Finding an ‘academic home’: The push for Native American and Indigenous Studies at Princeton – Daily Princetonian
May 6, 2024
In March 1970, the University invited Native scholars, professionals, artists, and historians to campus for the First Convocation of American Indian Scholars. At the convention, chaired by Alfonso Ortiz, assistant professor of anthropology, attendees discussed Indigenous Studies and its future in higher education.
According to Native American essayist and novelist Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, the gathering called for “the development by Indians of bodies of indigenous knowledge,” and specifically for the development of “Native American Studies as an Academic Discipline.”
Today, Princeton remains one of only three Ivy League schools without an official academic program in Native American and Indigenous Studies. However, since that gathering in 1970, students and faculty have pushed to expand offerings in Indigenous studies.
For example, in 2011, Rebecca Rosen GS ’18 and Joshua Garrett-Davis GS ’20 founded the Princeton American Indian and Indigenous Studies Working Group (PAIISWG) as a hub for graduate students and faculty who work on Native American and Indigenous studies. A few years later, former president of Natives at Princeton (NAP) Jessica Lambert ’22 helped develop the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton (NAISIP) webpage, which centralizes information and resources about Indigenous studies, as well as events and a database of associated students and faculty. Additionally, initiatives like Nuclear Princeton have allowed for more in-depth exploration of Indigenous studies topics at Princeton and beyond.
