News and Events

Message from the Director ~ Looking Back & Moving Forward!

Oki Niksokowa and welcome! I hope this message finds you well and the lovely summer that is coming to a close makes room for fall gatherings, winter celebrations, and spring renewal. As the campus reconvenes for the 2019-2020 academic year, we have much to be grateful for and reflect upon. In our national and local communities, it has also been a challenging year for many. We have lost many of our leaders and family members. We hold them in our hearts and continue to be inspired by them in our everyday lives and work. American Indian Studies remains steadfast in its commitment to celebrating and embracing diversity and growing our collective social conscience to create opportunities for strengthening our communities and families through education and community service.We welcome opportunities to come together and learn from each other.

In the year ahead, we have many celebrations planned. In the fall, we will come together to celebrate California Native American Day and the diverse cultures and intellectual systems of California's indigenous peoples. Fresno State will host the annual Native American Youth Conference. We will honor our Veterans, learn from our cultural practitioners, celebrate Native American women in leadership at the second annual Native American Women's Leadership Summit, and host Cherokee scholar-activist Dr. Adrienne Keene, whose "Native Appropriations" blog is a source of sustainability, strength, and humor for Native American and non-Native communities.

Events 

Our American Indian student Ambassadors and mentors traveled to CSU Monterey Bay to meet with American Indian students throughout the CSU to create the first-ever CSU-wide association of American Indian students, called the CSU Nation of Diverse Native Scholars (NDNS). In the year ahead, the CSU NDNS will work to grow the organization.  

American Indian Studies and the Office of the President hosted the first bi-annual Dinner with President Castro. The event brought together tribal and campus leaders for an evening to discuss our work and collaboration, form new relationships, and make connections. We look forward to gathering again this fall 2019.

American Indian Studies, in collaboration with the Women's Studies Program, hosted Fresno State's first annual Women's History Month highlighting American Indian women's leadership. The event hosted a panel of tribal leaders, cultural practitioners, and environmental protectors for a moving and impactful dialogue about leadership today. 

We closed out the year with another wonderful celebration of our American Indian graduates. This year, we brought together over one hundred family and community members, tribal leaders, hosted by the American Indian Faculty and Staff Association.