Cheyenne-Chicana mama, rezgirl, prof @ucla|sociologist|demographer|data warrior|Indigenous resistance|inequality|racism|data|critical quant|my cussing|my views
Unceded Indigenous Land!
Based in Netherlands
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Thankful to be on the lands of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji & Yirrganydji peoples in Cairns, Australia. Listening to Dr Pat Anderson’s opening words.
“Only Indigenous Peoples understand the power of stories.”
So true! Our stories are our data. Our stories are our past & future.
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“Signing Treaties 2023”
Cheyenne youth & elders filling out USA passport paperwork. Fielding questions like: Why can’t we just use our tribal ids?!
Off to Australia to talk about Indigenous youth voice & choice in Indigenous data! This is my heart work.
#datawarriors #byusforus
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Normalize telling your students (espec Native students & others from historically excl pops): Yes, that (system, structure, theory, policy, data, lived experience, etc.) is fucked up! Now what we gonna do about it?” This is the most sacred part of my job: validating & dreaming.
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FYI Montana folks or wannabe Montana folks--holla! Can prob even find you short-term housing.
Help us get the Data War Pony on the road & into tribal communities where we will be "Rebuilding Indigenous Data By Us For Us." P.S. Non-Native allies welcome to apply!
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Today is Natl Awareness Day for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women. We experience the highest rates of domestic & sexual violence in this country. Almost 4 years since my niece Kaysera was murdered. Still no arrests. My baby is marching for his cousin. #justiceforkaysera #MMIWG
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I rarely travel for conferences or talks bc as a single mom, I gotta take my 6 yo or find childcare & it’s rarely worth it. But THIS is so worth it. I’m honored to be in relation w Indigenous women doctoral scholars today. There will be cussing, loud laughter, & tears.
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So good to be back @uarizona to meet with US Chief Data Scientist @DeniceRoss46.
Of course @scbegonias and I talked all things Indigenous Data Sovereignty/Governance! It’s great to have allies in important places. There’s much work to be done at the federal level! Onward…
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My son had his first ballet class today. With his bestie. They were safe and full of joy! 😭 ♥️
The only two boys and they’re Native and Black!
Why can’t the world keep affirming their joy like this forever?! I’ll die trying to make it so.
Nea’eše/thank you @diazstudiodance
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My 6 yo son tried sports & martial arts & just isn’t interested. Instead he wants piano & dance! So I enrolled him in both. Piano lights up his eyes in a way that makes me cry. Next week he starts ballet & tap. I will cultivate his joy even when the world tells him to harden up!
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I’m a relative first. When they call me home, I’m home. I want to stop burying my relatives! How do we get to live? The answer shouldn’t be so hard to find. But for us rez kids, it’s elusive. I don’t just study death as a Native demographer. I live it. My research is rage!
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Been away from the Twitterverse for a while. I've been trying to be fully present in my real life. Part of being present is feeling it all. I do that best in words.
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Today my baby talked about our Cheyenne culture to 3 kindergarten classes in a mix of Spanish/English. He told them that Natives are still here & no mama isn’t Pocahontas, she’s a professor 😂 & then we all round danced. F* I’m so proud. How did I get so lucky? #wearestillhere
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In solidarity with #UAWonStrike @UAW5810 @uaw2865
I teach a 300 student undergrad lecture class. Teaching this class is IMPOSSIBLE w/o the 4 teaching assistants who are dedicated instructors alongside me. They deserve a living wage!
#youareonnativeland #youareontongvaland
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Have you heard of the UCLA DataX initiative led by the incredible @safiyanoble? It's new. It's bold. It's interdisciplinary. One of its central pillars is data justice and equity. I can't wait to engage in the DataX Salon tomorrow with Dr. Lorrie Frasure-Yokley. Zoom available!
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School picture day! Per usual can’t find shirt I bought. Yes, found it! Ugh it’s wrinkly af. Where’s the iron aka the devil’s tool? Proceeds to iron OFF the tribal decal. FML. Glues it back on. Kinda. Pls universe let the damn thing stick for 1 photo. Late for school. Mercy! 😬
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Results from my masking survey of 300 Intro to Sociology students thanks to example from @DrSamiSchalk.
Take away is 1/5 (n=60) of my students NEED to mask! Those 60 students matter. I'm optimistic about the nearly 200 students who said they would mask if asked. Time will tell.
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6 yrs later, my beautiful baby & I are making it. Or at least we giving it hell. Against all odds. Thank f* our bank account isn’t constantly over drafted anymore 🙏🏽 I’m a single mama Indigenous woman rez girl profe at the top public university in the country. It’s all for him.
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Looking for help building a website for the Data Warriors Lab. Paid gig! QTBIPOC preferred. The lab is rocking! Our mobile lab AKA the Data War Pony is INCREDIBLE! Taking it on the road across Indian Country soon. Can't wait to show you all :)
#databyusforus #dataforthepeople
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Sharing strength! It’s Victory Day for the Cheyenne, Lakota, & Arapaho! June 25, 1876 we killed Custer. Cheyenne women stabbed his ears so he would hear his own words promising to never attack us again. I’m proud af to be Cheyenne lululu!#wearestillhere
Art: George Curtis Levi
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Nea’eše @hedwig_lee & others for organizing a necessary workshop @theNASEM measuring structural racism. I am always thankful
for the opportunity to say what needs to be said on Indigenous data erasure. We are still here, even if your data say otherwise.
vimeo.com/716145888
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Yo!! Students toss out good stuff! So much waste ugh but also why didn’t anyone tell me about move-out week treasure hunting?! No shame in my dumpster diving game. I grew up on the rez where everything has at least 9 lives. Look at this cute little fridge we scored :)
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ABD alert! Congrats @hartwerq for defending a fantastic dissertation proposal "Birthing Abolitionist Futures?: Radical Black Birth Care Epistemologies and Practices in the Afterlives of Slavery." It was 🔥! And cheers to a @HPRScholars alum & current scholar PhD committee team.
