20th Annual American Indian Studies Association Conference

--News--

Posted:  Feb 11, 2019 - 12:00am

On February 6-8, 2019, UNM hosted the 20^th Annual American Indian Studies Association Conference “The Knowledge of Our Ancestors, the Strength of Our Communities." The conference was co-sponsored by the Institute for American Indian Research (IfAIR) and the Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies, among other entities at UNM and Arizona State University. Two Ortiz Center advisory council members serve on the executive board of IfAIR:  Dr. Jennifer Denetdale, Chair of IfAIR and Associate Professor of American Studies at UNM, and Dr. Lloyd Lee, Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at UNM.

Dr. Denetdale presented “Trail of Lighting and the Violation of Diné/Navajo Bodies” as part of a panel entitled “The Power of the Oral and Written Word.” She also served as moderator and discussant for a session entitled “That ‘Two Spirit’ Navajo Photograph: Misrecognition and the Question of Appropriation and Historic Truth,” which examined a famous historical photograph of two Diné men clasping each other. The discussants explored the historical and cultural context of the photograph, including its present day use in Native two spirit media.