NASPA Indigenous Engagement

January 1, 2022

In the context of NASPA, Indigenous engagement has historically involved working in consultation with Indigenous Peoples to produce and integrate land acknowledgments into the opening session of the Annual Conference. Nearly ten years of this practice has engendered a larger lens to re-see the NASPA landscape as a terrain that has continued to invisibilize, marginalize and disenfranchise Indigenous Peoples.

In relationship with Indigenous leaders, NASPA has committed to repairing and re-centering our work with the Indigenous Peoples community, guided by the following reflections: 

  • Equity and inclusion aren't universal or monolithic
  • An imperative to work with, rather than speak or fix on behalf of, Indigenous members
  • Reconciliation requires accountability, acknowledgment, and authenticity

Indigenous Engagement Timeline

Critical Moments in NASPA's Indigenous Engagement
  Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community founded
  Board of Directors commits to Indigenous Protocol and Practice Policy
February 2019 NASPA hosts gathering of past and current IPKC leaders
Summer 2019 Pam Agoyo appointed to the Board of Directors, the first Indigenous person to serve on the Board
November 2020

NASPA President Kevin Kruger issues statement, "Repairing and Re-centering NASPA’s Work with the Indigenous Peoples Community"
November 2020 Charlotte Davidson appointed to a special Indigenous Relations Advisor role
Winter 2021 Special issue of Leadership Exchange published titled "Power and Place: Indigenous Worldviews of Higher Education"
March 2021 Power and Place Symposium launches at 2021 NASPA Annual Conference
April 2021 NASPA charges an Indigenous Engagement Working Group
December 2021 Indigenous Engagement Working Group report and recommendations presented to Board of Directors
March 2022 Second Power and Place Symposium hosted during NASPA Annual Conference
April 2022 NASPA appoints President's Implementation Commmittee for Indigenous Engagement and Inclusion
2022 and 2023 NASPA Board of Directors discusses implementation progress during its Summer, Winter, and Spring Board Meetings
June 2023 NASPA hosts in-person Power and Place Symposium at Haskell Indian Nations University
October 2023 NASPA hosts partnership meeting during the 2023 National Indian Education Association Convention in Albuquerque, NM; representatives participate from ACPA's Indigenous Student Affairs Network, American Indian College Fund, American Indian Higher Education Consortium, NASPA Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community, National Education Association, National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education, and the White House Initiative on Advancing Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities
February 2024 Infographic shared with all regional conference planning committees, outlining principles and recommended means of respectfully including Indigenous ways of knowing into conference planning
March 2024 Final report of Implementation Committee on Indigenous Engagement and Inclusion submitted to NASPA Board of Directors

 

 

 

Indigenous Engagement Working Group

Power and Place Symposium

Established jointly by the Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community and the Orientation, Transition, and Retention Knowledge Community, with initial financial support from the NASPA Foundation, the Power and Place Symposium launched in 2020. The symposium centers the ideas in the seminal text Power and Place: Indian Education in America, co-authored by the late Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) and current Haskell Indian Nations University faculty member Dr. Daniel Wildcat (Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma). Power and Place serves as the theoretical orientation for keynote presentations, concurrent sessions, and each supporting element of the symposium. 

In 2020 and 2021 the two-day Symposium took place virtually during the NASPA Annual Conference. 

Learning Outcomes

Power and Place Symposium Learning Outcomes
GOALS

A significant Power and Place Symposium goal is to privilege and promote Indigenous worldviews regarding orientation, transition, retention on college campuses, and higher education leadership. The Symposium is for student affairs professionals, higher education scholars, allied educators, and anyone interested in questioning, reflecting, and imagining how Power and Place engender conditions for Indigenous student engagement and success.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
  • Explore challenges and possible solutions in creating empowering education and development experiences for Indigenous higher education communities;
  • Develop an increased awareness of institutional conditions that negate and repress the presence of historical, political, and linguistic relationships between place and Indigenous peoples;
  • Reflect on the structural relationship between settler colonialism and higher education and its impact upon the educational and cultural realities of Indigenous peoples; 
  • Consider the implications for designing orientation, transition, and retention programs as critical interventions that support the self-determination and political autonomy of Indigenous peoples in higher education; and
  • Develop an extended professional network of reciprocity by sharing, learning, and exchanging knowledge and resources.
2022 Schedule
March 16, 2022      
1-1:15 PM Welcome and Recognition of Place    
1:15-2:30 PM Indigenous Self-determination: Building College-Going Traditions at Haskell Indian Nations University

Moderator: Dr. Erin Kahunawaikaʻala Wright (Kanaka ʻŌiwi Hawaiʻi), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Guest: Dr. Daniel R. Wildcat (Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma), Haskell Indian Nations University

In this opening session, moderator Erin Kahunawaikaʻala Wright discusses with Daniel Wildcat how Power and Place: Indian Education in America (Deloria & Wildcat, 2001) extends perspectives about first-generation college students. In addition, this session will offer experiential insights into Indigenous teaching strategies and whole-person approaches to supporting this particular student community at Haskell Indian Nations University.

