I am (as of the spring of 2019) a senior at Georgetown University, majoring in American Studies. Growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona, I found myself frequently exposed to a lot of Native symbols, language, and culture without ever realizing their significance. The influence of various Indigenous cultures on the Southwest region is powerful and undeniable, although it is rarely discussed or appreciated either in everyday life or in the classroom.
It wasn’t until I began attending Georgetown University in Washington D.C. during the fall of 2015 that I realized the Native influence I had grown so accustomed to in the Southwest is incredibly unique and deserves much more attention than it is given. As such, I became very interested in various aspects of Indigenous cultures, focusing much of my American Studies career on representations of Native people in film, media, and popular culture; the appropriation and commodification of Native people in various spheres of American life; as well as conducting research projects on issues facing Native people, such as the staggering rates of sexual violence committed against Indigenous women.
Not being a Native person myself, I, of course, do not claim to understand these experiences firsthand, but I have done my best to navigate this line as intentionally as possible throughout my studies. Rather than focusing on perspectives I am unable to relate personally to, I have focused much of my attention on the complexities surrounding the relationship between Indigenous people and mainstream American society, attempting to understand for myself various contradictions and tensions that are so paramount to deconstructing and comprehending the American identity.
