SCHEDULE

You're Invited! Welcome Reception

 Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 | 6 PM - 8 PM 

Northwestern University Women's Center

2000 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL 60208

Please join the us for a welcome reception on the evening of Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 from 6pm-8pm. We will be gathering at the Northwestern University Women's Center to network and connect with CNAIR community and early symposium arrivals. We will provide lots of appetizers, desserts, and drinks! Free parking is available after 4pm in any nearby Northwestern parking lots. See symposium schedule for Thursday and Friday below:

Keynote Speakers 

Eve Tuck, James Weldon Professor of Indigenous Studies;  founding Director of the Provostial Center for Indigenous Studies, NYU

Dana Hedgpeth, Journalist, Washington Post, IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement award recipient

Panels

Panel I: Indigenous Feminisms in the Current Political Landscape

Thursday April 9th: 10:30 am -12pm 

This panel brings together leading Indigenous feminist scholars to explore how gender, sovereignty, and resistance are being reshaped in the current political climate. The discussion highlights Indigenous feminist analyses of policing, diaspora, community‑building, and environmental justice, offering frameworks for imagining more just and liberated futures.

Moderator: Eve Tuck, James Weldon Professor of Indigenous Studies; founding Director of the Provostial Center for Indigenous Studies, NYU 

Panelists:

• Stephanie Lumsden, Assistant Professor of Native American studies, University of California, Davis
• Renya Ramirez, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz 
• Jessica Fremland, Postdoctoral Research Associate in American Studies, Mellon Gateway Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University

Panel II: Indigenizing Higher Education: Indigenous students building thriving
collective futures

Thursday May 9th 2:30pm - 4pm 

In this panel, Indigenous students at Northwestern University will share their undergraduate and graduate perspectives of navigating student well-being and their academic trajectories while making connections to community and building towards Indigenous visibility in higher education. In this panel, students will speak to how Indigenous methods, values, and knowledges have provided them with the tools needed to navigate current political times as Indigenous students working to build thriving collective futures as they continue their academic/career trajectories.

 Moderator: Lesley-Ann Brown Henderson, PhD., Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff for Student Affairs

Panelists:

• Lula Fox,  Undergraduate Student, 4th year, Majors in Anthropology, Environmental Policy & Culture and Minors in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Global Health Studies
• Dallas Downey, Undergrad, 1st year, Majors in Journalism & Art History and Minor in Native American & Indigenous Studies
• Nathalie Kanoelani Takiko Jones, PhD Candidate, Astronomy
• Solo Miner, Graduate Student, Psychology 

Panel III: Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Friday May 10th 10am-11:30am  

This panel brings together leading Indigenous scholars to examine the stakes of Indigenous Data Sovereignty amid expanding data extraction and technological surveillance. Through perspectives spanning genomics, political infrastructure, and biomedical governance, the discussion explores how Indigenous nations can build data futures grounded in sovereignty, consent, and collective benefit.

Moderator: Jeff Feng, postdoctoral scholar, Northwestern Argonne Institute for Scientific and Engineering, Manoomin Collective

Panelists:

• Krystal Tsosie,  Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, ASU
• Andrew Curley, Associate Professor, School of Geography, Development & Environment, University of Arizona

• Joe Yracheta, VP and Science director, NativeBio Consortium

Panel IV: The Future of Indigenous-Centered Research in Higher Education

Friday April 10th 2pm - 3:30pm 

This conversation examines the future of Indigenous‑centered research in higher education amid an increasingly unstable political landscape, highlighting how recent federal funding losses are reshaping priorities and strategies across institutions. Panelists will share perspectives from university programs, national STEM pathways, and tribal colleges to illuminate resilient, community‑rooted approaches that safeguard long‑term research capacity and Indigenous knowledge systems.

Moderator: Stephanie Fryberg, James E. Johnson Professor of Psychology, NU; director of RISE and CNAIR

Panelists:

• Alex Red Corn, President, Haskell University

• Sarah Echohawk, President, Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society, AISES
• Jennifer Gauthier, Director, Sustainable Development Institute, College of Menominee Nation Policy, Northwestern University 

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