Presentations and Conference Participation
Speaking Engagements
Invited Speaker, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States," Proseminar Speaker Series, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, September 18, 2023.
Invited Speaker, Tucson Book Festival, March 4-5, 2023
Keynote speaker, "The Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movement in 2023," 2023 Adirondack Food System Network Food Justice Summit: "Food is Health," The Wild Center, Tupper Lake, New York, March 2, 2023
Session Speaker, "Relational Provenance: Authenticity and Ethnic Fraud in American Indian Literature, Arts, and the North American Academy," in the session "The Limits of the (Ab)Normal: Native American Literature, Art, and Activism," Spanish Association for American Studies Annual Conference, Grenada, Spain, March, 2023
Invited Speaker, "Essential Crops and Edible Weeds: Traditional Indigenous Backyard Gardens," International Master Gardeners Conference Overland Park, Kansas, June 20, 2023
Keynote- "Indigenous Food Sovereignty: Successes and Challenges" at University of California-East Bay Speaker Series Indigenous Heritage Month; November 16, 2022.
Invited Distinguished Professor, University of Miami speaker series-"Ned Christie" and "Indigenous Food Sovereignty" November 3 and 4
Invited Speaker, "Native Authors and Authenticity (pdf)," South Dakota Festival of Books, September 24, 2022, Brookings, SD
Keynote: "Indigenous food sovereignty," at the Master Gardener Program at the McCrory Gardens in Brookings, SD, September 24, 2022:
Invited speaker, "Keeping Seeds, Restoring Gardens, Writing Culture (pdf)," at McCrory Gardens and South Dakota Arboretum in Brookings, SD, September 25, 2022"
Invited speaker focus group, "Food Security for Indigenous People," Oklahoma State University’s Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy, August 22, 2022.
Invited talk: "Dance of the Returned" at Magic City Books in Tulsa, September 12, 2022.
Keynote about my books at Special Event at the Center for Tribal Studies at Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK, September 13, 2022
Keynote: "Traditional Indigenous Backyard Gardens," Herban Cura, November 9, 2022.
Invited speaker- "Integrity in Writing," Arlington VA Public Library, November 15, 2022.
Invited Speaker, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty," at the Gourmand International Book Awards and Symposium, Umea, Sweden, June 6, 2022
Invited Speaker, "Food Sovereignty," Mother Earth News Fair, Lawrence KS, May 2022.
Invited Speaker: "Blackfeet Culture and Language Revitalization, Indigenous Food Sovereignty, and the Santa Ana and Los Angeles River Environs," Swarthmore College Engaged Scholarship Program, April 13, 2022.
Invited Speaker, "Hatak Witches and Recovering Our Ancestors’ Gardens," Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas, March 31, 2022.
Invited guest, "The Native Fruit Worth Remembering," Fruit Love Letters podcast, January 18, 2022:
Invited Speaker, "Food, Nutrition and Health Seminar," University of Washington, November 23, 2021.
Invited Speaker, "Problem Based Learning: Food Sovereignty," Sicagnu Community Development Corporation, Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota, August 10, 2021.
Invited Speaker, "Traditional Indigenous Gardens," for Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainability: Food Conference, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, October 2021.
Invited Keynote, "[Deleted] & Missing History: Reconstructing the Past, Confronting Distortions," AskHistorians 2021 Digital Conference, October 2021.
Invited Speaker, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty," Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD, October 2021.
NPR-Life Kit: Decolonize Your Diet, June 7, 2021
Speaker, "Cherokee Outlawry, Laxatives, and Fake News: The Death of Arch Wolfe at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians," in session: "Contested Commitments: Institutionalization, Native self-determination, and the Canton Asylum, 1900-2020," NAISA Annual Conference, June, 2021.
Invited Crowdcast, "The Hatak Witches," Skylight Books (Los Angeles), May 20, 2021.
Invited Discussant, "Indigenous Activism: Pretendians," Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 2021.
Invited Panelist, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty," C.E. Smith Museum of Anthropology, California State University–East Bay, May 7, 2021.
Invited Speaker, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Pawpaws and Other Incredible Edibles," Mt. Cuba Center (Delaware): May 4, 2021.
Invited Earth Day Virtual Panel, "Lessons from Indigenous Agriculture," Heifer International, April 21, 2021
Keynote, "The Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movement in 2021," Southeast Indian Studies Conference, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, March 18, 2021.
