Center Director Appointed: Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez Dear Colleagues: I am pleased to announce that Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez has been named director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies effective July 2019. Dr. Lytle Hernandez … Read more
Randall Akee March 12, 2019 For one group of children in particular, American Indians and Alaska Natives, exceedingly high poverty rates have had profound impacts on community wellbeing and long-term cohesiveness. Given the best available data, from the U.S. Census data, child poverty rates among American Indians and Alaska Natives have consistently exceeded 40% for … Read more
By Joanie Harmon | February 14, 2019 UCLA professors of education Teresa McCarty and Sylvia Hurtado have been elected to the National Academy of Education, bringing the number of UCLA education faculty who are academy members to 19. An induction ceremony for new members will take place during the National Academy’s annual meeting in November. “Our departments … Read more
The UCLA American Indian Studies Center is pleased to announce that Joy Holland will be joining UCLA as the AISC Librarian. She will be starting on April 1st. We are excited to have Joy on board and part of the AISC family. Please welcome her! Joy Holland is the Executive Director of Kona Historical Society (KHS), … Read more
Two UCLA American Indian Studies faculty members were named to be part of the UC President’s Native American Advisory Council created by University of California President Janet Napolitano. The first meeting is set for February 1 to discuss Native American student and faculty recruitment along with an issue important to many tribes: the return of … Read more