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Conference life w my best collaborator. Single parents are scholars too & barriers to inclusion must be dismantled! @AAPOR is the 1st conference to which I’ve been invited that covered my son’s travel no ?s asked. Feeling seen & supported in a professional space is wow!
Nea’eše
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Happy Monday! I’m eating lemons bars for breakfast (yay adulting) & beaming w auntie professor pride. The Native students @UCLA organized a wonderful powwow & they stay fighting for visibility. They make the ancestors & my 5 yo lil Cheyenne-Mexican boy with braids proud ♥️
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I admired Prof Ian Pool. He enjoyed talking about “those damn pilgrim fathers & how they really screwed the Indians.” He taught my cohort one of his last masterclasses. I gifted this art of the battle where we killed Custer. “Yes, you won!”he said. It was a good day. Moe mai rā.
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Teaching is hard. It's also incredibly rewarding. One of the best parts is my students share amazing music with me because I'm def still jammin the same stuff from college. Case in point: "from the windooooows...."
Ok but for real, Gyakie is 🔥
piped.video/watch?v=q5URc13j…
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“Please be respectful of others’ choices to mask or not after April 11. Get real, respect has never played a role in this pandemic. Ever.
To all of us teaching in person rn with changing guidelines and no masks, I respect you/us…nobody else gonna put food on our tables 😣
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Everything is hard. And sometimes we make a difference. This message is from a young man at home who lost his way here and there because rez life is too damn hard for our kids. But I’ll never give up on rez kids. Now I’m crying and these tears are just what I needed. Nea’eše.
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Stolen. Periodt.
Teaching is hard. And there are also moments like this. When you realize you taught somebody something that might catalyze even a tiny bit of change in this world.
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Always remembering my brother. Especially today. Sgt. George Kellum (Heovaehe- Yellow Hair) joined the ancestors 12 years ago at Ft. Benning. He was 23. I do not know the trauma he carried. The lives he took. The lives he lost. I do know he is at peace now. I miss him. F* war.
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My little Nota is the greatest gift from my time in grad school. He walked across the stage with me this weekend and I’ve never been more proud. He also absolutely knows how to work a stage lol
Nea’eše @uarizona and @ua_sociology
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The old ancestors standing watch. I’m back in Tucson to FINALLY graduate with my PhD from @uarizona 18 months later. Not gonna miss the chance to celebrate bc it was hard af & I did it. Somehow. With my little Wildcat in tow. Yay for closure! Shoutout to the pandemic graduates!
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A day late, but I just have to share.
From a galaxy far far away AKA south side Lame Deer, I bring you Baby Cheyenne Yoda!
#boyswithbraids
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These brilliant ones are giving me life. Wow teaching is where it’s at! It’s where the power is. It’s what matters. Shoutout to my Intro to Sociology Honors Seminar! First UCLA class I’ve taught in person. This is special.
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This damn thing is gonna haunt my dreams huh?! Also, I’m a huge fan of independent toy stores. @HUZZAHToys is a delightful little spot. Please send other recommended stores in LA. I believe strongly that a child’s job is to play & I wish I had all the toys as a kid.
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Any toy in the store for his 5th birthday tomorrow. 5?! What? Why? But most importantly, he chooses a CAT LADY as his gift. I don’t even like cats. This kid is straight playin me. Everyday I tell him he is beautiful & can be/do anything. He aspires to be a cat lady! Ok then 🤷🏽♀️😂
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Relocating across the country with a dog and a kid in a pandemic is wild. Got the last of the luggage aka the precious cargo! Coco is excited she said…promise lol
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I’m humbled by people’s generosity. The fires are getting contained. No human lives were lost, but there’s still so much community need. Damages are being assessed. I must shift focus to moving my son & I across the country as this pandemic rages. Fire donations can be sent to:
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Assembling air purifying units. We distributed 100 of these all across the reservation. Nea’eše (thank you). The fires are more than 50% contained, but the smoke is terrible. These units will help many households cope w the smoke. Thankful for my little crew of Cheyenne youth 🙌🏽
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Found MERV 13 filters!! Emergency air filtration units are in progress. Thank you for your suggestions and donations. Need to get box fans now. I have enough $ to build 100 of these plus purchase some more expensive units for elders. They will be distributed across the rez🙌🏽♥️
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Your donations are also helping get cold refreshments to firefighters so they can keep fighting. We remain at 0% containment. The smoke is awful. I appreciate all of your support. It’s heartbreaking to see my homeland burn like this—lands that my ancestors died to protect 😭
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Fires are still going! Winds are coming👀& it’s all hands on deck. Our supplies distribution site is the Boys and Girls Club. We distributed generators, food, & gas $ yesterday. Donations can be sent to:
Venmo: Desi-SR
PayPal: desisr@gmail.com
501c3:
ncbgclub.org
❤️🙏🏽
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Nea’eše to the Crow-Apsalooke Nation @CrowNationPR for taking care of our Cheyenne relatives who have been evacuated. Currently there about 60 people, including lots of children & fur babies here. Evac orders remain. I’m dropping off food & gas money. On to the next evac site.
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The fire has jumped the main highway and every single one of our villages is threatened. We are a small tribe w few resources and we try to help one another as best we can, but everyone is scrambling right now. I was raised to help if I can help. Thank you for helping me help 😭
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