Jim Thorpe, a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, is an iconic hero among Native Americans. He was a dominant college athlete, a medal-winning Olympian and a Hall-of-Fame professional football player. He also played professional baseball and basketball, for good measure. We have always known he was the greatest athlete in the world! His … Read more
From the Office of the Chancellor: Dear Bruin Community: I am delighted to announce that Darnell M. Hunt — currently dean of UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences and professor of sociology and African American studies — will be our next executive vice chancellor and provost (EVCP). A longtime campus leader widely respected for his … Read more
A new Google Doodle honors the history-making Native American comedian Charlie Hill Google honored barrier-breaking comedian Charlie Hill, the first Native American comic to appear on national TV, with a Doodle on what would’ve been his 71st birthday. When Hill was a young comic in the 1970s, he refused to deign to racist stereotypes of … Read more
From the Office of the Chancellor Dear Bruin Community: I am delighted to announce the joint appointment of Professor of Law Angela R. Riley and Professor of Gender Studies and Anthropology Shannon Speed as UCLA’s special advisors to the chancellor on Native American and Indigenous affairs. These two outstanding scholars and leaders will build on … Read more
Two issues were on the table during the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs’ hearing June 22: the Department of the Interior’s landmark investigative report on Indian Boarding Schools, and legislation intended to work in tandem with the department’s initiative to address trauma and bring healing to boarding-school survivors and their communities. The 106-page report—released last … Read more
On Friday the entire AIS community—students, alumni, faculty, staff, friends and family—gathered to celebrate the Native and AIS students graduating in 2022. This was our first in-person graduation ceremony since 2019, and emotions ranged from elation to tears to trepidation to relief to gratefulness. Student Services Advisor Tim Topper emceed magnificently, students were blanketed, and … Read more
From the Office of the Chancellor Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost What you need to know: New initiative will include efforts to diversify and support our students, faculty and staff Commitments include new faculty FTE, support for post-doctoral and graduate fellowships Dear Bruin Community: This past April, the University of California announced … Read more
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – A standing-room-only crowd gathered in Tahlequah to celebrate the life and legacy of the Cherokee Nation’s first female principal chief, Wilma P. Mankiller, who is now immortalized on a U.S. quarter released June 6. “She’s a legend,” Cherokee Nation citizen Henry Carey Jr., 66, of Tahlequah, said. “She deserves it. Wilma Mankiller, … Read more
The UCLA American Indian Studies Center is excited to share the promotion of Dr. Ananda Marin to Associate Professor with tenure at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. Dr. Marin is also an affiliated faculty with the American Indian Studies Center and Chair of the American Indian Studies Center Faculty Advisory Committee 2021-22. Congratulations, … Read more
This June we are highlighting Native Bruin Mikaela Saelua (Sa Fiu and Sa Avegalio), class of 2013. Mikaela Saelua is the youngest child of Fiu John Saelua and Catherine Saelua, and a member of the Sa Fiu and Sa Avegalio clans. She was born and raised in her home village of Leone in American Samoa, … Read more