Grounding the Academy With Indigenous Perspectives in New Mexico: Responsibility and Reciprocity

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Indigenous Educational Experiences in Academia: Critical Insights on Collaboration, Classroom Ecologies, and Cultural Identities

Abstract

Community engagement is at the core of the philosophy and practice of Indigenous faculty who are actively working directly with Native Nations, state educational agencies, students, and communities across New Mexico. This paper examines the possibilities and challenges of cultivating and sustaining reciprocal relationships between Indigenous faculty at a research one university and Indigenous Nations in New Mexico, articulates alignment of empirical research data collected at eleven community forums in Indigenous Nations and one state-wide summit to the facts and findings of the Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico a landmark case that will impact our children in the state, and theorizes on how to build a baseline of critical consciousness in connecting cultural sovereignty, political autonomy, and education.

Authors

• Glenabah M. Martinez, University of New Mexico

• Lorenda Belone, University of New Mexico

• Shawn Lee Secatero, University of New Mexico

• Vincent R. Werito, The University of New Mexico

• Terri L. Flowerday, University of New Mexico

• Robin Zape-tah-hol-ah Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn, University of Washington - Tacoma

• Christine P. Sims, University of New Mexico