Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert is enrolled with the Hopi Tribe from the village of upper Moencopi in northeastern Arizona. He is an assistant professor of American Indian Studies & History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in history from the University of California, Riverside, and M.A. in theology from Talbot School of Theology.
In 2006, he partnered with Allan Holzman of 716 Productions and the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office to produce Beyond the Mesas. In addition to co-producing the film, he has written extensively on the Hopi boarding school experience, including a book entitled Education beyond the Mesas: Hopi Students at Sherman Institute, 1902-1929 (University of Nebraska Press, 2010).
Furthermore, he is co-editor (with Clifford E. Trafzer and Lorene Sisquoc) of the forthcoming anthology The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute (Oregon State University Press). His second monograph (in progress) is tentatively titled HOPI RUNNERS: Crossing the Terrain Between Indian and American, 1908-1932, which is under contract with the University Press of Kansas (CultureAmerica Series).
Alongside his university responsibilities, he is serving as a board member of the Hopi Education Endowment Fund (HEEF). He also serves on the Editorial Board of the History of Education Quarterly.
To contact the author, please feel free to email him at: sakiestewa@gmail.com












Recent Comments