Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Peoples

The Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community (IPKC) is comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who seek to: 1) increase understanding of, and institutional commitment toward, Indigenous peoples in higher education; 2) advance equity-grounded approaches and socially just practices and policies that support and increase the participation of Indigenous peoples in higher education; 3) produce professional development opportunities, scholarship, and research that complicates and re-imagines the profession; and 4) engage across difference and intersecting identities to further explore trends and interpret issues relative to the experiences of Indigenous peoples on campuses.

 

Click “Join Community” to receive emails from IPKC to stay up to date on professional development & volunteer opportunities, awards, networking events, and more!

Message from the Co-Chairs

Yá'át'ééh, Míiyu chóo'onum, Welcome to the Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community (IPKC)! We are glad you navigated to our website and we encourage you to take time to review information below to find details on how to connect & get involved, along with recommended resources such as articles, blogs, and books.

IPKC was established in July 2005 and has served as an avenue for Indigenous student affairs professionals to create Indigenous spaces within NASPA, develop mentors & leaders, and build a network of support. As the IPKC Co-Chairs, we are focused on the following three areas:

Accessibility

  • Bring diverse voices & backgrounds to the KC
  • Increase communication and visibility
  • Produce spaces for current and prospective members to engage with IPKC outside of scheduled events
  • Amplify the presence & voices of Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTIs)

Enhancing Connection

  • Promote Indigenous scholarship
  • Create opportunities for new members to become involved with the KC and remain actively engaged
  • Provide networking opportunities and discussions that feature Indigenous speakers to enhance our knowledge and representation as student affairs professionals

Expanding Involvement

  • Strengthen the student affairs field by providing IPKC expertise and insight through attending NASPA regional and annual conferences, symposiums, and institutes; planning for, participating in, and attending professional development webinars and discussions; and serving on committees
  • Encourage relationship-building and knowledge sharing amongst Indigenous members and across the entire NASPA landscape

 

Respectfully,

Andrew Yazzie, Diné

Uchme Gollette, Acjachemen

Leadership Team

Knowledge Community leaders are NASPA volunteers who have generously devoted their time to their Knowledge Community. Chairs are elected by the Knowledge Community members while Regional representatives are selected from within the Region. Additional roles are selected by the Knowledge Community.

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Get Connected

Sign up to receive emails from IPKC to stay up to date on professional development & volunteer opportunities, awards, networking events, and more!

  • Login to naspa.org by clicking the green “Login” button at the top of the page
  • After logging in, click on the green “My NASPA” at the top of the page & from the drop-down menu, select “Edit My Profile”
  • From the menu to the left, select “My NASPA Engagement”
  • Click in the box beside “Knowledge Communities” & search for and select “Indigenous Peoples”
  • Click “Save” at the bottom of the page

Additionally, stay connected with IPKC by following us on Instagram: @naspa_ipkc

Get Involved

Volunteer with the Indigenous Peoples KC

Volunteers are critical to the continued success of IPKC. As of May 2025, we have several positions available on our Leadership Team:

  • Professional Development Co-Coordinator
  • Digital Communications Coordinator
  • Region I Representative
  • Region II Representative
  • Region III Representative
  • Region VI Representative

To apply, follow the instructions below:

  1. Go to https://naspa.org/volunteer 
  2. At the very bottom of the page, click on “Apply today!”
  3. Login using your NASPA credentials
  4. After logging in, you should be redirected to the “Volunteer Central” page (If not, then click on https://apps.naspa.org/engage/openings_new.cfm). Scroll down to the “Indigenous Peoples KC” and find the position your interested in
  5. Once you locate the position, click on “Apply” 
  6. A popup will come up and you can review the IPKC mission, position description, and upload your application materials (Interest Letter, Resume/CV, and any other items you’d like to add)
  7. Congrats on submitting your application!
  8. Quick tip: If you’re unable to log in, try the following items to troubleshoot the issue. Use a different browser (so far Firefox has been working best) OR clear your browser cache OR use a private window within your browser.

If you have questions, please email us at ipkc.naspa@gmail.com. We hope you will join our dynamic and dedicated team!

 

Awards

Events

One of the best resources available to you is the wide range of professional development opportunities. This list contains both our “Hosted Events,” workshops and webinars that we plan and manage, and some “Related Events,” hosted by the NASPA Central Office or other NASPA Constituent Groups. To see a full listing of NASPA events, please see the Events page.

