November is National American Indian Heritage Month, which celebrates the culture, history and achievements of Native peoples in North America. Scholars at The University of Texas at Austin are available to address the identity, language and land issues facing Native American communities today.
American Indian Land Rights
Gerald Torres
Professor, School of Law
512-232-1368
gtorres@law.utexas.edu
Torres is a leading figure in critical race theory and federal Indian law. He is the author of “Translating Yonnondio by Precedent and Evidence: The Mashpee Indian Case” and several other articles on domestic and comparative Indian law. He has been deputy assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
DNA Testing and Native Americans
Deborah Bolnick
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
512-471-8514
deborah.bolnick@mail.utexas.edu
Bolnick studies DNA ancestry testing, its implications for identity and the risks for Native Americans. In a policy article for Science last year, Bolnick called upon the scientific community to better educate the public about the limitations of the tests. Learn more in the feature story “Deep Roots?“
Native American History
Erika Bsumek
Assistant Professor, Department of History
512-475-7253
ebsumek@mail.utexas.edu
Bsumek researches Native American history and is the author of “Indian-Made: Navajo Culture in the Marketplace, 1868-1940,” which explores the meaning of the consumer brand “Indian-made.” She also has published essays on Navajos and the global economy.
Native American Literature Traditions
James Cox
Assistant Professor, Department of English
512-232-7804
jhcox@mail.utexas.edu
Cox studies 20th- and 21st-century Native American literature. He is the author of “Muting White Noise: Native American and European Novel Traditions” and editor of the journal Studies in American Indian Literatures. He also leads the university’s graduate program in Indigenous Studies.
Native Americans in Texas
Darrell Creel
Director, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory
512-471-6007
dcreel@tarl.utexas.edu
The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) preserves artifacts from Native peoples who populated Texas throughout history. In 2001, TARL created TexasBeyondHistory.net, a virtual museum, to share the fruits of 80 years of archeological research from across the state. Learn more in the feature story “13,000 Years at Your Fingertips.”
Photographic Representations of Native Americans
Steve Hoelscher
Chairman, Department of American Studies
512-232-2567
hoelscher@mail.utexas.edu
Hoelscher studies social constructions of geography and ethnic identity, and the history of photography. He is the author of “Picturing Indians: Photographic Encounters and Tourist Fantasies in H.H. Bennett’s Wisconsin Dells.”
Literacy and Native American Culture
Loriene Roy
Professor, School of Information
512-232-2567
loriene@ischool.utexas.edu
Roy is the founder of “If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything,” a national reading program for Native American children. Roy, an Anishinabe enrolled on the White Earth Reservation, is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Learn more in the feature story “By the Book.”
Native American Rights and Identity
Pauline Turner Strong
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
512-471-8524
pstrong@mail.utexas.edu
Strong examines Native American issues from a cultural anthropology perspective. She is the author of “New Perspectives on Native North America: Cultures, Histories, and Representations” and “Captive Selves, Captivating Others: The Politics and Poetics of Colonial American Captivity Narratives.”