Speaker, "Cherokee Outlawry, Laxatives, and Fake News: The Death of Arch Wolfe at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians," in session: "Contested Commitments: Institutionalization, Native self-determination, and the Canton Asylum, 1900-2020," NAISA Annual Conference, June, 2021.
Invited Speaker, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Pawpaws, and Incredible Edibles," Mt Cuba Center, Hockessin, DE, May 4, 2021.
Invited Speaker, "Imagining Ned Christie: The Consequences of Yellow Journalism," Indian Territory Posse of Oklahoma Westerners, November 6, 2020.
Invited Speaker, "The State of Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States," Humboldt State University, November 9, 2020.
*Speaker, "The Importance of Homelands to Indigenous Food Sovereignty," in session: "Archaeologies Place in Reclaiming and Reconciliation: Supporting Indigenous Archaeologies and Paths to Healing," World Archeological Congress Annual Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, July 5-10, 2020. *Covid cancelled
Keynote, "Honoring is Protecting: We Have Only One Yakni Moma (Earth)." 2020 Native American Critical Issues Conference, Grand Valley State University Eberhard Center, Grand Rapids, MI, March 5-7, 2020.
Invited Panelist, Mid-America Art Alliance’s traveling exhibit, Savages and Princesses: the Persistence of Native American Stereotypes. Johnson County Museum, Overland Park, Kansas, February 17, 2020.
Invited Speaker, "The Menace of Fake News: Imaginary Outlaws, Exalted Heroes and the Death of Ned Christie," Center for the Study of Ethics in Society lecture series, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, February 6, 2020.
Invited Speaker, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty," Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lawrence, October 20, 2019.
Plenary Speaker, "A Model of Food Traditionalism," and session speaker, "Backyard Gardens," Kansas Tribal Health Summit (THS), Prairie Band Potawatomie Conference Center, August 20, 2019.
Speaker, "We always raised good gardens": Benefits of the Five Tribes’ Traditional Backyard Gardens," NAISA Annual Conference, University of Waikato, Aotearoa, New Zealand, June, 2019.
Reading, "Kowi Annukasha," from Roads of My Relations, Humanities Kansas Grant-A Map of Kansas Literature, Haskell Indian Nations University, May 29, 2019.
Invited Speaker, "Food Sovereignty," S.T.R.I.V.E. Indigenous Food Ways Forum, Phoenix Indian School, May 21-22, 2019.
Keynote, "’Everything We Need’: A Model of Indigenous Food Sovereignty," Annual American Indian and Indigenous Collective, University of California-Santa Barbara, March, 2019.
Invited Speaker, Indigenous Celebrations Series, "Ned Christie," Toronto Public Library, Toronto, Canada, April 8, 2019.
Invited Speaker, "Ned Christie," Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas, March 5, 2019.
Invited speaker, Baldwin City Intermediate Center Bullpup Book Club, Grand Canyon Rescue and Big Bend Luck, December 12, 2018, December 15, 2015, November 2013.
Native American Heritage Keynote Address. Eastern Kentucky University Chautauqua Lecture Series, Distinguished Campus-Community Series, "Ned Christie and the Consequences of Untruths." Richmond, KY. November 15, 2018. Interview prior with the Eastern Standard:
Featured author: Oklahoma Book Festival, Oklahoma City, October 20, 2018.
Invited Speaker, "Ned Christie," Lawrence Public Library, October 4, 2018.
Invited Speaker, "Ned Christie," Baldwin City Public Library, June 11, 2018.
Invited Speaker: Texas Christian University Alumni Panel, Celebrating 50 Years of the History PhD at TCU, Fort Worth, Texas, August 25, 2018.
Invited Speaker: "Documenting Elusive Ancestors: Case Studies from Cherokee Female Seminary Demographics, a Choctaw Lighthorseman and the Ned Christie Saga," at the Five Tribes Ancestry Conference, "Understanding Native American Genealogy Among the Five Tribes," Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur, OK, June 8-9, 2018.
Keynote, "Effects of Removals and Relocations on Food Access and Nutrition," Seeds of Native Health Second Annual Native American Nutrition Conference, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Prior Lake, MN, September 18-20, 2017.
Keynote: 45th Annual Symposium on the American Indian, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, "Outlaw and Hero: Nede Wade Christie," April, 2017.
