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March 16, 2009

Conference at IAIA Empowers Through Sustaining Indigenous Knowledge

Contact:
Michelle Montgomery, 505.424.2364 (ph)
mmontgomery@iaia.edu

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) hosts “Sustaining Indigenous Knowledge” on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the IAIA Campus located at 83 Avan Nu Po Road. The day-long conference is sponsored by the USDA Equity Grant’s Indigenous Food and Agricultural Knowledge Program to create an opportunity for discussion on the meaning of Indigenous sustainability through both a cultural and traditional lens. The event features two speakers, Dr. Daniel Wildcat (Muscogee) and Dr. Nancy Maryboy (Cherokee/Navajo), and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Daniel Wildcat is a Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma and teaches at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. Dr. Wildcat is an accomplished scholar who writes on Indigenous knowledge, technology, the environment and education. He is the co-director of the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center, which he founded along with colleagues from the Center of the Hazardous Substance Research at Kansas State University.

Dr. Nancy Maryboy received her Ph.D. in integral studies with a focus on Indigenous science from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Dr. Maryboy is Cherokee/Navajo and currently resides in Santa Fe. She was a faculty member and administrator at Diné College for thirteen years. Additionally, Dr. Maryboy was a Director of Curriculum and Professional Development and Vice Principal at a K-12 school district on the Navajo Nation. She has also developed Indigenous philosophy curriculum for the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

Michelle Montgomery, IAIA Native Science faculty member notes that the USDA grant aims to strengthen the Indigenous knowledge base of future leaders in the sciences. Montgomery says, “This conference will provide an opportunity for the students, faculty and staff of IAIA and the larger community of Santa Fe to dialogue about how to best create a sense of community knowledge with an end goal of sustaining that knowledge.”

For more information on “Sustaining Indigenous Knowledge” please call 505.424.2364. For more information about the Institute of American Indian Arts, please visit www.iaia.edu.

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IAIA’s Mission:
To empower creativity and leadership in Native arts and cultures through higher education, lifelong learning and outreach


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