Trans-Indigenous Education: Anti-colonial Pedagogies and Praxis in Ethnic Studies Education

• In Event: Ethnic Studies Education across Tovaangar

Abstract

Trans-Indigenous Education encompasses spaces, practices, and programs that allow diverse histories,
cultures, and experiences to be shared among diverse Indigenous students. Trans-Indigenous Education
attends to the interpersonal and spatial dimensions existing in higher education settings that center
diverse Indigenous knowledges to build communities based on a shared consciousness. This
presentation highlights the ways that American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) students engaged in trans-Indigenous education across Tovaangar
(what is known as the Los Angeles Basin). Aligned with the 2026 annual theme, this presentation 5
considers Indigenous knowledges and communities in “innovating for equitable futures…for future
thriving.” Through insights from four trans-Indigenous higher education programs in Tovaangar, this
presentation offers Trans-Indigenous Education as an anti/decolonial framework, arguing for spaces that
have the potential to foster relationalities among people and place and reinforce Indigenous knowledge
systems that are transformational while providing stronger networks of support among diverse
Indigenous students.

Author

• Kēhaulani Vaughn, University of California - Riverside