Graduate Students

Visit the Graduate Students blog at http://ucdnasgrads.weebly.com/

Amber Bill

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
arbill@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: 19th, 20th, and 21st century North American Indian History, Nevada Indian History, Great Basin Indian History, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal History, Pyramid Lake Paiute Water Rights, the Academic Discipline of Native American Studies, Indian Activism, Nevada History, P.L. 280, California Indian Basketweavers.

B.A., Ethnic Studies/Native American Studies, California State University, Sacramento, 2006.
A.A., Liberal Studies, D-Q University, Davis, California, 2002.

Publications:
  • "California Indian Women Basketweavers as Grassroots Political Activists," The McNair Scholars Journal (California State University, Sacramento, Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program), Vol. 7 (2006).
Presentations:
  • "Who is Writing About Native Studies?" Native American Experience, University of California, Davis, March 31, 2009.
  • "Who Controls the Agenda of Native Studies?" Tenth Annual Conference of the American Indian Studies Association, Arizona State University, February 6, 2009.
  • Keynote Speaker- "Honoring of Graduates," Native American Studies Program, Sacramento State University, May 25, 2008.
  • "Environmental Issues of California Indian Basketweaving," Ninth Annual Conference of the American Indian Studies Association, Arizona State University, February 8-9, 2008.

Matthew Casey

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
mpcasey@ucdvais.edu

Research Interests: Contemporary Andean Catholicism. Post-colonial theory, religious hybridity, and performative heritage.

M.A., Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, 2011.
Thesis: "The Re-sacralization of Cuzco, Peru: Catholicism, Indigeneity, and Incaness in the Twentieth Century and Today."
B.A., Religious Studies, College of Charleston, 2009.

Presentations:
  • "Indigenismo and the Re-Indianization of Cuzco, Peru." To be presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting (on the panel "Native Traditions in the Americas: Pacific"), San Francisco, CA, 2011.
  • "The Construction of Heritage: Religious Identity in Andean Peru," Crises and Opportunities in Latin America Conference, University of California, Riverside, 2010.
  • "The Exodus and Latin American Liberation Theology: A Contemporary Representation," Acacia Conference, California State University, Fullerton, 2009.

Kristina Casper-Denman

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
kcasperdenman@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Native American Higher Education, especially helping to create and maintain programs at 2 year non-tribal colleges for student retention and matriculation.

M.A., Anthropology, Arizona State University, 1995.
Thesis: "Hand and Grasp Preference in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) and Crab-eating Macaques (Macaca fascicularis)."
B.A., Independent Studies/Anthropology, Boston College, 1992.

Presentations:
  • "When is a Roundhouse not a Roundhouse? When It is the New Maidu Museum and Historic Site," Sacramento Anthropology Society Conference, April 2010.
  • "Teaching Native American Texts in Anthropology Classes," California Indian Conference and Gathering, Davis, CA, October 2007.

Brook Colley

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
bcolley@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Oral history and storytelling for community heath and healing; Oregon Tribes; Kiksht speaking peoples; Indian gaming and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act; Federal Indian policies and laws; Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; Digital and celluloid sovereignty; Rhetorical strategies of decolonization; Social, political and economic dynamics of Native communities; Tribal governance and community development; Native women; Native art; Cherokee pottery revivals.

B.A., Sociology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon, 2006.
B.A., Political Science, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon, 2006.

Publications:
  • Review of Kerstin Knopf's Decolonizing the Lens of Power: Indigenous Films in North America. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. American Indian Quarterly (forthcoming).
  • "Elder Wisdom and Youth Power Emphasized at Conference," UC Davis Spotlight (Fall 2007).
  • "How Did We Get Here? A Historical Analysis of Indian Gaming," SOU McNair Scholar Journal (Spring 2007), pp. 77-92.
Presentations:
  • "A Grave Matter: Backyard Documentary, Human Remains, and the University of Davis," Native American and Indigenous Association Conference, Sacramento, CA, May 2011.
  • "The Uneasy Remains Film Project: Indigenous Bodies, NAGPRA and the University of California-Davis," Native American Studies 001, Davis, CA. Guest Lecturer, March 2011.
  • "Uneasy Remains: Collecting Human Remains, NAGPR, and Student Activism, UC Davis," Native American Studies 191, Davis, CA. Guest Lecturer, November 2010.
  • "Reframing Tribal Relations: the Case of Cascade Locks," Southern Oregon University, McNair Scholars Research Symposium, Ashland, OR, August 2007.

