Academic Service
Professor Jolene Rickard
AIISP offers its deep appreciation for the many years Prof. Jolene Rickard provided to the program as Director. Prof. Rickard served in this position for eight years — in what was supposed to be a three-year term! – concluding her term in December 2019. Prof. Rickard led the program through several major developments, including a name change to the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program. This change was made to reflect the growing international presence of the Indigenous movement, and the continuing development of Indigenous Studies as an academic field at Cornell and across the globe. Prof. Rickard also strengthened the Program’s ties to Haudenosaunee communities, established protocols, expanded the Haudenosaunee-related curriculum, and led an effort to have the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ (Cayuga) language taught at Cornell, which started in Fall 2019. Thank you, Professor Rickard!
Gaoyakdá:geh (A. Steve Henhawk), Gayogo̱hó:nǫ / Cayuga Nation, Otahyǫ:ni: / Wolf Clan
The American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Cornell University honors Steve Henhawk (Gaoyakdá:geh) for demonstrating the values imagined for the BUFFALO SPIRIT AWARD. Initiated in 1995 by the Cornell Council of American Indian Graduate and Professional Students the BUFFALO SPIRIT AWARD recognizes an individual who has provided outstanding leadership in supporting students and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies mission.
Steve Henhawk, (Gaoyakdá:geh) Gayogo̱hó:nǫ Lecturer for the AIIS/LING 3324 Cayuga Language and Culture class, demonstrated courage and determination to engage with Cornell students. AIIS minor, Anthropology major and Ph.D. student, Bruno Seraphin observed, “I have been enrolled in his Cayuga language class during the Spring 2020 semester, and have been profoundly impressed with his commitment to teaching–even amid catastrophic events that have taken place in the Cayuga community in Seneca Falls as well as the ongoing global pandemic that have forced us all to radically adapt our teaching and learning. This academic year I can think of few others whose work has benefitted AIISP as much as Steve.”
There are many reasons for his nomination, but his humility is as impressive as the depth of Gayogo̱hó:nǫ knowledge that he brings to light for each class. Foremost, Steve is a Faithkeeper at the Seneca Longhouse at Six Nations or Oshweken. Fluent in the Gayogo̱hó:nǫ or Cayuga language, he is an L1 Cayuga speaker whose life is dedicated to the teachings and traditional practices of the Haudenosaunee. Intergenerational mentorship informs his mastery of TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) as demonstrated through the Cayuga language within the context of the ceremonial cycle within the longhouse “way of life.” The instruction of this knowledge has taken place under the direction of Cayuga elders; Irwina Harris (Wolf Clan) and Henry Henhawk, (Onondaga, Eel). Most profoundly, the demonstration of his success is measured by the number of Cayuga speakers that he mentors who can also continue this knowledge. Steve Henhawk’s mentorship of students in Cornell’s Linguistic department and the AIISP is an equally valued step toward academic decolonization.
Director of Graduate Studies
Professor Troy Richardson (Fall 2019)
Professor Eric Cheyfitz (Spring 2020)
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Professor Eric Cheyfitz (Fall 2019 and Spring 2020)
Graduate Teaching Assistants
Dusti Bridges – AIIS 1100: Indigenous North America
Michael Dunaway – Graduate Teaching Coordinator – AIIS 1110: Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives
Undergraduate Teaching Assistants
Anna Lea Ullmann – AIIS 1110: Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives
Hayley Robin Tessler – AIIS 1110: Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives
Raphael Scala Chierchio – AIIS 1110: Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives
Corinne Helen Kennedy – AIIS 1110: Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives
