News

• Native Bruins: Past, Present & Emerging – Reuben Duane Bending
  

  This December we are highlighting Native Bruin Reuben Duane Bending from the Yakama tribe. Reuben Duane Bending was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His parents moved from Phoenix to Los Angeles in 1956, after his father attended Phoenix Indian School and his mother attended Cook Bible College. Reuben attended UCLA from the fall … Read more



• [Daily Bruin] Op-ed: Americans should remember and honor Native American roots every day
  

  By Kat High and Shannon Speed November 27, 2020 Nov. 27 is Native American Heritage Day. The first American Indian Day was celebrated in New York in May of 1916. The event brought to fruition the work of Red Fox Skiukusha of the Blackfeet Nation, who rode 4,000 miles across the country on horseback, eventually … Read more



• [The Source] Native American Hip Hop: Rhymes and Stories from the City to the Rez
  

  By Kyle Mays November 30, 2020 November is Native American Heritage Month. But how many people knew that? Better yet, how many people know that Native Americans—the Indigenous people of this land—are still here? During this month, it presents an opportunity for all of us to reflect on a history of genocide, and to consider … Read more



• [Daily Bruin] American Indian and Alaska Native faculty seek greater representation at UCLA
  

  By Anushka Chakrabarti November 29, 2020 Shannon Speed knows every American Indian and Alaska Native faculty member at UCLA. “It’s uncomfortable being a faculty member where you know every other faculty member of your demographic category,” said Speed, who is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and an associate professor of gender studies and anthropology. … Read more



• [CNN] Indigenous people across the US want their land back — and the movement is gaining momentum
  

  November 25, 2020 By Harmeet Kaur, CNN (CNN)Around this time every year, Americans come together to share a feast commemorating a myth about its first inhabitants. An indigenous tribe did eat with the Pilgrims in 1621 and sign a treaty with the colonists that had settled on their shores — an act of survival rather … Read more



• Behind the Scenes with the Fowler Museum Archaeology Collections Facility: Actualizing Land Acknowledgments
  

  By Wendy Teeter, Sedonna Goeman-Shulsky, and Desiree Martinez The Fowler Museum Archaeology Collections Facility has been in charge of UCLA’s compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) since 1990, which has resulted in many collaborations between local Indigenous tribes, Fowler staff, and the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, among other campus … Read more



• Director Shannon Speed’s Forthcoming Edited Volume, Indigenous Women and Violence Feminist Activist Research in Heightened States of Injustice
  

  INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND VIOLENCE FEMINIST ACTIVIST RESEARCH IN HEIGHTENED STATES OF INJUSTICE EDITED BY LYNN STEPHEN AND SHANNON SPEED How Indigenous women experience and resist systemic violence Indigenous Women and Violence offers an intimate view of how settler colonialism and other structural forms of power and inequality created accumulated violences in the lives of Indigenous … Read more



• Native Bruins: Past, Present & Emerging – Clementine Bordeaux
  

  This November we are highlighting Native Bruin Clementine Bordeaux from the Sicangu Lakóta Oyáte tribe. Clementine Bordeaux is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakóta Oyáte and was raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She is the youngest daughter of Christopher and Deborah Bordeaux. She comes from a long line of educators, with her maternal … Read more



• LA Social Sciences Interview with AISC Director Shannon Speed on Hate Crime Map Project
  

  This interview with Director Shannon Speed of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center discusses the launch of the new Hate Crime Map, which enables victims to report harassment and attacks based on race, gender, and religion. Watch the interview and check out the map at www.hatecrimemap.com.



• Professor Nancy Marie Mithlo’s New Book, “Making History IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts” Released
  

  Congratulations to Professor Nancy Marie Mithlo who just recently released a new book, “Making History IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts” (UNM Press)! NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release     Contact: Eric Davis, Marketing & Communications Director 505.424.2351 or eric.davis@iaia.edu For press images contact: Sallie Wesaw 505.428.5908 or swesaw@iaia.edu Institute of American Indian Arts IAIA … Read more