Lead Scholar: NEH Hispanic Serving Institution grant (capacity building), the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center, California State University San Marcos. Presentations in 2016 and 2017 on colonization, curriculum development in screenwriting, photography, imagery, Nede Wade Christie and "Wild West" imagery.
Invited Speaker: Faculty Dean’s Lecture Series, Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, "Educating and Empowering Students with Campus Indigenous Gardens," October 6, 2015.
Guest Speaker: KU’s 2nd Annual Center for Sustainability’s Research Seminar, October 22, 2013, "Searching for Yakni Achukma (The Good Land)".
Keynote Speaker: Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, Native American Institute at Michigan State University and Michigan State Extension’s "Honoring Traditional Food Sources," Harbor Springs, Michigan, July 2009.
Guest Lecturer: "Nations in Transition: Impacts on Indian Lands, Cultures, and Leadership," American Indian and Culture Series, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., February, 2008.
Guest Speaker Haskell Museum, "Indigenous Women Leaders," March 2008.
Keynote Speaker, "Indigenous Foods as Empowerment," Native American Heritage Month Kickoff, Illinois State University, November, 2007.
Keynote Speaker, "Voices and Visions: Native American Women" Conference, Oklahoma State University, October 2007.
Invited Speaker, "Recovering Our Ancestors’ Gardens," Haskell Indian Nations University orientation, August, 2007.
Guest Faculty, Writing Fiction, week-long Cape Cod Writers’ Center 45th Annual Summer Writers’ Conference, Osterville, MA, August 19-24, 2007.
Featured Speaker: "The State of Indigenous Health" at the Potawatomie Tribe’s "Working Together for Balance" Diabetes Conference at Harrah’s Prairie Band Casino, Potawatomi Reservation, October 2006.
Keynote, "Responsibilities of Indigenous Women in the Academy," at the Mujeres de Fuerza/Women of Strength Conference, University of Texas-San Antonio. Sponsored by Women and Gender Studies Programs. March 2005.
Keynote, "Indigenizing the Academy," 6th Annual American Indian Studies Consortium Conference, ASU "Envisioning the Future of American Indian Studies: Creating Standards for the Development of Curriculum, Research & Practice." February 2005.
Berger Lecture, "On Becoming an Indigenous Intellectual Activist," Montana State, Bozeman, September, 2004.
Plenary Speaker, "Working in and Responding to Volatile Times," The Social Science Research Council/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Summer Conference, Washington University, St. Louis, 2004.
Acceptance speech for the Crystal Eagle American Indian Leadership Award, presented by Indigenous Nations Studies, University of Kansas, 2004.
Interview on NPR 90.9 WBUR Boston, "Only A Game," talk show, 2004. (The Lightning Shrikes)
Interview on Native America Calling. KUYI 88.1 FM. 2004. (American Indigenous Women)
Invited Speaker, University of Victoria Indigenous Governance Program. "Academic Activism," 2004.
Keynote, "Indigenizing the Curriculum" Distinguished American Indian Speaker’s Series and Workshops, University of Idaho American Indian Studies Program, 2003.
Interview, "Indigenous Women and Ways to Empowerment," Channel Two News (Flagstaff) weekly series on Native Issues, 2003.
Invited Speaker, Arizona State University Department of History, "The Importance of Indigenous Histories." 2002.
Interview, "Stereotypes of Native Peoples," Channel Two News (Flagstaff) weekly series on Native Issues, 2002.
Session chair on Kennewick Man and roundtable discussant for Perdue’s Sifters, both at Ethnohistory, Tucson, 2001.
Keynote, "American Indians as Scholar/Activists in Indian Studies Programs," at The First Annual Graduate Student Conference on American Indian Research, Arizona State University, 2001.
Session facilitator, NEH Institute on American Indian Literature, NAU, 2001.
Guest Speaker, "American Indian Women Activists in Higher Education," American Association of University Women, Flagstaff, 2001.
Keynote, University of Utah’s Native American Heritage Week Celebration, 2000.
Guest Speaker: "American Indian Studies and Changing Methodologies of Teaching and Writing," Ball State University, 2000.
Invited Lecturer: "American Indian Women, Feminists, and Native Voices," University of Arizona American Indian Studies Speaker Series, 1999.
Guest Speaker: "The Need to Teach, the Freedom to Learn," NAU’s Faculty Senate’s Speaker Series, "Fearless Learning," 1999.