Vanessa Esquivido (Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation and Chicana)

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
vdesquivido@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Focusing on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, cultural patrimony, future research interests include Native Americans in higher education and Native American language revitalization programs concerning Northwestern tribes.

B.A., Anthropology and Ethnic Studies (Concentration: Native American Studies), California State University, Sacramento, 2011.

Publications:
  • "The Social Life of Basket Caps: Repatriation under Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act," McNair Scholars Journal, 11:51 (2011).
Presentations:
  • "The Social Life of Basket Caps; Repatriation under Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation," California Indian Conference, University of California, Irvine, 2010.
  • "The Social Life of Basket Caps; Repatriation under Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation," Ronald E. McNair Research Conference, Pennsylvania State University, 2010.
  • "Water Rights Regarding the Klamath River," Southwest Anthropological Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2009.

Abel Garcia-Ruiz

Degree Objective: M.A.
agruiz@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Indigenous GIS Applications; Indigenous Countermapping; Coloniality of Power and Maps; Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA); Decolonization Theory; Nahuatl Studies; Chichimec History.

B.A., History, University of Santa Barbara, 2007.
A.A., History/Liberal Studies, Santa Ana Community College, 2005.

Presentations:
  • "Mapping the UC Davis Anthropology Museums Inventory List: A GIS Application to Repatriation," 3rd Annual Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) Conference, Sacramento, May 20, 2011.
  • "Visualizing the Inventory List of the UC Davis Anthropology Museum: Geographic Information Systems and Indigenous Self-Determination," 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Symposium, UC, Davis, April 21, 2011.

Maria Gutierrez

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
mggutierrez@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Self-determination and autonomy movements in Latin America, with an emphasis on Mexico. Land reform and the development of an ethno-political movement in Mexico. Self-determination and the American Indian movement in the United States. Language conservation and revitalization. Higher education among Indigenous peoples. Community development.

B.A., Native American Studies, University of California, Davis, 2010.
B.A., Political Science, University of California, Davis, 2010.

Sandra Gutierrez

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
sjgutierrez@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Land Reform in Mexico, specifically focusing on the P'urhepecha people of Michoacan, Pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica, Transnationalism and Indigenous diasporas, Indigenous languages and Indigenous spirituality.

B.A., Native American Studies, University of California, Davis, 2010.
B.A., Political Science, University of California, Davis, 2010.

Angel M. Hinzo

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
amhinzo@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: 20th century Native American history, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin histories, United States history, Indigenous and cultural studies, decolonization, acculturation and accommodation, the boarding school experience, post-contact connections between cosmological beliefs, communities, and society.

B.A., History, University of California, San Diego, 2009.

Presentations:
  • "One People, Two Nations: The Ho-chunk/Winnebago and the Implications of the 2000 Enrollment Addendum," Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Sacramento, May 2011.
  • "Linking Education, Peyote, and the Pan-Indian Identity," UCSD Undergraduate Research Conference, University of California, San Diego, 2009.
  • "Tribal Individualization of the Native American Church: A Study of Six Tribes," Summer Research Conference, University of California, San Diego, 2009.

Patricia Killelea

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
pakillelea@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Native American Poetry, Contemporary Navajo Poetry & Poetics, Indigenous Literary Theory, Native American Women's Theater & Drama, Performance Studies.

M.A., English & Creative Writing, University of California at Davis, 2008.
Thesis: "Counterglow: Poems."
B.A., English (cum laude), University of California at Davis, 2006.

