Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy

ROBIN ZAPE-TAH-HOL-AH MINTHORN is an associate professor of educational leadership, director of the EdD program, and Director of Indigenous education initiatives at the University of Washington, Tacoma. She is a citizen of the Kiowa tribe and descendent of Apache, Umatilla, Nez Perce and Assiniboine tribes. She is the coeditor of Indigenous Leadership in Higher Education and Reclaiming Indigenous Research in Higher Education (Rutgers University Press).HEATHER J. SHOTTON is an associate professor and the department chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. She is also the director of Indigenous Education Initiatives. She is an enrolled citizen of the Wichita & Affiliated Tribes. Shotton is coeditor of Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education, Beyond College Access: Indigenizing Programs for Student Success, and Reclaiming Indigenous Research in Higher Education (Rutgers University Press).CHRISTINE A. NELSON is an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Denver in Colorado. She is of the DinÉ and Laguna Pueblo tribes of the southwest.

• IntroductionSection I: East-ThinkingAn Indigenous boy occupying the academy and the intergenerational (motherly) teachings that led him thereChristine A. Nelson (K'awaika/Diné)"She had no use for fools": Stories of Dibé Łizhiní mothersTiffany S. Lee (Diné/Lakota)Nine Months of Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy: A Rainbow Journey From the Islands to Na'NeelzhíínLeola Tsinnijinnie-Paquin (Diné)M(othering) and the AcademySusan Faircloth (Coharie Tribe of North Carolina)My Children Are My Teachers:  Lessons Learned as a Kanaka Maoli Mother-ScholarNicole Reyes (Native Hawaiian)Dreams of Hózhó Within the Womb: A Navajo Mother's Letter to Her Newest LoveNizhoni Chow-Garcia (Diné)Section II: South-PlanningHollo Micha Oh Chash:  Drawing from our Choctaw ancestors' wisdom to decolonize motherhood within the academyMichelle Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw), Alayah Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw, Quapaw, Sac & Fox, Miami Nations), & Ahnili Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw, Quapaw, Sac & Fox, Miami Nations)Mvskoke Eckvlke (Muscogee Motherhood) in Academic SpacesDwanna L. McKay (Mvskoke)The (Time) Line in the SandMiranda Belarde-Lewis (Tlingit/Zuni)Protection and the Power of ReproductionShelly Lowe (Diné)A Glint of Decolonial Love: An Academic Mother's Meditation on Navigating and Leveraging the UniversityTria Blu Wakpa (Powhatan Descent)Honoring our Relations (Collective Stories)Section III: West-LivingWidening the Path: Reflection of Two Generations in AcademiaSymphony Oxendine (Cherokee/Choctaw) & Denise Henning (Cherokee/Choctaw)Mothers and Daughters are ForeverRenée Holt (Diné and Nimiipuu)A Journey of Indigenous Motherhood Through the Love, Loss and the P&T ProcessRobin Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn (Kiowa/Apache/Umatilla/Nez Perce/Assiniboine)Indigenous Motherhood in STEMOtakuye Conroy Ben (Oglala Lakota)Kuhkwany Kuchemayo 'Aaknach, An Iipay Mother's/Teacher's StoryTheresa Gregor (Iipay/Yoeme)Impact of a Pandemic on Indigenous MotherhoodSection IV: North-AssuringOur Journey Through HealingSloan Woska-pi-mi Shotton (Otoe-Missouria/Iowa/Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne) & Heather J. Shotton (Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne)Motherhood, Re-ImaginedPearl Brower (Iñupiaq/Armenian/Chippewa)Weaving Fine Baskets of Resilience:Resilient Mothering in the Academy as Kanaka Nation BuildingErin Kahunawaikaʻala Wright (Native Hawaiian)Hā'ena-i-ku'u-poli: A Letter to My DaughterKaiwipuni Lipe (Native Hawaiian)A Hidden Cartography: Matrilinealizing the Terrain of AcademeCharlotte Davidson (Diné)Berries and Her Many Lectures: The Work of StoryworkStephanie Waterman (Onondaga/Turtle Clan)Tying The BundleNotes on Contributors

“This book on Indigenous Motherhood eloquently weaves together the beauty, strength, and resilience of those who transform academic spaces for the benefit of Indigenous students, families, and communities. This is the book I yearned for as a graduate student and Indigenous mother-scholar.” - Jennifer Brant (University of Toronto, co-editor of 'Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada') "Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy is a brilliantly felt and witnessed act of collective Indigenous scholarship from a fiercely honest new generation of teachers and intellectual leaders who affirm their whole selves as the heart of nurturing present and future Indigenous generations." - Dian Million, (Tanana) (author of Therapeutic Nations: Healing in an Age of Indigenous Human Rights) “This book on Indigenous Motherhood eloquently weaves together the beauty, strength, and resilience of those who transform academic spaces for the benefit of Indigenous students, families, and communities. This is the book I yearned for as a graduate student and Indigenous mother-scholar.” - Jennifer Brant (University of Toronto, co-editor of 'Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murder) "Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy is a brilliantly felt and witnessed act of collective Indigenous scholarship from a fiercely honest new generation of teachers and intellectual leaders who affirm their whole selves as the heart of nurturing present and future Indigenous generations." - Dian Million, (Tanana) (author of Therapeutic Nations: Healing in an Age of Indigenous Human Rights) "A much need contribution to Indigenous scholarship, Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy weaves together rich, powerful stories of Indigenous women who have navigated through the colonized, patriarchal spaces of academia while centering their Indigenous motherhood at the core of their journeys. A very inspirational and critical read for those seeking to understand the experiences of Indigenous women in academia."- Susana Geliga (PhD, Lakota/Taino, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Naive American Studies Program, Un)