Category: Hopis and the academy

Hopi engineer and artist to receive honorary doctorate

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi artists, Hopi news, Hopis and the academy1 Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Matt Lazier
805-756-7109; mlazier@calpoly.edu

Cal Poly to Confer Three Honorary Doctorate Degrees at Commencement June 15, 16

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Rodeo icon Cotton Rosser, agricultural industry leader James W. Boswell, and engineer-turned-artist Alfred Qöyawayma — all Cal Poly alumni — will receive honorary Doctor of Science degrees at the university’s spring commencement ceremonies Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16.

Qöyawayma will deliver the keynote address at Saturday’s event, and Boswell will give the keynote Sunday.

Qöyawayma, whose name is Hopi for “Grey Fox Walking at Dawn,” studied mechanical engineering at Cal Poly. He graduated in 1961 and began his career developing guidance systems for military and commercial applications, including the X-5, the F-15, the 747, and even Air Force One. He then worked for Arizona’s utility industry, leading a team of scientists and engineers in solving challenges to the state’s power and water systems.

He co-founded the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, serving as the first chairman of an organization that has helped more than 12,000 students graduate in the critical STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines. In 1988 he received a White House appointment to become vice chairman of the Institute of American Indian Art, and he became a full-time artist and published researcher on native culture in the Western Hemisphere. He has been a Fullbright Scholar and a featured artist at the Smithsonian’s permanent Archives of American Art, and his “Corn Mother” sculpture is on permanent display at Cal Poly.

Boswell — a 1977 graduate with a bachelor’s in business administration — is chairman and CEO of J.G. Boswell Co., an agriculture and real estate development firm his family founded in 1925. The company owns and operates farms in California and Australia, producing, processing and marketing a variety of crops and developing innovative practices in plant biotechnology and livestock operations. The real estate arm of the company develops planned communities and business parks throughout the Western U.S.

As head of J.G. Boswell, he is also the president of the James G. Boswell Foundation, which supports agricultural education and has helped more than 1,200 graduates. He is a major supporter of Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Through the foundation, he has established an endowed chair in the Horticulture and Crop Sciences Department, invested in the Agribusiness Management Club, and contributed to the college’s Learn by Doing Fund for Agricultural Education. He has also served on the Cal Poly President’s Cabinet, sharing his real-world insight to help the university continue to educate resourceful leaders in California agriculture.

As a student at Cal Poly, Rosser led the university’s rodeo team to the forefront of intercollegiate rodeo competition, launching a winning tradition that would garner 41 national championships. After graduating in 1952, he purchased the Flying U Rodeo Co. and began producing rodeos and making his mark on the industry.

Rosser’s rodeo events are known for their colorful pageantry, innovative showmanship and energetic patriotism. He was instrumental in bringing high school rodeo to California and has been a longtime Cal Poly Rodeo booster and Cal Poly Alumni Association supporter. For his contributions to rodeo culture in the Western U.S., Rosser has been inducted into several rodeo halls of fame and Western museums.

About 4,000 students are eligible to graduate in Cal Poly’s spring commencement.

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See also: http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2013/May/doctorate.html

Hopi scholars publish articles

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi authors, Hopi education, Hopi history, Hopi language, Hopi news of interest, Hopi scholarship, Hopis and the academyLeave a comment

I am pleased to report that Hopi scholars Sheilah E. Nicholas of the University of Arizona and Lomayumtewa C. Ishii of Northern Arizona University recently published the following articles:

Nicholas, Sheilah E., “Language, Epistemology, and Cultural Identity: ‘Hopiqatsit Aw Unanguakiwyungwa‘ (‘They Have Their Heart in the Hopi Way of Life’)”, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 2010, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 125-144.

This article provides an in-depth “on the ground” look at the Hopi language shift—“becoming accustomed to speaking English”—through the lenses of the study participants who represent the youth, parent, and grandparent generations. The article also gives attention to Hopi oral tradition and the Hopi identity-formation process in order to articulate the link among language, epistemology, and identity, spotlighting what of the traditions, practices, and religion remain salient and why they remain salient. [p. 127]

Ishii, Lomayumtewa C., “Western Science Comes to the Hopis: Critically Deconstructing the Origins of an Imperialist Canon,” Wicazo Sa Review, Fall 2010, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 65-88.

