Cultivated Space
DU: Native Histories 

Cultivated Space was created to share Native Histories at the University of Denver. This series explores the relationships between Indigenous well-being and western higher education, particularly at DU. 

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Yá’át’ééh Shik’éi! Greetings, my relatives! I am Reshawn Edison, from Diné Bikéyah (Navajo land), a small community in central Arizona known as Steamboat. This Capstone Project results from collective Indigenous Identities who have an academic relationship with the University of Denver; these Stories are highlighted. As a fourth-year Indigenous scholar at this predominately-white private institution, I have dedicated my efforts as a student of anthropology and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. As a result, I have enjoyed scholarship on culture, intersectionality, and identity across time and context in the past, present, and future worlds. 

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Anthropology tells us that human language, culture, and place in the universe change throughout time and existence. I Intend to project my experiences in my day-to-day life at this academic institution and validate individual Indigenous identity. This two-world paradigm is a phenomenon that Native people have to endure in present colonial nation-states and have done so since the colonization of North America. 

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As a living, breathing entity, I express myself and my sense of belonging through my everyday walk of life. I embody the free will and the determination of my ancestor's blood that flows in the vessel of my being. Throughout my existence, my grandparents planted a seed for how I have mediated my creativity through Diné Bizáád (Navajo.        language) and culture, arts and crafts, poetry, and public speaking, all of which contribute to significant aspects of how my indigeneity became critical.

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Being a person of color at an institution where Indigenous senses of belonging do not extend beyond acknowledgments of stolen land, I am inherently displaced. I am not alone in these experiences, as my fellow peers reckon with systemic mistreatment of the institution we attend in higher education. 

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Our genetic material is bound to our ancestors' land as Indigenous people. My relatives across turtle island are the products of intergenerational resistance and resilience throughout the entire history of this continent.

 

The consequences of the ideologies of ownership and cultural and economic capital are fueled by the human constructs of race, domination, and the socio-economic status of personal and group identities. It presents itself as an interconnected ecology of cultural suppression upheld by white supremacy and the continual process of settler colonialism.

 

My fellow Native Students at the University of Denver's stories set this capstone project's tone. They will create a concrete path to establishing kinship in a polarizing campus climate.

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Before my participating role as a student, I have a duty to my kin to maintain the relationship with the world around me and how I navigate my place in all of this. As a son, a grandson, brother, friend, and relative, I have a moral obligation to present myself in a manner that reflects the values and ethics of myself and my kin. My goal is to contribute to the holistic well-being of my relatives across academia by making our collective voice known to our families and communities. Unfortunately, we have been shunned from the decision-making of our senses of belonging at a place that confines our presence to an unrealistic rationale of peace. 

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The injustices of settler colonialism and its symbolic attribute of the domination of Native and people of color are embodied within the walls of the University of Denver, perpetuated by symbols of cultural erasure defended by the continual use of the Pioneer Moniker. Indeed much more than a foolish mascot. Thoughts of the ideological other are directly connected and acted upon in this one example across university decision-making, impacting our relatives' social, emotional, spiritual, and physical health while in higher education.

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My relatives and I are constantly struggling to be seen on a human level. Our white counterparts are privileged by their pale skin, and ours socially dominate us. How could this institution continue this modern form of cultural genocide while propagating false narratives of diversity and inclusion? These examples include the lack of carrying out and acting upon Indigenous initiatives enacted by the University of Denver administration. I have witnessed time and time again the disregard for cultural diversity and equity multiple times during my undergraduate career.

 

In the fall of 2020 chancellor, Jeremy Haefner stated, “what we avow is the pioneering spirit — the courage and resilience to think and act boldly; to break through barriers as explorers, innovators, and front runners into the future,” it continues the marginalization of our collective voices, keeping the Pioneer Monkiner after student demands to rid the ratchet nature of the name implies on our lives. 

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This project allows the mediation of podcasting to create a meaningful discourse between students, families, and the academic community in which the narrative is translucent on many levels of inclusion.

Unfortunately, the University of Denver has perpetuated a settler culture built from the domination of social and economic class rooted in the ideologies of race and the theoretical other. 

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These are only a few examples that I intend to conduct my research on an ethnographic mediation while also incorporating the visual art form of acrylic paint on canvas. While the University of Denver never could break away from its roots of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and its continual settler nature. It is essential to understand its history within the context of creating a space where individual experiences are valid means of research.

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In each episode, I ask Native American scholars who attend the University of Denver to bring an item that holds a unique sentimental value to their hearts. This is where we base our conversation on what medicine may look like in their personal lives. The voice of the Indigenous identity on holistic grounds cannot continue to be overlooked as our kin are shadowed. 

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Rendering all of this anthropologically allows us to contribute to the social cause of resistance and resilience. As an Indigenous scholar who has been a part of these conflicting paradigms, I intend to cultivate a space where the research and scholarship conducted are made for Native American Students at the University of Denver by its Indigenous students. 

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Last but not least, I like to give my immense gratitude to the land on which this project is based. My appreciation extends beyond this acknowledgment. The ground I study and live upon is in the Denver area, and this place once was home to the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Ute nations. I believe that It is essential to give thanks to the land, the people, and the spirits all around. I must be consciously aware of my place on this land, that at the end of the day, I am a visitor to this part of the world.