In November 2012, anthropology PhD students Adam Haviland, Marie Schaefer, Kehli Henry, Nikki Silva, Mike Cavanaugh, along with law students, Sarah Donnelly, Nellie David and John Simermeyer, from the indigenous law program started a new graduate student organization at Michigan State University for American Indian students and Indigenous students and those students interested in Indigenous People and American Indian issues.
The Indigenous Graduate Student Collective came about because the founding members observed what seems to be a critical mass of Native graduate students and graduate students working on Native issues both in the anthropology department, law school and across the University that needed a group that addressed their issues. One of the founding members, Nikki Silva hopes to conduct research with American Indian communities however in her words she doesn’t “have a lot of background in American Indian issues and is interested in learning more about the specific and unique issues facing Native peoples. I hope my research in anthropology and archeology can give back to Native communities today.”
Another contributing factor to the collective’s founding was the University of Toronto Native Students Association. When the founding members were invited on a trip to the University of Toronto organized by Dr. Heather Howard from the anthropology department in October 2011, Adam, Kehli and Marie had a chance to meet with members of the University of Toronto Native Students Association. As Marie states, “We were inspired by their organization and the work they do to bring a similar group to life on MSU’s campus.”
There is an undergraduate student group at MSU called the North American Indigenous Student Group but graduate students, and especially American Indian graduate students, have a unique experience during their time in graduate school and the members felt that starting a group that could be supportive of that experience. As Sarah Donnelly explains “it's easy to just focus on school work and forget why we came to school in the first place: to help our tribe. Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) and other native student orgs are a great way to collaborate and find support over native issues as well.”
Ideally the collective hopes to build a dynamic group with members from across campus. Law student member Victoria Sweet explained that “What I think is so valuable about this particular group is the potential it has for building strong inter-departmental connections. Sometimes those connections are hard to make because we are all so busy with our own coursework and research that we don't make the time to reach out. Bringing the strengths of the various graduate programs together will only improve the quality of the conversation about American Indian issues on campus and provide greater opportunities for all students involved.”
The Indigenous Graduate Student Collective came about because the founding members observed what seems to be a critical mass of Native graduate students and graduate students working on Native issues both in the anthropology department, law school and across the University that needed a group that addressed their issues. One of the founding members, Nikki Silva hopes to conduct research with American Indian communities however in her words she doesn’t “have a lot of background in American Indian issues and is interested in learning more about the specific and unique issues facing Native peoples. I hope my research in anthropology and archeology can give back to Native communities today.”
Another contributing factor to the collective’s founding was the University of Toronto Native Students Association. When the founding members were invited on a trip to the University of Toronto organized by Dr. Heather Howard from the anthropology department in October 2011, Adam, Kehli and Marie had a chance to meet with members of the University of Toronto Native Students Association. As Marie states, “We were inspired by their organization and the work they do to bring a similar group to life on MSU’s campus.”
There is an undergraduate student group at MSU called the North American Indigenous Student Group but graduate students, and especially American Indian graduate students, have a unique experience during their time in graduate school and the members felt that starting a group that could be supportive of that experience. As Sarah Donnelly explains “it's easy to just focus on school work and forget why we came to school in the first place: to help our tribe. Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) and other native student orgs are a great way to collaborate and find support over native issues as well.”
Ideally the collective hopes to build a dynamic group with members from across campus. Law student member Victoria Sweet explained that “What I think is so valuable about this particular group is the potential it has for building strong inter-departmental connections. Sometimes those connections are hard to make because we are all so busy with our own coursework and research that we don't make the time to reach out. Bringing the strengths of the various graduate programs together will only improve the quality of the conversation about American Indian issues on campus and provide greater opportunities for all students involved.”