Indigenous student activism has played a critical role in forging Indigenous space on Cornell campus. In 1983, the American Indian Program emerged in response to student organizing to increase, among other things, Indigenous recruitment and support. The struggle for a greater inclusion of Indigenous community and recognition of Indigenous student needs was far from over, however. It was not until 2017, when Indigenous and allied students were able to reframe Cornell’s sense of inclusion and successfully pass a resolution to celebrate Indigenous People's Day on the second Monday of October. Today, as we celebrate this landmark action, the awareness building continues as Indigenous student leaders coalesce yet again to demand a renewed  commitment to Cornell’s Indigenous community through an Indigenous major, land acknowledgment or renaming of Morrill Hall. During this webinar, Indigenous alumni and current student leaders will discuss these three moments in the history of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program.

Presenters: 

• Sachem Sam George, Wolf Clan, Gayogo̱hó:nǫ' Nation
• Professor Kurt Jordan, AIISP Director
• Colin Benedict (Mohawk) '21, ILR
• Ben Oster (Mohawk) B.S. '17 M.Eng. '18 
• Theresa Rocha Beardall (Oenida/Sault Ste Marie/Mexican) Ph.D. '19
• Ana Bordallo (Chamorro) B.S. '19
• Native American and Indigenous Studuents at Cornell (NAISAC) Leaders