Highlights from the Labriola Center
This past July, the Labriola Center held a virtual book club and designed a book display in Fletcher Library honoring Arizona Tribes by sharing their tribal seals, a brief description of their community and QR code linked to their tribal website. You can view the book display in Fletcher's atrium and it will be available to view until the end of August.
Virtual Book Club: Marrow Thieves and Hunting by Stars
Virtual Book Club: Marrow Thieves and Hunting by Stars
On Sunday, July 30th 2023, the Labriola National American Indian Data Center held its final summer book club meeting on the Marrow Thieves series with "Hunting by Stars" and "Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline (Métis). This series is based in Canada and the main character, French, must learn how to survive in a world that is infected by a sleepless plague: people are dying from dreamlessness and they are harvesting the marrow of Indigenous people. French survives with his newfound family, a group of Indigenous youth headed by their selfless leader and father-figure, Miig. This series was truly a gripping read and difficult to put down. Myself and participant, Christina, spent the majority of the virtual meeting discussing the symbols and themes within the novel on identity, kinship, and the horrific aftermath and historical hauntings of boarding schools that can easily be repeated. I highly recommend checking out the Marrow Thieves series, which is available in our Open Stacks at the Labriola Center (call number: PR9199.4.D56 H86 2021).
July and August 2023 Book Display: Celebrating the Liberation of Arizona Tribal Nations
This July 2023, the Labriola National American Indian Data Center at the West campus created a book display celebrating Arizona State's Tribal Nations. The 4th of July is known as Independence Day, which celebrates the United States' separation from Britain during the American Revolution in 1776.
However, the language within the Declaration of Independence is a declaration of violence against Native Americans. Within this document, Native Americans are labeled as "merciless Indian Savages." As quoted from Dennis Zotigh, "From the beginning, United States government policy contributed to the loss of culture and land."
The Labriola Center recognizes and celebrates the twenty-three sovereign tribal nations within Arizona. Each sign contains a tribal seal, their location, and additional information about their landscape, enrollment numbers, and more. Each tribe has their own tribal constitution, which can be accessed by scanning the QR code associated with each seal.
The book display was designed by our student library aides, Ashley Davis (Diné) and Mafi Pamaka (Tongan). They incorporated the seals from each Arizona tribal nation. The tribes within Arizona are the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Cocopah Indian Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe, Gila River Indian Community, Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Navajo Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, San Carlos Apache Tribe, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Tohono O'odham Nation, Tonto Apache Tribe, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Tribe, Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe, and the Hia-Ced O'odham.
This display will continue to be up throughout August, so be sure to swing by Fletcher Library and view the display on the first floor. You can also see a permanent display of the Arizona Tribal Seals by visiting the American Indian Student Support Services, located on every campus at Arizona State University.
Read more about how the Hia-Ced O'odham are moving towards being federally recognized by clicking here.
Check out our upcoming events by visiting our events page here.