Publications:
  • Other Suns, Swan Scythe Press, 2011.
    Poems have appeared in the following journals:
    Gigantic Magazine (Seizure State), Summer 2011.
    Tule Review, Spring 2008.
    Suisun Valley Review, 2006, 2003.
Presentations:
  • "Between These Songs: Sherwin Bitsui's Decolonizing Poetics in 'Floodsong,'" Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Sacramento, May 2011.
  • "Toward the Within: A Living Conversation on Poetry," with Inés Hernández-Avila, MALCS Conference, University of New Mexico, July 2009.
  • "Creative Expressions from Women's Indigenous Native Caucus" MALCS Conference, University of Minnesota (St. Paul campus), August 2007.

Bayu Kristianto

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
bkristianto@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Native American religious traditions, Native American thought, Native Americans and Christianity, Native American literature, Indian-white cultural encounter, Native American cultural representations, Cultural Studies.

M.A., American Studies, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, 2006.
Thesis: "Man and the World in Heidegger, Emerson, and Native American Philosophy."
B.A., English, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2000.
Thesis: "Nietzsche's Philosophy on the Will to Power and Übermensch in Two of Jack London's Novels: The Call of the Wild and White Fang."

Publications:
Intellectual Crossroads: Emerson, Heidegger, and Native American Philosophy. VDM Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Germany, 2009.

Presentations:
"Zitkala-Sa's Autobiographical Writing: An Alternative Approach to Social Representations of Autobiography and Native American Community," presented at the 9th International Conference on Social Representations, Bali, Indonesia, June 30th - July 5th 2008.

Shirlee "Lori" Laiwa (Enrolled member of Hopland Band of Pomo Indians Hopland, CA)

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
sllaiwa@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: California Indian Languages (Documentation, Revitalization, Preservation of Central Pomo), Indian Languages, Contemporary California Indian Issues, California Ethnohistory, Oral History, Digital Storytelling, Tribal Governance, Tribal History, Religion/Spirituality, Decolonization Projects, Community Activism.

B.A., Native American Studies, University of California, Davis, 2006.
Senior Honors Thesis Project: "Historical Significance of Coastal Pomo Dancers and Traditional Dances of the Bokeya Pomo Indians of Manchester Rancheria."
Advisor: Dr. Steven Crum.

Presentations:
  • "Ya Hintil Ha Janon: We Are Speaking Our Language: Unsung Heroes of Language Documentation and Preservation Projects within Central Pomo Language Speaking Communities," Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium, UC, Davis, April 2011.
  • "Ya Hintil Ha Janoan: Unsung Heroes of Community-Based Language Survival in Central Pomo Speaking Communities," Native American Culture Days Brown-Bag Lunch Series, University of California, Davis, April 2009.
  • "Central Pomo Language Revitalization Efforts Within Central Pomo Language Speaking Communities: A Focus on Native Speakers and Community Language Activists," American Indian Studies Association Conference, Arizona State University, Tempe, February 2009.
  • "Hooked on Pomo: Experiences of Central Pomo Language Revitalization Project at Manchester Rancheria, California," Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference, University of Oklahoma, Norman, May 2007.

Melissa Leal (Ohlone/Esselen)

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
mvleal@ucdavis.edu

Link to CV: http://ucdnasgrads.weebly.com/melissa-leal.html

Research Interests: Hip Hop Culture and Native Americans, Hip Hop as Decolonization, Hip Hop Through a Native American Lens (Photography), Images of Indigeneity in Hip Hop Fashion, Esselen Language Revitalization.

B.A., Ethnic Studies (Native American Concentration), California State University, Sacramento, 2005.

Publications:
  • "Student Voice," Arts and Sciences Today. California State University, Sacramento, (Spring 2004).
  • "Soul," America at the Millennium: The Best Poems and Poets of the 21st Century. Watermark Press, 1998.
Presentations:
  • "Vision Quests: Creating an Image of Hip Hop through Native American Lens," Hawaii International Conference for the Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, HI, January 9, 2011.
  • "Hip Hop and Indian Activism," UC, Davis, NAS 001 (Introduction to Native American Studies), Winter 2011.
  • "Hip Hop as Decolonization," UC, Davis, NAS 005 (Native American Experience), Winter 2011.
  • "Native Americans and Education," California State University, Sacramento, EDS 104 (Teaching Diverse Learners in Vocational/Adult Education), Spring and Fall 2010.

