By Donald Gilpin

Princeton University has recently undertaken a number of initiatives to expand its influence in the field of Native American and Indigenous studies, with J. Kehaulani Kauanui coming on board as the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Professor of Indigenous Studies to help lead the effort.

In a November 14 press release, the University reported that it had expanded academic centers, programs, and scholarly resources to strengthen institutional relationships with Native American and Indigenous communities, as well as seeking to enhance research and scholarship in the field and to recognize and support Native and Indigenous students and scholars.

A leader in the field of Native American and Indigenous studies, Kauanui, who joined the Princeton faculty this fall and will teach a seminar for seniors and graduate students in the spring titled “Decolonizing Indigenous Genders and Sexualities,” previously served as professor of American studies and anthropology at Wesleyan University from 2000 to 2023. She founded the school’s Indigenous Studies Research Network.

Her work focuses on Indigenous issues related to sovereignty, settler colonialism, self-determination, decolonization, and gender and sexuality studies. In 2022 she received the American Indian History Lifetime Achievement Award. Her current book project is provisionally titled A Question of Decolonization: Hawaiian Women and a Dilemma of Feminism.

At Princeton Kauanui holds a joint appointment in the Department of Anthropology and the Effron Center for the Study of America. The press release notes that it is anticipated that “she will help bridge work related to Indigenous scholarship across disciplines and will engage faculty and students around these topics in new ways.”

Currently Princeton faculty in more than 20 different academic fields focus on Indigenous studies, offering courses such as Native American Literature, Collecting and Exhibiting Art of the Ancient Americas, and Indigenous Futures: Health and Well-being Within Native Nations, in various departments.

“I’m excited for the opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations with faculty and connections with graduate students and undergraduates,” Kauanui said, as quoted in the University press release. “I am excited to work with the faculty, staff, and students who have been leaders on these issues at Princeton. We can build on what is in place and further develop creative new directions.”

At Princeton two student groups, Natives at Princeton and Native Graduate Students of Princeton, host programs for Native American Heritage Month each November and host other events throughout the year. Another student group, the Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition, “seeks to empower and advocate” for indigenous students and indigenous studies, and for alumni there is the Native Alumni of Princeton affinity group.

In addition, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton promotes projects that bring outside scholars and guest speakers together with Princeton faculty and students for cross-disciplinary discussion.