Guest Speaker: "American Indians and Publishing." NAU’s Student Services Speaker Series, 1999.
Commenter: Session on "Indian Women: Their Voices Their History," Western History Association Annual Conference, Albuquerque, 1994.
Keynote, "American Indian Women as Chroniclers of Their Histories," at conference, "Native Women Historians: Challenges and Issues," Southwest State University, Marshall, Minnesota, 1994.
Guest Lecturer: "Gender and American Indian History," at "American Indians: The 21st Century" graduate studies institute "The New West" symposium, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, 1994
Lecturer: "The New American Indian History," for, and Colorado Endowment for the Humanities speaker series, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, and El Pueblo Museum, Pueblo, 1994.
Lecturer: "Telling the Indian Story: New Voices New Questions," for New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities Speaker Series, Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, and University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1994.
Guest speaker, "Historical Perspectives on Cultural Diversity," for NAU’s Learning Alliance Interactive teleconference series (via satellite): "The Cultural Diversity Debate and Beyond," 1994
Session presenter: "Ethical Issues in Research with American Indians," at "Contemporary Issues in Human Subjects Research: Challenges for Today’s Institutional Review Boards" Conference, Tempe, AZ, 1993.
Guest Speaker: "After 500 Years: Looking to the Future," at Native American Heritage Week, NAU, 1992.
Guest speaker: ‘The Legacy of the Native Americans to the More Recent European Guests," at the Texas Committee for the Humanities Conference, "Encounter of Two Worlds: Confrontation, Fact, Fiction, And Synthesis," Amarillo, TX, 1992.
Panelist, "American Indian Women," at American Historical Association Annual Conference, session on "Sex, Race, and the Politics of Conquest," Chicago, 1991.
Guest Speaker, "American Indians as Monitors of Their Own Education," at American Indian Cultural Heritage Celebration, NAU, 1991.
Session Commentator, "Class, Race, Gender, and Ethnicity," Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference, NAU, 1991
Guest Speaker, "Problems of Race and Identity," at Arizona Humanities Council’s Renaissance World of Christopher Columbus Summer Seminar for Teachers, Flagstaff, 1991.
Guest Speaker, "The Cherokee Female Seminarians: ‘Red’ Feminists and Leaders of a Changing Culture," at NAU Women’s Lecture Series, 1991.
Guest Speaker: "The Cherokee Female Seminary," at Ford Foundation Annual Conference of Fellows," Irvine, CA, 1990.
Presenter, "Cherokee Male and Female Seminarians in the Twentieth Century," at Western History Association Annual Conference, Reno, Nev., 1990.
Presenter, "Ancestry Sacrificed to Greed: The Desecration of American Indian Culture," at Australian and New Zealand American Studies Annual Conference, Sydney, 1990.
Presenter, "American Indian Burial Site Desecration Outside the Southwest," at NAU Department of History Conference, "Remains and Relics: ‘Art’ and Human Rights," 1990.
Plenary Speaker, "The Importance of American Indian Studies in Colleges and Universities," National Endowment for the Humanities Phase III Institute, Tempe, AZ, 1990.
Session chair for session "American Indian Education," at American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Conference, Chicago, 1989.
Guest Speaker, "Enduring Legacies: The Cherokee Male and Female Seminaries," at Northeastern State University’s Annual Symposium on the American Indian, Tahlequah, OK, 1989.
Guest speaker, "American Indians in Indian Territory/Oklahoma," at the Ft.Worth Genealogical Society Speaker Series, 1989.
Presenter, "A Garden of Rose Buds: The Cherokee Female Seminary," at Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies Conference, Fayetteville, ARK, 1989.
Presenter, "Ann Florence Wilson: Matriarch of the Cherokee Female Seminary," at Oklahoma Historical Society Annual Conference, Arrowhead Lodge, OK, 1988.
Presenter, "An Ounce of Prevention: Health Care at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1876-1909," at Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, Waco, TX. (Won Phi Alpha Theta writing/research award), 1988.
Presenter, "Indians and Archaeologists: Is There a Middle Ground?" at TX Archaeological Society 56th Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 1985.
Presenter, "The Cherokee Female Seminary," at Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, Wichita Falls, TX, 1985.
Presenter, "Indians and Museums: The Living and the Dead," at TX Association of Museums’ Annual Meeting and Trustee’s Conference, Dallas, 1985.