August Student of the Month

Scholarship: Special Higher Education Program
School: Simmons University
Degree: Library and Information Science with Concentration in Cultural Heritage
GPA: 4.0

Community Service

• Native Americans in Philanthropy 2023-2024 Native Youth Grantmaker

• 2024-2025 Native Youth Climate Adaptation Leadership Congress (NYCALC) Fresh Tracks Trainer

• National Gallery of Art 250th Advisory Group Member

• Miwok Heritage Center Researcher and Oral Historian

• Grant Reviewer for Native Voices Rising

• American Library Association Student Chapter Coordinator

• Students of Color at Simmons School of Library and Information Science Leadership Committee

• Simmons School of Library and Information Science Student Advisory Board Member

• Association of Research Libraries Kaleidoscope Scholar

• American Library Association Spectrum Scholar

• Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow (2022 Cohort)

I received my bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in English and American Studies with concentration in Native American Studies. In my senior year, I was recommended for summa cum laude and graduated magna cum laude for my thesis “Stealing the Fire: (Re)claiming, (Re)telling, and (Re)covering Miwok Creation Stories and Oral Histories,” which centered Miwok creation stories, tribal histories, and family histories as a way of rewriting California history.

I am finishing my first year at Simmons University where I am pursuing my MS in Library and Information Science with concentration in Cultural Heritage Informatics. During my first semester I served as a graduate intern for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Archives, where I processed an oversized maps collection and contributed to grant research. Outside of the classroom, I engage with my peers through leadership roles, advisory committees, and community-building events. This summer, I will serve as a Peabody Essex Museum Native American Fellow in the Phillips Library.

My work with the Miwok Heritage Center inspires and motivates me to work in tribal archives as a method of storytelling, education, and cultural revitalization. Over the last four years, I have assisted with conducting and processing oral history interviews with Miwok elders. These interviews contribute to a growing, living archive of my tribe’s stories and histories. The stories we gather then inform the development of Miwok Learning Modules for K-12 classrooms and support our language curriculum, both of which I have taken on leadership roles in creating. I was also involved in designing and teaching a week-long language course for my tribal community in the Summer of 2023. My ultimate goal is to create a digital archives for my tribal community and Miwok people more broadly, and to expand cultural revitalization programming centering our archives and the stories within it.

By providing the funding and networks of support necessary to thrive in my graduate studies, Native Forward has empowered me to utilize academia, and archives in particular, as an avenue for change and resistance. As a storyteller and aspiring archivist, I am keenly aware of how central our stories are to our collective wellbeing and our continued fight to maintain our sovereignty as Indigenous peoples. With the support of Native Forward, I will be able to support cultural and language revitalization efforts within my community as well as document these efforts and subsequent teachings for our future generations. Native Forward Scholars Fund has enabled me to pursue a degree which will directly impact not only my life but the lives of my people for generations to come.

Native Forward Scholars Fund also facilitates community and provides a platform where Indigenous leaders can share their stories as a means of making pathways for future generations more navigable and accessible. It is deeply empowering to see the success of former Native Forward scholars. Hearing their journeys and advice motivates me to continue my pursuits and equips me with the necessary knowledge and advice to do so. Most importantly, seeing examples of Indigenous leadership in any space inspires me to continue growing as a leader in my community and in the archival field so that I might someday serve as a mentor and support for future generations.

Want to be our next Student of the Month? Apply here!