Indigenous Liberation Speaker Series

The Indigenous Liberation Speaker Series, co-organized by United American Indians of New England and the North American Indian Center of Boston, was an online series in 2022 and 2023. We invited Indigenous activists, artists, and scholars to share their knowledge and work towards Indigenous liberation in an online series of conversations. Attendees learned from the frontlines of social, economic, gender equality, and racial justice presented through an Indigenous lens.

This series was supported in part by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

2023

Video coming soon...

2022

January
1.11.22
Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda Teach-In

Samantha Maltais (Aquinnah Wampanoag) chairs a panel that discusses the five bills before the 2021-2022 Massachusetts legislature. Panelists include:
Shawna Newcomb (Mashpee Wampanoag) and Faries Gray (Sagamore, Massachusett at Ponkapoag) on An Act prohibiting the use of Native American mascots by public schools in the Commonwealth. (S.294/H.581)
Jean-Luc Pierite (Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana) An Act to protect Native American Heritage. (S.2239/H.3377 & S.2240/H.3385)
Kisha James (Aquinnah Wampanoag) and Shawna Newcomb (Mashpee Wampanoag) on An Act Relative to celebrating and teaching Native American Culture and History (S.382/H.651)
Mahtowin Munro (Lakota) and Heather Leavell on An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day (S.2027/H.3191)
Jean-Luc Pierite (Tunica-Biloxi) and Ella Mae Jake-Blackowl (Pawnee) on An Act providing for the creation of a permanent commission relative to the education of American Indian and Alaska Native residents of the Commonwealth (H.582)

For more information on the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda, visit: www.maindigenousagenda.org

February
2.24.22
Talk with Dr. Kyle T. Mays, Author of "An Afro-Indigenous History of the US"

Dr. Mays is a transdisciplinary scholar of urban history and studies, Afro-Indigenous Studies, and contemporary popular culture. His recent book, An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States, argues that African enslavement and Indigenous dispossession have been central to the founding of the United States, and explores how Black and Indigenous peoples have resisted U.S. colonialism up to the present day.

Learn more about Dr. Mays’s work here: www.kyle-mays.com

March
3.27.22
A conversation with Indigenous Women Leaders From Across Turtle Island

Speakers include:

Melissa Harding Ferretti, Chairwoman of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe
Cherri Foytlin, Afro-Indigenous (Din'e), Executive Director of Movement Training Network and founder of L'eau Est La Vie Resistance Camp
Noretta Miswaggon, Pimicikamak First Nation, Manitoba, Megadam Resistance
Lisa Sockabasin, MS, RN, Co-CEO, Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness, citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk

April
4.21.22
We Are The Land. We Are The Water.

Speakers Include:

Camille Madison (Aquinnah Wampanoag) is a Keeper and Teacher of the Wôpanâak language and advocate for tribal and climate issues.
Julie Richards (Oglala Lakota), aka Mama Julz, is a frontline water protector, land defender, and the founder of the Mothers Against Meth Alliance.
Big Wind Lott (Northern Arapaho) has been a frontline water and land protector in MA, WY, and elsewhere.
Justine Teba is from Santa Clara and Tesuque Pueblos. An organizer for The Red Nation in Tewa Territory in Albuquerque, NM, Teba will be speaking about the Red New Deal.

December
12.8.2022
Indigenizing the Classroom with Shawna Newcomb

Shawna is a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and is an experienced teacher in the Hanover MA Public Schools. A dynamic speaker, Shawna will share ideas for teachers, school systems and parents on how to include more Indigenous content and create a more Indigenous-conscious space in schools.