Building a Home for Indigenous Learning

The University at Buffalo’s new Department of Indigenous Studies is up and running for the academic year, with charter faculty members and a newly appointed chair.

Its formation was the latest step in an unfolding four-year plan that began in January 2020 when the College of Arts and Sciences received a $3.17 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the university’s expanded commitment to Indigenous studies.

Key issues and topics of study within the department include the preservation and maintenance of Indigenous languages; the environmental health of Indigenous lands; the well-being of Indigenous peoples (including the elimination of health disparities); and the maintenance of the unique governmental and policy status of Indigenous nations in ways that uphold Indigenous sovereignty.

UB is located on the traditional territories of the Onödowa'ga:' (Seneca Nation), one of the six member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy along with Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora. It is also in close proximity to a majority of the federally recognized Indigenous nations in New York State and Canada.

“We’re excited to be our own department and exercise leadership for those on the U.S. side of Haudenosaunee Territory,” said Mishuana Goeman (Tonawanda Band of Seneca), the department’s new chair. “In fact, we will be initiating a scholarship for Haudenosaunee students to receive in-state tuition at the University at Buffalo. Providing education in territory recognizes the importance of where we are living and learning.”

Goeman is building the department upon a foundation set by Theresa McCarthy (Six Nations Onondaga, Beaver Clan), associate dean for inclusive excellence and director of Indigenous studies. With support from the Mellon grant, the department has hired a slate of faculty members focused on Indigenous research and scholarship and is also sponsoring two postdocs in 2023-24.

The department’s legacy programming began in 1972 when John Mohawk founded the Native American Studies Program at UB. Its programs have centered on Haudenosaunee knowledge as a lens for looking at Indigeneity in broader national and global contexts.

“Our Department of Indigenous Studies marks a bold new chapter for this field at UB,” said President Satish K. Tripathi. “It brings our work into direct conversation with the community. It serves as a model of how to realign social science and humanities expertise with 21st-century challenges. And it ensures that all students understand how issues of Indigeneity impact the quest for solutions.”