My research is an ethnographic exploration of autobiographical Indigenous literature. It is a comparison of western colonial literary style and First Nations People tradition of storytelling. It traces the use of metaphor and how it is applied by Native American storytelling traditions to convey allegory, the hidden meaning in autobiographies . Through an exploration of literary works the socio-political importance of the stylized use of metaphor reflects on the implications of authorship as a continued form of resistance to colonialism, documents survivorship despite ethnic fragmentation, and the subsequent resiliency of First Nations Peoples. Specifically I draw on Leslie Marmon Silko's’ use of metaphor in the imagery of breccia to depict the trauma of ethnic fragmentation and familial reformation in her memoir “The Turquoise Ledge.” Leslie Marmon Silko's literature serves to understand the attitudes of identity, reflects on indigenous reformations, and continues the tradition of activism in the American Literary Canon. This research fills the analytical gap that explores the nuances of ethnic writers and their talent for applying western literary styles to convey cultural traditions in storytelling. Thereby I draw attention to how colonial and indigenous traditions can coexist while preserving the uniqueness of each culture.

In recent years, the fields of biological anthropology and anatomy began to consider the bioethics of historical collections of skeletal human remains still used for teaching and research. Given that anatomical collections have largely formed research foundations in biological anthropology and bioarchaeology, little attention has been given to the origin of these studied individuals. More specifically, while the focus on the unethical practice of taking and holding archaeological Native American ancestral remains continues, and more recently African American remains have been the primary focus, not much is known about the historical collection of Southeast Asian skeletons in biomedicine. To provide a framework for the bioethics of anatomical collections, it is necessary to outline the biocommodification, colonization, and structural violence of India’s peoples through the central dialogue of going from a brown body and individual into skeletonized teaching sources. Obtaining a scale of who these individuals were before becoming anatomical skeletons (demographics such as sex, age, health, ethnicity, and what part of India) from the historical and biological data can allow exploration of ethical considerations. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, the focus of this research is rooted in understanding the historical context of British colonial rule being the catalyst for India’s role as the prominent producer of anatomical human skeletal individuals. Using bioarchaeological methods, anatomical collections can reveal how we observe ethics in biological anthropology, emphasize history’s role in producing current methods for bioarchaeological research, acknowledge social identities of the deceased, and provide context for teaching collections, especially in academic institutions.

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, have made significant attempts to preserve and revitalize their respective mother languages. These efforts are in response to ongoing attempts of assimilation and cultural genocide by the Mexican settler-colonial state through national projects like Mestizaje. One such effort is exemplified through the virtual Binni Ranaxi Didxaza (The People Who Love Zapotec) Collective. My research analyzes the impact of the Binni Ranaxhi Didxaza Collective and their language classes/ teaching methods on the identity and culture of the Zapotec people residing both in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and throughout the diaspora. The cultural aspects I will specifically focus on are Isthmus Zapotec literature and art (oral, visual, and written). I further explore the interconnection between the Binni Ranaxhi Didxaza Collective’s efforts and the cosmovision of the Binniza (Isthmus Zapotec Peoples), language shift, purist ideologies, linguistic standardization, and the dehispanicization of Didxaza (Isthmus Zapotec). I use participant observation techniques, semi-structured interviews, and archival research methods to gather my data. While Indigenous languages have been studied from an anthropological perspective for many years, there have been few efforts within academia to center the specific Indigenous community the languages belong to. My research is founded on the notion that language is constructed through communal experiences and, therefore, must be revitalized by the community itself. For these reasons, my investigation aims to promote the preservation and revitalization of Zapotec languages and history in a way that affirms Indigenous-led social movements, cultural identities, and language significance.

In 1854, the United States and Mexico finalized the Gadsden Purchase, in which the U.S. purchased a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico which later became Arizona and New Mexico—today’s “Southwest.” Before and since then, the Southwest has undergone major changes in landscape, demographics of its population, culture, beliefs and land uses. Phoebe Zea’s Touched Landscapes explores the multitudes of and reasons for such changes within this American region. The project also explores the people who reside within the Southwest, and their shifting beliefs about the land, as well as the ways in which they have in the past, and continue to, interact with and utilize the vast landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico. Touched Landscapes focuses on Southwesterners’, as well as generalized Americans’, sense of ‘place’ within the given landscape, and how interactions with various landscapes can affect our sense of belonging to the land. The analog photographs in this project seek to emphasize the uses of the landscape, the people within, and the diversity of cultures and narratives shared among the region.

Decades into Porfirio Diaz’s de-facto dictatorship, early 20th century Mexico stood at the edge of political and cultural revolution. From the echoes of earlier positivism to an evolving indigenismo, Mexico’s ideological development arguably transversed political structures and eras as transitional figures grappled with an evolving set of nationalistic ideas years before Vasconcelos’ post-revolutionary notoriety. A historian, educator, and collector first connected with the Diaz regime, Genaro Garcia (1867-1920) is most recognized for amassing an enormous Mexican history collection foundational to UT’s Benson Latin America Collection. Alongside two recent works examining Garcia’s feminism, while a few previous writers have championed García’s lifetime contributions to Mexican history, especially in his collection, Garcia remains a surprisingly obscure figure. Scarcely explored, Garcia’s participation in education and public history not only facilitates understanding of his ideological development and actions, but opens a window into Mexico’s evolving national identity and education philosophies. Emerging in the late Pofiriato and staying engaged amid the turmoil of changing regimes, Garcia was in a unique position to influence historiography, public opinion, and curriculum alike, serving as director of Mexico’s Museo Nacional and the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria (ENP), in addition to his personal publications and several government commissions. Thus, analyzing several of Garcia’s writings and works, from his official chronicle of the 1910 Centenario to 1914 ENP course syllabi to his 1903 “National Education in Mexico,” this study seeks to examine Garcia’s connection with nationalism and indigenismo, deepening knowledge of the promotion of a Mexican identity through education and history.