News

Recent news from the Department of American Indian Studies.

The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary Featured in The Guardian

The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary was recently featured in a Guardian book review of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies (University of Minnesota…

CBS News | Unlocking 'Minne': C̣aƞtemaza Reveals the Dakota Origins of Minnesota Place Names

The senior teaching specialist was interviewed for the "Good Question" segment.

A group of four people standing in front of a black backdrop, all smiling. The person standing second to the far left is holding a gold plaque of achievement.

Dr. Brenda Child Wins the 2025 Indigenous History Achievement Award from the Western History Association

Congratulations to Dr. Brenda Child for winning the 2025 Indigenous History Achievement Award from the Western History Association!

Regents Professor Jean O'Brien in her office

Elevating American Indian & Indigenous Education

Our new PhD in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) is an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental program that’s the only one of its kind in the Midwest and the Big Ten.

The text "Indigenous Peoples' Day" along with four photographs of AIIS PhD candidates

Indigenous Peoples' Day 2025

Honoring our Indigenous students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community partners.

Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier on adjusting to life at home after decades in prison

Dr. Nick Estes, Associate Professor of American Studies, is interviewed by PBS News to discuss Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier adjusting to life at home after decades in…

In full tribal regalia, Dewey Beard, left, and James Pipe-on-Head, survivors of the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890 in South Dakota, arrived in Washington on March 4, 1938, to testify in behalf of a bill to pay survivors of the event in which hundreds of Lakota people were killed by U.S. soldiers. They are greeted by John Collier, center, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. (AP)

The real story behind the Wounded Knee massacre

Dr. Nick Estes, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, journalist and author, discusses what actually happened at Wounded Knee.

American Indian Studies Undergraduate Q&A with Taylor Fairbanks

Taylor Fairbanks is a double-major in American Indian Studies and Sociology and an Honors student. She expects to graduate in Spring 2026. Last May, Taylor was awarded the…

Side-by-side portraits of Ka‘iana as depicted in a historical engraving and a photo of Jason Momoa in Chief of War.

Who Was Ka‘iana? A Historian's Perspective on the Real "Chief of War"

David Aiona Chang’s website invites viewers to learn more about the historical figure at the heart of the Apple TV+ series.

2025-2026 American Indian & Indigenous Studies PhD Cohort

Join the Department of American Indian Studies in welcoming our first PhD cohort!