Every morning at sunrise, New Mexico State University student Brad Lewis pays tribute to his homeland, the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico, the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.
It’s a daily ritual performed by many Acoma residents, “to give thanks to the sun and the Creator for giving us life and the opportunity to grow and learn,” said the incoming freshman.
This summer, Louis (far right, last row in group photo) was one of 16 scholars selected by teachers and community leaders to participate in the Santa Fe Indian Schools Leadership Institute’s annual Summer Policy Academy on the Princeton campus, where high school students and graduating students learn about how government policies affect tribal communities.
This year’s students represented the Navajo Nation and six Pueblo tribes of New Mexico.
Louis worked in a small group led by his Academy faculty mentor Rebecca Ray (Jicarilla Apache) from the University of New Mexico Department of Population Health to develop policy proposals to coordinate services for hospitals, public transportation, and other critical infrastructure within Acoma Pueblo and neighboring communities.
He suggests that rather than operating as separate bureaucracies, residents could be better served by using an interconnected community service model that is also consistent with a more holistic Indigenous governance approach.
Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), a 1977 Princeton graduate and former university trustee, is co-founder and co-director of the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School. Princeton’s summer academy is part of a broader three-year curriculum that helps Native students become “policy makers and makers,” he said.
“New architects” of indigenous policy
Lewis and the other Summer Policy Academy fellows studied at Princeton University from June 8-14, then spent a week in Washington, D.C., presenting their research to senators, representatives and stakeholders.
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs With support from Princeton University, (SPIA) has hosted the Academy 18 times since its inception in 2008. Office of Institutional Equity and DiversityMore than 300 students participated.
The goal, according to Leadership Institute co-founder and co-director Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), a 1977 Princeton graduate and former university trustee, is to develop promising scholars who can become “new policy makers and makers.”
Summer Policy Academy student fellows participate in policy discussions, review case studies, and attend lectures by Indigenous leaders and subject matter experts, then work in teams to research policies and develop proposals.
In addition to Ray’s community planning group, this year’s classmates worked on proposals targeting health care led by faculty mentor Dr. Christine Yepa (Jemez Pueblo) of policy research firm James Bell Associates, education led by Preston Sanchez (Jemez Pueblo/Navajo) of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and justice system reform led by attorney Casey Douma (Laguna Pueblo/Hopi Tewa).
Common aspirations
Princeton’s summer academy is part of a broader three-year Leadership Institute curriculum run by the Santa Fe Indian School.
“At Princeton University, we share the Leadership Institute’s goal of incorporating an understanding of the richness and uniqueness of Native and Indigenous knowledge and culture into teaching and learning,” said Sean Maxam, Princeton’s vice provost for institutional diversity and inclusion.
University Continuing to expand involvement We collaborate with Native American and Indigenous communities through Indigenous scholarship, historical awareness, partnerships, outreach, and community service.
On-campus partners in this effort include Princeton University’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative (NAISIP), the Princeton Native Advocacy Coalition organized by the Undergraduate Student Government, the Princeton University American Indian and Indigenous Studies Working Group (PAIISWG), and Princeton’s Native student organizations. The Efron Center for American Studies is home to both NAISIP and PAIISWG.
In March, the university appointed Kehaulani Kauanui, who is Kanaka Maoli, as the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Professor of Native Studies. Efron Center for Anthropology and American StudiesThis is an endowed professorship to promote interdisciplinary research on Indigenous communities in collaboration with other departments.
Academy students centered their research and policy proposals around the idea of a “most desirable future” for their communities, conceptualizing them in posters as a first step toward creating policy proposals to present to Senators, Representatives, and stakeholders in Washington, DC.
Applying Indigenous Perspectives
Princeton University Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Ellis (Peoria Indian Tribe, Oklahoma) was one of the featured speakers at the Summer Policy Academy. Ellis specializes in Native American and early American history.
Ellis told the students that one of the goals of his work as a historian is to highlight how data collected by outside observers has misled the public in the past, resulting in poor policy decisions and “a perpetually flawed understanding of what the public really needs,” he said, and urged the Academy’s fellows to turn the tide.
Throughout the week, Academy students engaged in research and policy proposals centered around a central theme: the “most desirable future” for their community.
Mara Kahn (Navajo/Pima Maricopa Tribe), a freshman at Arizona State University and part of Ray’s community planning group, worked on a proposal recommending additional federal funding for Native American health centers.
Khan said he appreciates the opportunity to study at Princeton, which will give him a deeper understanding of the policy-making process and allow him to “continue to expand his knowledge to learn more about the world and help his people.”
Taking a seat at the table in Washington, DC
In Washington, the fellows made presentations to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, outlining proposals ranging from public school curricula that incorporate Native American culture and languages to innovative leasing that supports community-based agriculture.
They also met with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), New Mexico Senators Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich, Kevin Gover, Class of 1978, Princeton University (Pawnee Nation, Oklahoma), and the Smithsonian Institution’s Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs.
To round out the program’s philosophy, participants spoke with Jennifer Romero Monaco ’97 (Santa Clara Pueblo), Democratic staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Cynthia Chavez Lamar (San Felipe Pueblo), director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, to show how people from tribal communities like themselves can shape policymaking conversations both locally and nationally.
Duma, who has been a faculty member at the academy since its inception, said through their studies and presentations, students come to understand the value of including Indigenous perspectives in policy-making.
“Through this experience, they understand how important their voice is in contributing to the debate, especially when it comes to what’s in the best interest of the public,” Duma said. “We get talked about, but we don’t get talked to very often. Getting the opportunity to feel confident in our voices is a really important part of the Summer Policy Academy.”
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Lila Romero (Jemez/Cochiti Pueblo) and other Summer Policy Academy fellows met with participants of the Junior Summer Institute, another summer program hosted by Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
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Summer Policy Academy student fellows learn to become leaders who can bring Indigenous voices and values into policymaking.
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Pecos led a closing reflection session for Summer Policy Academy students after they completed their learning on campus.
