Today we are launching MIAC’s November speaker series, “Indigenous Storytelling in Literature and Arts,” co-hosted by Deputy Director Dr. Matthew Martinez (Ohkay Owingeh) and Curatorial Assistant Lillia McEnaney. According to Dr. Reese, (Nambé Owingeh), less than 1% of children’s books published in the United States include American Indian characters or authors. These conversations are an extension of MIAC’s ongoing work with local schools and educators, and is meant to serve as a resource for New Mexicans to learn about Indigenous communities throughout the Southwest.
Our first speaker is Dr. Debbie Reese (Nambé Owingeh). Enrolled at Nambé Owingeh, Dr. Reese's research on Native peoples in children's literature is taught in English, Library Science, and Education classrooms in the United States and Canada. Dr. Reese's education started at the day school at Nambé. Her blog, American Indians in Children's Literature, is widely recognized as a leading resource for teachers, librarians, parents, writers, and professors. She is a co-adaptor of An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, for Young People, which won an Honor Award from the American Indian Library Association and was on numerous "Best Of" book lists in 2019.