 

Indigenous Peoples Blogs

Recent Blogs

Resources

OF PLACE: RESOURCES THAT GIVE GREATER SALIENCE TO AND UNDERSTANDING OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RELATIONSHIPS TO LAND AND SEA GEOGRAPHIES

The IPKC asserts that American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Taino, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Zapotec, and other Indigenous relations have pre-colonial genealogical ties to place whether student affairs and higher education theories, practices, and policies recognize it or not. This is to say that dominant foundations of these fields do not often address the historicity of these experiential links and how colonizing learning contexts negate Indigenous peoples relationship to place. This absence, in turn, impacts how Indigenous students, staff, and faculty experience institutional and professional development spaces. Toward that end, the IPKC has compiled a broad set of resources for those who seek to expand their worldview in ways that consider the complexities and dynamics associated with the social agency of Indigenous peoples as they are not only inherent, but integral to the integration of critical place-based practices within settler colonial geographies. As you read the material below, keep in mind that place-based practices, such as land acknowledgements, are context and community specific. What is enacted as a practice in one location and for one community, may sound, look, and feel different when carried out by other Indigenous peoples who are of another location. What is more, these historical understandings inform contemporary political struggles, as well as current educational and epistemological priorities of Indigenous peoples.


ARTICLES (NEWSPAPER)

The Thirty Meter Telescope project at Mauna Kea raises questions about what we truly mean when we say we engage in “ethical and moral” research, argues Amanda R. Tachine.
Inside Higher Ed
August 2, 2019

 

Call for historic mission bell removal begins at UC Santa Cruz: Highway markers symbolic of ‘painful history of oppression’
The Mercury News
June 24, 2019

 

'I regret it': Hayden King on writing Ryerson University's territorial acknowledgement
CBC - Radio Canada
January 20, 2019

 

Giant Indigenous Peoples Atlas floor map will change the way you see Canada
CBC - Radio Canada
January 20, 2019

 

Grant-funded Northwestern Indigenous Tour reveals ‘untold stories
The Daily Northwestern
January 15, 2019

 

Activists want to remove Seattle’s iconic totem poles
High Country News
October 1, 2018

 

Flagstaff Council Unanimously Supports Indigenous Peoples’ Day Proposal
Indigenous Action Media
March 9, 2016

ARTICLES (ACADEMIC JOURNALS)

Crazy Bull, C., & White Hat, E.R. (2019). Cangleska Wakan: The ecology of the sacred circle and the role of tribal colleges and universities. International Review of Education, 65(1), 117-141. 

Minthorn, R. S. & Nelson, C. A. (2018). Colonized and racist Indigenous campus tour. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 4(1), 73-88.


APPS

Guide to Indigenous D.C.
Guide to Indigenous D.C. (Tour Information)

 

Whose Land


BLOGS

Dr. Debbie Reese (Nambe Pueblo)

Dr. Jessica R. Metcalfe (Turtle Mountain Chippewa)

Chelsea Vowel (Métis)
 
Tiffany Smith (Cherokee/Muscogee Creek)

Dr. Adrienne J. Keene (Cherokee Nation)

Indigenous Corporate Training

BOOKLETS

23 Tip On What Not To Say Or Do When Working Effectively With Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Corporate Training Inc.

 

Changing The Narrative About Native Americans: A Guide For Allies
Reclaiming Native Truth: A Project To Dispel America’s Myths and Misconceptions

 

Indigenous Allyship: An Overview
Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, Wilfrid Laurier University  

 

Indigenous Ally Toolkit
Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network

 

Whose Land Is It Anyway?: A Manual for Decolonization
Peter McFarlane and Nicole Schabus (Editors)
Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC

BOOKS

Author: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
 
Editors: Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua (Kanaka ʻŌiwi Hawaiʻi), Ikaika Hussey (Kanaka ʻŌiwi Hawaiʻi) and Erin Kahunawai Wright (Kanaka ʻŌiwi Hawaiʻi)

 

Author: Nick Estes (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe)

Authors: Eve Tuck (Unangax/Enrolled Member of Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, Alaska) and Marcia McKenzie

Authors: Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux) and Daniel R. Wildcat (Yuchi/Muscogee)

  

Author: Jodi Byrd (Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma)

MAGAZINES

Storytelling Platform Powered by a Sisterhood of Over 200 Haudenosaunee Women

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Region IV-E
Northwestern University

 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

York University
 

 

PLACE-BASED INITIATIVES

Region V
 
University of British Columbia, Vancouver

 

Western Washington University

 

Region VI
Arizona State University

 

University of California Los Angeles

PODCASTS
Indian Country Today

Producer: Eve Tuck (Unangax/Enrolled Member of Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, Alaska)

VIDEOS

Nation to Nation
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

 

Native America
A Four-Part PBS Series

 

Reconciliation Book Club - Whose Land Is It Anyway?
Host: Pam Palmater (Mi’kmaw)

 

Honor Native Land
US Department of Arts and Culture 

 

Walk a mile in my redface - on ending the colonial in culture: Cornel Pewewardy 
TEDxUOregon

 

Haunani Kay Trask - Island Issues 1990
YouTube

IPKC On Sacred Ground Podcast

Recent Podcast Episode