November is Native American Heritage Month (NAHM), and as we in the HESA program pause during UConn’s fall break, we reflect on the critical importance of recognizing and honoring the role of Native American and Indigenous scholars, practices, and thought in our field. UConn’s campuses are located on land that is the territory of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Nipmuc, and Lenape Peoples, who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. We thank them for their strength and resilience in protecting this land, and aspire to uphold our responsibilities according to their example. Native and Indigenous people bring rich knowledge and experiences to our educational spaces, including the field of higher education and student affairs. Indigenous methodologies, pedagogies, and existence in higher education are acts of resistance against an oppressive educational system that has expropriated native lands and attempted to erase native knowledge and ways of living.
In celebration of NAHM, we highlight some of those Native and Indigenous methodologies, pedagogies, and practices in higher education and student affairs. We offer a very brief selection of resources below, which may serve as a starting point for further engagement. We encourage members of our HESA community to engage with these and other resources to deepen your learning about Native and Indigenous communities, educational experiences, and ways of knowing.
Professional and Scholarly Communities
Indigenous Student Affairs Network (ISAN)
ACPA Native, Aboriginal, and Indigenous Coalition (NAIC)
NASPA Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community (IPKC)
Edited Volumes
Beyond Access: Indigenizing Programs for Native American Student Success (2018), edited by Heather J. Shotton, Shelly C. Lowe and Stephanie J. Waterman
Reclaiming Indigenous Research in Higher Education (2018), edited by Robin Starr Minthorn and Heather J. Shotton
Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education (2013) edited by Heather J. Shotton, Shelly C. Lowe, Stephanie J. Waterman
Journal Articles
“New Research Perspectives on Native American Students in Higher Education” (2019), Stephanie J. Waterman
“I Thought You’d Call Her White Feather”: Native Women and Racial Microaggressions in Doctoral Education (2017) Heather J. Shotton
“Home Away From Home: Native American Students’ Sense of Belonging During Their First Year in College” (2016) Amanda R. Tachine, Nolan L. Cabrera & Eliza Yellow Bird
“Toward a Tribal Critical Race Theory in Education” (2006) Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy