UCLA community members are joining scholars across the country to help highlight Indigenous architectural knowledge throughout the American continent in an annual program. The Forgotten Canopy – a series of conferences under The Center for 17th- and 18th-Century Studies’ Core Program – held its first summit from Nov. 4 through Nov. 5 at the William … Read more
Tosa Two Heart is wearing her community’s hearts on her sleeves and is hoping others will too. Alumnus Two Heart is exploring new niches in fashion by incorporating traditional Lakota designs into modern clothes. She said her work amplifies the voices of Native Americans in the exclusionary space of Western fashion through its emphasis on … Read more
UCLA will offer students the opportunity to join a new Living Learning Community focused on the Native American and Pasifika student experience beginning in the fall. Sponsored by both the American Indian Student Association and the Pacific Islands’ Student Association, the American Indian and Pacific Islander LLC will be housed in the west half of … Read more
BY RANIA SOETIRTO // ART BY LAUREN MAN Spring 2021 “People of the land.” The natural setting of Kuruvungna Springs feels as if it resists LA’s urban landscape. Tucked between tight asphalt streets and a high school football field, the entrance to the springs sits between rows of buildings and apartment complexes of West LA. … Read more
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
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
By Shelby Dunagan Posted: May 20, 2019 12:04 am The UCLA Institute of American Cultures and its four ethnic studies research centers celebrated their 50th anniversary and talked at a panel about what they have accomplished since their creation in the field of ethnic studies. The directors of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, UCLA … 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 Hedy Wang Posted: October 10, 2017 1:38 am A tribal elder of the FernandeñoTataviam Band of Mission Indians burned sage in the air as the chair of the Los Angeles City and County Indian Commission gave a blessing to all those present at an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration Monday. The event, which was hosted by … Read more