The Hitchcock-Kelly Fund for Human and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Graduate Student Symposium

-Event-

Start Date: Apr 17, 2026 - 12:00pm
End Date: Apr 17, 2026 - 05:00pm

Location: Hibben 105 & Atrium

On Friday, April 17 from 12-5 PM, the UNM Department of Native American Studies and the UNM Department of Anthropology will co-host the The Hitchcock-Kelly Fund for Human and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Graduate Student Symposium.  Funded by a generous gift from Bob Hitchcock and Melinda Kelly, this fund supports collaborative projects and programs implemented between the departments of Anthropology and Native American Studies. The projects include annual support of student-related research and applied activities to advance and bring attention to human rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights.

The symposium will feature graduate students who have received funding from the Hitchcock-Kelly Fund to present their research.  Presenters will include:

Adesbah Foguth (PhD, Anthropology Archaeology)
A LiDAR Study of the Lukachukai Mountains Mining District, Diné Nation

Andrew Gorvetzian (PhD, Anthropology Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology)
de aquí, ni de allá/au büni, bugianüni/Me for you and you for me: Analyzing the Contours of the Transnational Garifuna Nation Through Language Revitalization

Ruben Leyva  (PhD, Native American Studies)
Relational Memory Historiography and Gila Apache Political Identity: Community-Engaged Archival Research and Public Scholarship

Jordan Martinez (PhD, Anthropology Evolutionary Anthropology)
Energy and Time Devoted to Ceremonial Dance and Music Among the Temiar of Peninsular Malaysia

Laura Steele (PhD, Anthropology Archaeology)
Ripples of Imperialism – Understanding Foodways, Community and Identity on the Margins of an Empire

Nicole Swentzell (PhD, Native American Studies)
Guardians of Fire and Land: The Contributions of Pueblo Firefighters Across Indian Country

Cameron Zarrabzadeh (PhD, Anthropology Sociocultural and Linguistic Anthropology)
Church Rock Community Archiving and Oral History Project