J U LY 5 -11, 2 0 17 | W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
OUDAILY
For 100 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma
QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY
‘Who defines who Indian people are?’ KELLI STACY • @ASTACYKELLI
T
he recent hiring of a professor in the OU Na t i v e A m e r i c a n Studies Department, followed by an anonymous blog post questioning her heritage, has rekindled questions of racial identity at OU. Though steps have been taken toward improvement before this, Native American students and professors, in particular, still face unique issues
VOL. 102, NO. 67 © 2017 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢
of race and identity. The Native Amer ican Studies Department hired Gina Stuart-Richard in May as an assistant professor specializing in indigenous mapping and cartography, as well as data sovereignty. Stuart-Richard told The Daily she is aware of the accusations and hasn’t pursued legal actions despite the “false information” the blog spread about her.
A&E
OU GRADUATES SEIZE VIRTUAL REALITY CRAZE
She said she is not an enrolled member of the band of Mississippi Choctaws, and has never presented herself as such, but is connected to the tribe through her ancestry and notes her affiliation with the tribe on her resume. The question of how people identify with their race, and who gets to decide that, is still up for debate.
2
“Who defines who Indian people are? I think that goes back to a lot of t h e t r i b a l c i t i z e n s h i p,” OU Tribal Liaison Warren Queton said. “The tribes decide who’s a member of the tribe, but even those are a heated discussion because a lot of them do it by blood quantum. Who answers that question?” see IDENTITY page 7
FEATURE
LINCOLN RILEY CREDITS HOMETOWN ROOTS
4-5