Mark LeBeau

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
mdlebeau@ucdavis.edu

Stephanie Lumsden

Degree Objective: M.A.
salumsden@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Native feminism, social geographies of Indigenous women, Native peoples and the prison industrial complex, Native perceptions of space, place, and time, and internalized white supremacy within tribal governments.

B.A., Women's Studies, Portland State University, 2011.

Jennie Luna

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
jmluna@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Identity politics and formation as relevant to Indigenous populations with a particular focus on the Xicana community; I am also researching, challenging and creating alternative models of education using Danza Mexica/Azteca as a base. I am also personally and academically involved in International Indigenous Women's Movements both through the United Nations Permanent Forum and the ENLACE Intercontinental. Grassroots organizing, community mobilization, social justice and social change through scholarly activism reflect my personal goals.

M.A., Native American Studies, U.C. Davis, 2006.
M.A., Ed.M., Philosophy of Education, emphasis in Urban Education and Cultural Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2002.
B.A., Chicano Studies and Mass Communication, U.C. Berkeley, 1999.

Presentations:
  • Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Americas, March 2004, Lima, Peru, delegate representing La Red Xicana Indigena and Cetiliztli Nauhcampa.
  • U.N. World Conference Against Racism NGO Forum, September 2001, Durban, South Africa, presented on a panel entitled: "Beyond Black and White: The Mexicano/Chicano Experience of U.S. Racism."
  • National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Conference, March 2000, Portland, OR Paper entitled: "Xicanos in Exile: The Xicana Educational Experience in New York."

Nicole Moore

Degree Objective: M.A. in Native American Studies (and Ph.D. in Education).
nrbmoore@ucdavis.edu

Nicole Morgan (Shoshone-Bannock)


Degree Objective: Ph.D.
nbmorgan@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Indigenous peoples in relation to food sovereignty, ecological & cultural sustainability, human rights, self-determination, tribal justice & governing systems, land rights, spirituality, feminism, ecofeminism, community development, the effects of neoliberalism on the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and Latin American indigenous peoples under socialist governments. More specifically, I am interested in researching the possible effects of food sovereignty and ecological sustainability on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation as a means of achieving self-determination.

B.A., Sociology, Northeastern University, 2011.

Cutcha Risling-Baldy

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
crislingbaldy@ucdavis.edu

Link to CV: http://cutchabaldy.weebly.com/cv.html

Research Interests: Contemporary issues facing Native American tribes and communities; decolonization of feminist theory, the arts as economic development, contemporary Indigenous research and methodologies development and Indigenous arts & culture (literature, song, ceremony and oral histories).

M.F.A., Writing & Literature, San Diego State University, 2005.
Thesis: "Stories They Tell Me': A Collection of Short Stories."
B.A., Psychology, with special focus in Health & Development, Stanford University, 2001.

Publications:
  • "NAGPRA 20 Years Later: What Works," Center for Indian Community Development, forthcoming 2011.
Presentations:
  • "Elements of Spirituality in Song: The Hupa Flower Dance Ceremony," American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, CA, November 2011.
  • "NAGPRA 20 Years Later: What Works," Native American Indigenous Studies Association, Sacramento, CA, May 2011.
  • "The Uneasy Remains Film Project," Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium, Davis, CA, April 2011.

James Sarmento

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
jdsarmento@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: 1) Native American linguistics. 2) Reclamation and revitalization of Indigenous languages with a focus on California languages, specifically with the Shasta Language. 3) Documentary Linguistics .4) History of Native Northern California starting with Contact and moving into present day socio-political movements. 5) California Archaeology and Archaeological field methods as they pertain to Cultural Resource Management with a specific interest in the best practices with California and the Native American Communities.

B.A., Anthropology, California State University, Sacramento, 2008.
B.A., Ethnic Studies (Emphasis in Native American Studies), California State University, Sacramento, 2008.

Publications:
Macri, Martha J. and James Sarmento. "Respecting Privacy: Ethical and Pragmatic Considerations," Language and Communication, Vol. 30 No. 3 (2010), pp. 192-197.