This session is sponsored by NASPA’s Center for First-generation Student Success.
 2:45-4 PM Cultivating At-a-Distance Kinship Practices: Experiential Reflections of NASNTI Leaders   

Moderator: Dr. Judith Estrada, University of California, Santa Cruz

Panelists: Gabrielle Allan (Diné/Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), University of Minnesota, Morris; Dr. Ashley McMillan (Lumbee), University of North Carolina at Pembroke; Byron Tsabetsaye (Diné/A:Shiwi), San Juan College

 "Practical Indigenous professionals" (Wildcat, 2001) recognize the loss of direction that occurs when navigating two cultures, not worlds. In so doing, virtualized learning environments have engendered new ways of perceiving, cultivating, and experiencing kinship. In this second session, moderator Judith Estrada will dialogue with institutional leaders at Native American Serving Non-tribal Institutions (NASNTIs) about specific strategies, services, and approaches to sustaining relationships and connections with Native students.
 4:15-5:30 PM Centering Institutional Responsibility: Advancing Indigenous Student Success

Moderator: Dr. Sarah Whitley, Assistant Vice President, NASPA Center for First-generation Student Success

Panelists: Sharon Singer Doctor, (Diné), Director - Student Life Experience, Office of Indigenous Student Success, Northern Arizona University; Dr. Hollie J. Mackey (Northern Cheyenne), Executive Director, Consortium for the Study of Values and Leadership and Associate Director, UCEA Graduate Student Development, North Dakota State University; Dr. Zoe Higheagle Strong (Nez Perce), Executive Director of Tribal Relations/Special Assistant to the Provost, Director, Center for Native American Research & Collaboration, and Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, Washington State University

 As a majority of Indigenous students also share the first-generation intersectional identity, extant literature elevates the need for asset-based approaches and a deepened understanding of identity and lived experiences to improve academic and co-curricular outcomes. This panel will discuss the power of intentionality in serving this student population, what can be learned from intersectional identities, and how asset-based approaches create important opportunities for better serving Native students. 
 March 17, 2022      
 1-1:15 PM Welcome and Recognition of Place    
 1:15-2:30 PM A Whole Community Approach to Student Development: Perspectives of Tribal College Presidents  

Moderator: Dr. Kevin Kruger, President, NASPA

Panelists: Dr. Donna Brown (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), Turtle Mountain Community College; Dr. Cynthia Lindquist (Spirit Lake Dakota), Cankdeska Cikana Community College; Dr. Leander “Russ” McDonald (Ihanktowan/Sahnish/Hidatsa/Hunkpapa), United Tribes Technical College; Dr. Laurel Vermillion (Hunkpapa-Lakota), Sitting Bull College

 In this session, moderator Kevin Kruger engages tribal college and university (TCU) presidents on how a "whole community approach" (Williams, 2007) fosters a climate of trust and positively shapes equitable learning environments for TCU higher education communities. Participants will also gain insight into how these institutional types strengthen tribal sovereignty and self-determination and promote culturally responsive approaches to holistic student success. 
 2:45-4:00 PM Stewarding Emergence: The Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community (IPKC) in NASPA 

Moderator: Chelsea Reid (Gullah & Geechee), Boston University

Panelists: Pam Agoyo (Ohkay Owingeh, Cochiti, & Kewa Pueblos), Member at Large, NASPA Board of Directors; Dr. Karen Francis Begay (Diné), University of Arizona; Dr. Heather J. Shotton (Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne), University of Oklahoma

 		 In this session, moderator Chelsea Reid discusses with IPKC founders the factors that led to IPKC’s emergence, including how IPKC’s origin story offers lessons about organizational ecologies, relationality, and leadership. Importantly, the practical expertise of the panelists will bring into perspective the challenges and possibilities of ushering Indigenous-centered special interest groups into existence. This session benefits participants with all levels of leadership experience. 
 4:15-5:30 PM Navigating Disequilibria: A Hoghaan Dialogue Among Diné Higher Education Leaders  Presenters: Dr. Nizhoni Chow-Garcia (Diné), California State University Monterey Bay; Dr. Charlotte E. Davidson (Diné/Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation), Indigenous Relations Advisor, NASPA; and Kari Deswood (Diné), San Juan College  Restoring balance is both a traditional and current-day Diné sensibility. In this closing session, Diné higher education leaders demonstrate how the Hoghaan—an east-facing, womb-based, traditional home place for Diné—serves as a type of “traditional technology” (Deloria, 2001) to introspect, negotiate, transform, and reimagine Diné engagement in organizational settings. This session benefits participants interested in utilizing Indigenous modalities to achieve harmony. 
Power and Place Webinar Series

Power AND Place Webinar Series

The planning committee designed this webinar series to prepare participants to engage intentionally in the symposium. The series is open and free and requires registration by visiting the links for each webinar.