The Struggle for Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Virginia: A Decolonial Perspective

• In Event: Politics of Race and Indigeneity in Education

Abstract

This study examines the current struggle to create a Native American and Indigenous (NAI) studies program at the University of Virginia (UVA). UVA is a settler colonial university with a history of White supremacy and exclusion of Native Americans. Applying Decolonial and Tribal Critical Theory in a critical action methodology, historical sources and program documents are analyzed along with personal narratives of two activists working within a University based group working on program development. We examine the influence of White supremacist organizational culture on the micro-political processes in the development of a NAI studies center. We document the role of activism, within in a settler colonial institutional setting as a crucial component of strategy and progress countering hegemonic administrative-academic discourses.

Author

• Walter F. Heinecke, University of Virginia