Aanii Kina Gwiya (Hello Everyone),

Welcome to the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (IPA) Special Interest Group (SIG). The IPA SIG currently has approximately 214 members and represents AERA members from a number of different research interests and tribal/Indigenous community contexts, both national and international. For many years, the IPA SIG has served as a gathering space at AERA to support emergent scholars interested in conducting Indigenous research in education, as well as a space in which returning scholars connect and share new accomplishments. A few and continued initiatives are: 

• Development of an AERA program that reflects diverse interests of the membership -- drawing upon multiple contexts in which Indigenous research is conducted.
• Planning of a place-based pre-conference in collaboration with local Indigenous communities that welcomes Indigenous scholars throughout AERA.
• Re-envisioning an election process that both honors Indigenous protocols and relationships, while reaching all members toward full engagement in SIG discussion and decision making
• Have a more robust presence on social media platforms (facebook and twitter) and foster relationships and collaboration within the membership.

At our annual business meeting, we celebrated the 2021 Mike Charleston Awardee, Dr. Octaviana Trujillo founding chair and professor of the department of Applied Indigenous Studies, Northern Arizona University. 

Octaviana V. Trujillo (Yaqui), Ph.D., is founding chair and professor of the department of Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and teaches courses on Tribal Nation Building. A primary focus of her work as a former tribal leader has been developing programs that take advantage of her academic and professional experience. Dr. Trujillo is the Co-PI (outreach) on the National Cancer Institute, U54- funded Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention. The major goal of this project is to alleviate the unequal burden of cancer among Native Americans of the Southwest through research, training and outreach programs that are collaborative with the communities they serve. Her recent publication, “A Perspective on Diabetes from Indigenous Views” in Fourth World Journal was collaboration between university scholars and traditional-knowledge scholars.

The IPA SIG congratulates Dr. Trujillo, this year’s Mike Charleston Award recipient! 

We will be soliciting nominations for the 2022 Bobby Wright Early Career award nominations in the near future. 

We look forward to a successful program and seeing you at the 2022 AERA IPA Pre-Conference in San Diego!

Chi miigwech,

AERA IPA SIG Officers

Anna Lees, Chair

Theresa Stewart-Ambo, Program Chair and Chair Elect

Glenabah Martinez, Secretary/Treasurer

Alex Red Corn, Secretary/Treasurer Elect

Nikki McDaid, Graduate Student Representative

Felisia Janice, Graduate Student Representative Elect