The number of western texts written about Hopi culture is enormous. The work of Jesse Walter Fewkes, beginning in the 1890s, marks a key starting point in the articulation of a western perspective of Hopi culture, initiating a canon rooted in nineteenth-century anthropological thought. Fewkes’s work also illustrates how the establishment of a “cultural archive” was pragmatically related to his research, which included excavations of Hopi sites (notably the village of Awatovi), as well as through his personal commentary. This article examines nineteenth-century anthropological theory, Fewkes’s employment of that theoretical orientation, and how his work established the foundation of a “cultural archive” that constitutes a canon in the study of Hopi culture. But more importantly, by critically reading these texts a decolonization process reveals a western imperialistic mind at work. [p. 65]

Hopi studies at the 2010 NAISA conference

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi scholarship, Hopis and the academyLeave a comment

There will be several Hopi presentations at this year’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) conference hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson. This event will take place on May 20-22. I have copied a list of Hopi presenters and Hopi related papers/panels to this post. To learn more about the conference and to access the complete program, please click on the following link: http://naisa.ais.arizona.edu/

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FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010 10:00-11:45 am

76. Youth & Culture [S29]
Organizer: NAISA Program Committee
Chair: TBA
“The Good Life” and “The Fast Life”: Childhood and Youth among Algonquian Peoples at Mid-Century
Kim Anderson, Centre for Research in Inner City Health/ St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Unintended Truths: The Paradoxes of Cultural Reconnection for Urban Native Youth
Tracy L. Friedel, University of British Columbia, Canada
Traditional Education Tools in Hopi and Dakota Communities
Sherrie L. Stewart, University of Arizona
Cultural Identity in Education
Roy Weasel Fat, Red Crow Community College
Comment: Audience

79. Attending to “Missing” Youth and Opportunities for Language Activism in Indigenous Language Contexts [P74]
Organizer & Chair: Leisy T. Wyman, University of Arizona
Indigenous Youth – The Missing Link in Language Revitalization Research and Praxis
Teresa L. McCarty, Arizona State University
Articulating a Critical Language Consciousness among New Mexico’s Indigenous Youth
Tiffany S. Lee, University of New Mexico
Hopi Youth “Wanting in Tradition”: Seeking the “Missing Piece” – The Heritage Language
Sheilah E. Nicholas, University of Arizona
Recognizing Youth Migration in Linguistic Ecologies and Educational Efforts: Yu’pik Examples
Leisy T. Wyman, University of Arizona
Comment: Perry Gilmore, University of Arizona

FRIDAY May 21, 2010 12:00-1:45 pm

87. ROUNDTABLE: Collaborating on Native American History: The Hopi History Project [R6]
Organizer: Anton Daughters, University of Arizona
Chair: Thomas E. Sheridan, University of Arizona
Participants: T.J. Ferguson, University of Arizona
Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office
Stewart Koyiyumptewa, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office
Lee Wayne Lomayestewa, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office

FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010 2:00-3:45 pm

93. Displaying Common Unity: New Directions in the Exhibition of “Indigenous” and “Black” Lives in the Americas
[P21]
Organizer & Chair: Robert Keith Collins, San Francisco State University
Toward a Dynamic Ethnography of Common Unity between Africans and Native Americans: Evidence from WPA Slave
Narratives
Robert Keith Collins, San Francisco State University
Mulattos, Mongrels, and Mulgenons: Race, Ideology, and Public Policy in the Construction of American Indian and
African American Identity
Angela A. Gonzales, Cornell University
Our brethren by the ties of consanguinity, of suffering, and of wrongs: Narrating Crispus Attucks and Paul Cuffee
“Home”
Judy Kertész, North Carolina State University

101. Intellectual Property, Cultural Patrimony, and Museum Partnerships [S19]
Organizer: NAISA Program Committee
Chair: Kevin Gover, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution
Perspectives on Working Relationships and Contracts: Indigenous Intellectual Property and Museums
John R. Grimes, Cook Inlet Tribal Council and Merry Glosband, Peabody Essex Museum
Repatriation and Representation in Tribal Museums and Cultural Centers
Sunny K. Lybarger, University of Arizona
Returning Hopi Voices: Redefining Repatriation through Community Partnership
Trevor Reed, Columbia University
Iroquoia Collected: The Alienation of Haudenosaunee Cultural Patrimony
Scott Manning Stevens, Newberry Library McNickle Center
Comment: Audience

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2010, 8:00-9:45 a.m.

