Living the Land Acknowledgment: Celebrating Fall 2024 Campus Partners
The Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS) is thrilled to recognize the invaluable contributions of campus partners who have modeled living the land acknowledgment through their support of Native and Indigenous initiatives this fall semester. These collaborations have strengthened CNAIS’s ability to advance awareness, engagement, and education on Indigenous perspectives across the university.
Honoring Indigenous Peoples Day
The Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion played a lead role in planning and supporting events for Indigenous Peoples Day, fostering meaningful campus-wide engagement with Native stories, scholarship, and futures.
Powwow and Event Support
This year’s powwow, a cornerstone of CNAIS’s fall programming, flourished thanks to:
The CU Boulder Recreation Center, for waiving costs associated with hosting the event on Farrand Field, including venue and staffing fees.
Student Affairs, whose financial support ensured the success of this vital cultural event.
The Intercultural Engagement Team at the Center for Inclusion and Social Change, with special recognition to Junior Reina, Program Manager for Native and Indigenous Students, and Amanda Linsenmeyer, Program Director, for their tireless dedication to collaborative efforts that enriched Native and Indigenous programming.
The College of Arts & Sciences, as the largest financial contributor to the powwow through their Dean's Innovation Grant.
The Theatre and Dance Department, whose faculty and staff—led by Anya Cloud, recipient of the Dean’s Innovation Grant—provided administrative, financial, and creative support for the powwow.
The Dean of Student Success, whose financial support ensured the successful execution of the powwow.
The Boulder Public Library, which hosted a Powwow 101 and Powwow Volunteer Training event in early September, was present at the powwow to offer library resources to community members.
The Volunteer Services Department Manager, Sophia Surage, offered tremendous support in developing the volunteer recruitment and management system our staff used for the powwow.
Events Team Member Emma Schere offered collaborative and financial event support for the Powwow 101 event, the Native Vote event from the Law School, and our end-of-semester crafting event on December 6.
The Native Graduate Student Group, which facilitated connections with the Northern Drum and Head Young Man, as well as supported advertising efforts and strengthened community connection and contributed as one of the event’s two Native student photographers, capturing meaningful moments throughout the powwow.
The Oyate Native American and Indigenous Student Organization, which initiated the event's organization by prioritizing student voices, ensuring that the Powwow authentically represented the interests, needs, and perspectives of Native students.
CARE Workshop: Indigenous-Led Conservation
CNAIS partnered with the Institute of Behavioral Science through Dr. Mara Benjamin to host the Conservation and Relational Ecologies (CARE) Workshop. This workshop will brought together academics and practitioners from across the University of Colorado campus, and around the world to share ideas, stories, concerns and success stories with each other and the wider audience, on how to bridge global conservation needs within science and policy agendas with Indigenous knowledge, ways of living, and ways of “doing conservation and natural resource management.”
Interdisciplinary Collaborations
The College of Arts and Sciences CU in the City: Community Scholars Program supported CNAIS with the talented CNAIS intern Alfredo Bitsoi, who contributed significantly to the Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) course and event programming.
The Theatre and Dance Department, in collaboration with Creative Nations, helped launch the inaugural First Storyteller’s Festival, celebrating Indigenous storytelling in October.
The Center for the American West offered programming aligned with CNAIS’s mission, our centers engaging in reciprocal co-sponsorships throughout the semester.
Building Bridges
Associate Vice Chancellor for Native American Affairs Benny Shendo, from the Office of Community and Government Affairs, played a crucial role in networking, fundraising, and advocating for Indigenous initiatives, particularly the powwow.
A Special Thanks to the Center for Inclusion and Social Change (CISC)
CISC has been an exceptional partner this semester, offering innovative programming, student-focused advocacy, and a platform for intercultural dialogue. Under the leadership of the Intercultural Engagement Team, CISC has consistently supported Native and Indigenous student interests on campus and collaborated closely with CNAIS deliver impactful events. The Intercultural Engagement Program Director Amanda Linsenmeyer serves as the CU Staff Representative on the CNAIS Internal Advisory Board.
Special recognition goes to Junior Reina, whose unwavering commitment to Native and Indigenous students has fostered a sense of community and empowerment on campus. Junior has transitioned out of this position, but has made a tremendous impact on the CU campus in the year he was here.