Presented in partnership with Historic Locust Grove.
Sponsored by Kentucky Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In June of 1924, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act
granting universal US citizenship to Native American individuals. While some
Native American individuals celebrated this civil rights achievement, others
felt divided by a forced dual identity as both a citizen of their Tribal Nation
and the United States. Reflecting on the 100th anniversary of the Indian
Citizenship Act provides an opportunity to broaden our understanding of Native
American rights, past and present, and to examine the unique challenges faced
by Indigenous communities in the United States today.
Our esteemed panelists, each bringing their unique
perspectives as Native individuals, will engage in a crucial dialogue on the
complexities, challenges, and enduring importance of Indigenous sovereignty
within the United States. This event promises to be a powerful exploration of
what it means to be a citizen of a sovereign tribal nation and a citizen of the
United States.
Brandie Macdonald (she/her) is a citizen of the
Chickasaw Nation with ancestral ties to the Choctaw nation. She is the
Executive Director of Indiana University’s Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology. Her work focuses on systemic change in museums through the
implementation of anti-colonial and decolonial theory-in-practice, which
centers truth-telling, accountability, and tangible change to redress colonial
harm.
Dr. Liza Black is an Associate Professor of History
and Native American and Indigenous Studies at Indiana University. She is the
author of How to Get Away with Murder: A Transnational History of Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirits (Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2025). Dr. Black is a citizen of Cherokee Nation (there are
two other Cherokee Nations, hence she drops “the”).
Logan York is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of
Oklahoma and serves as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, a position responsible for the protection and
preservation of culturally significant properties of concern to Myaamiaki
(Miami people) and their history.
Panel will be moderated by Raina Melvin, a citizen of
the Comanche Nation and Program Director at Historic Locust Grove.