103. Renewal of Indigenous Languages & Cultures: Up and Coming Indigenous Scholars’ Research Findings [P26]
Organizer & Chair: Candace K. Galla, University of Arizona
Reversing Language Shift in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Jesse Johnson, University of Arizona
Use of Ancestral Indigenous Languages to Promote Student Development within the Classroom Maxine R. Sam, University of Arizona
“Uma tuuqayi, umu sinmuy amungem lavaywisni” (When you have learned, advocate for your people)
Darold Joseph, University of Arizona
Revitalizing Our Languages: Towards Decolonizing Technologies for Indigenous Communities
Candace K. Galla, University of Arizona
Comment: Audience

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2010 2:00-3:45 pm

129. New Directions in Hopi Arts: Incorporating the Past, Inventing the Future [P72]
Co-Organizers & Co-Chairs: Jessica Welton, Virginia Commonwealth University and Zena Pearlstone, California
State University, Fullerton
Picturing the Rational Mind: Archaeology Meets Michael Kabotie
Kelley Hayes-Gilpin, Museum of Northern Arizona & Northern Arizona University
Brian Honyouti: Send in the Clowns
Zena Pearlstone, California State University, Fullerton
New Directions and Change: Discomfort and Growth
Mark Tahbo (Hopi), Independent Scholar
New Directions from Ancient Roots: The Art and Philosophy of Michael Kabotie
Jessica Welton, Virginia Commonwealth University
Comment: Audience

Hopi Music Repatriation Project

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn HCPO, Hopi scholarship, Hopis and the academy, Protocols2 Comments

The Hopi of northeastern Arizona are among the most researched indigenous people groups in North America. Over the years anthropologists, historians, psychologists, ethnographers and many others have conducted research on the Hopi Reservation.  Their scholarship has appeared in journals, books, internet websites, and even films. Some of these scholars collaborated with Hopi people, followed research protocols established by the Hopi Tribe, and sought ways to give back to the Hopi community. Others did not. But the purpose of today’s post is not for me to write about people who have exploited Hopis of their intellectual property or conducted research on the reservation without permission from the Hopi Tribe. Instead I want to introduce you to someone whom I believe has done the complete opposite.

While a graduate student in the Arts Administration program at Columbia University, Trevor Reed from the Hopi village of Hotevilla developed a research project called the “Hopi Music Repatriation Project” (HMRP). This project focuses on field recordings of Hopi songs that ethnomusicologists conducted during the 1930s and 1940s. The recordings are now archived at Columbia University’s Center for Ethnomusicology. As Reed points out on his blog Hopi Music Repatriation Project: “On one hand, these recordings are invaluable research tools for ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, and for the American public, who ideally should be educated in the indigenous heritage of the land on which they live. On the other hand, the recordings are an important link to Hopi past and identity, and contain highly sensitive material.” So what are the questions that this project seeks to answer? Again, Reed notes: “based on Hopi and U.S. concepts of intellectual property, to whom do these recordings rightfully belong and what should be done with them?”

I urge you to visit Reed’s blog and learn more about this important project. His current post, “Repatriation Initiative Receives Endorsement from Hopi Elders,” describes a recent meeting that he had with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office and the Hopi Cultural Resources Advisory Task Team. At this meeting Reed gave a update on his project and played some of the Hopi songs that he uncovered at the University’s Center for Ethnomusicology. As Reed recalls, a highlight for him was when he played a particular song at the meeting and those in attendance joined in the singing. To visit Reed’s blog, click here.

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

Hopi professor earns tenure and promotion

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi education, Hopi news of interest, Hopi scholarship, Hopis and the academy, HTGSP1 Comment

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Hopi professor Angela A. Gonzales from Shungopavi on Second Mesa has received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor at Cornell University. This truly is an incredible accomplishment. Gonzales received her undergraduate degree from UC Riverside and her MA, EdM, and PhD in Sociology form Harvard University. Her first academic post was at San Francisco State University where she served as an assistant professor and acting chair of American Indian Studies from 1997 to 2000. In 2002 she joined the faculty in the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell where she also teaches in the American Indian Program. As an assistant professor Gonzales has had a prolific and remarkable career.

In addition to publishing chapters in many books, her articles have appeared in the Social Sciences Journal, the Public Historian, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, and the International Social Sciences Journal. Alongside her faculty appointments, she was the director of the Hopi Tribe Grants and Scholarship Program on the Hopi Reservation from 1994 to 1995, and from 2005 to 2007 she held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center, Native Elder Research Center, and the American Indian and Alaska Native Program.

In 2009 she was awarded the Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship for her project titled “Racializing American Indians: The Politics of Identity, Displacement, and Dispossession.” Gonzales’ tenure and promotion is a proud moment for Hopi people. She is only one of a few Hopi professors in the academy with indefinite tenure.

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign