UNM English graduate and undergraduate students presented a panel on Oceti Sakowin life writings at the American Indian Studies Association (AISA) Conference on Thursday, February 5, 2026. The AISA Conference is a national gathering of scholars, students, and community members dedicated to advancing Indigenous research, culture, and scholarship.
The students shared papers developed in Dr. Sarah Hernandez’s course, ENGL 416/516: Indigenous Biography and Autobiography, focusing on Oceti Sakowin writers including Charles Eastman (Santee Dakota), Zitkala Ša (Yankton Nakota), Russell Means (Oglala Lakota), Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (Sicangu Lakota), and Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (Crow Creek Dakota).
The panel included:
Wendi Lee (MA Student), Facilitating Literary Sovereignty in the Contemporary Indigenous Memoir
Jolee Magoosh (BA Student), Raw Resistance: Political Satire, Survival, and the Rejection of American Fiction in Native Writing
Camilla Hayes (PhD Student), A Debilitating Education: Zitkála-Šá’s Indian Boarding School Writings
Aja Quintana (BA Student), Invisible Labor Makes a Visible Defiance: The Role of Oceti Sakowin Womanhood
Zack Matthews (MA Student), Looking Towards the Future from the Past: American Indian Life Narratives
The papers examined how Oceti Sakowin authors use life writings to tell personal and communal stories, assert literary sovereignty, and explore issues of gender, disability, colonization, and decolonization. During the panel, students highlighted how these narratives critique settler colonialism, support Indigenous sovereignty, and foster greater understanding of Oceti Sakowin peoples, communities, and nations.