Presentations:
  • "Reclamation and Revitalization: Identity and language ideology in Native American Studies," Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Sacramento, CA, May 2011.
  • "J.P Harrington Database Project," 23rd Conference on Spanish in the US & 8th Spanish in contact with other languages Spanish in the Public Sphere. University of California, Davis, 17-20 March 2011, Sacramento, CA.
  • "A Grapheme Inventory for Maya Hieroglyphic Database," 37th Society for American Archaeology 76th Annual Meeting, March 30−April 3, 2011, Sacramento, CA.

Silvia Soto

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
sisoto@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Indigenous peoples struggles for autonomy and self-determination; ancient and contemporary Mayan understandings regarding oral traditions, gender, time and space; Indigenous and Maya notions of story and storytelling; power of the word to nurture dialogues of understanding.

M.A., Latin American Studies, University of New Mexico, 2005.
B.A., Sociology and Spanish, University of California, Davis, 1996.

PUBLICATIONS
  • Review of Autroras of the Zapatistas: Local & Global Struggles of the Fourth World War, edited by Midnight News Collective. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring 2005), pp. 227-229.
PRESENTATIONS
  • "The Power of Word in the Struggles for Autonomy," Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, May 21-23, 2009.
  • "Between the Self and the Community: Indigenous Organizing in Mexico Profundo," Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference, University of Georgia, Athens, April 10-12, 2008.
  • "Culture, Resistance and Autonomy: Local Responses of Indigenous and Afrodescendant Communities of the Costa Chica of Oaxaca to Neo-liberal Expansion," After the Washington Consensus: Collaborative Scholarship for a New America, XXVII International Congress, Latin American Studies Association (LASA), Montréal, Canada, September 5-8, 2007.• "Opening Spaces for Autonomous Self-Management: The case of Chiapas and Oaxac," Decolonizing Ourselves: Reconceptualizing Our Lives, Womyn of Color Conference, University of California, Davis, April 13-15, 2007.

Robin Thomas

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
rbthomas@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Community labor, survival and self-determination; Historical trauma and the boarding schools; Practical approaches to decolonization, repatriation and protecting sacred sites; Land reclamation for Native peoples.

M.A., History, Sonoma State University, California, 2005.
Thesis: "It Is Their Intention to Drive the Indians Out of the Valley, Should They Continue in Their Refusal to Work: Enslavement, Patriarchy and Resistance in Mendocino County, 1850-1870."
B.A., History (Honors), Minor in Native American Studies, Sonoma State University, California, 2002.

Publications: "Patriarchy and Resistance in Mendocino County, 1850-1870." In Retrospect: Journal of History, Vol. 7 No. 1 (Spring 2003), pp. 9-49.

Presentations:
  • "Native Voices in Mendocino County: Language and the Federal Boarding School System, 1890-1950," California Indian Conference and Gathering, University of California, Davis, October 27, 2007.
  • "Community Self-Determination and Cultural Resilience among Pomo Peoples, 1880-1950," Western History Association Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, October 6, 2007.
  • "Repatriating California Indian Languages," OU International Indigenous Studies Meeting, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, May 3, 2007.
  • "California Indian Resistance and Survival in Mendocino and Lake Counties, 1848-1870," Pacific Coast Brach of the American Historical Association, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, August 4, 2006.

Christine M. Willie - Diné

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
cmwillie@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests: Native American Literatures, Indigenous Worldviews and Epistemologies, Colonial and Post-Colonial Studies, Navajo Language, Culture, and Literatures, Linguistic Influences between Native American Languages and Spanish.

M.A., Latin American Literature, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
B.A., Spanish Language and Literatures, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ.

Presentations:
  • "Meet at the Top: Diné Knowledge and Scientific Knowledge Contemplate Dibé," Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Sacramento, May 2011.
  • "Navajo Code Talkers," Patriotism and Peace Youth Symphony Concert. Sacramento, November 11, 2010.
  • "From Alcatraz to Point Assinika: Survivance of the Native American Image," Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Tucson, May 21, 2010.
  • "La presentación del indígena frente a la modernidad: George de Forest Brush y Rubén Darío,"Arizona State University, Phoenix, March 5, 2010.

Douglas "DJ" Worley

Degree Objective: Ph.D.
djworley@ucdavis.edu