4th Annual Indigenous Education Symposium: Full Schedule

10:00am MDT

Experiential Place Based/Land Based Learning

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:30pm MDT

TBA

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:30pm MDT
TBA

10:00am MDT

Bridging Explicit Instruction with Indigenous Genius by Design (IGbD)

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

This session is designed for educators who want to honor the rigor of Native Literature while ensuring every student has the cognitive tools to access it. We will explore how Explicit Instruction (EI)—typically viewed as a "Western" pedagogical tool—can be decolonized and repurposed to serve the transfer of Indigenous knowledge, values, and joy.

Speakers

Jenny Atcitty (Diné)

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

From Classroom to Community: Empowering Students by Indigenizing Your Secondary ELA Curriculum Using A Rhetorical Approach

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

How do we prepare students for where they’re going in life? Recent scholarship on writing and rhetoric offers important insights about how we can help students negotiate the critical transitions that increasingly determine postsecondary success—like the transition from middle school to high school, high school to college, school to work, and from first-year college courses into the major and beyond. Teaching texts rhetorically promotes students’ agency and resilience by empowering them to transform their learning for new purposes. The units provided by the Native Literature Design Program encompass this approach.

No curriculum is perfect and for many secondary ELA teachers, the curriculum we have been given is often imperfect. Curriculum is equitable and effective when it acts as a “positive light” (142), to use Gholdy Muhammad’s description. Muhammad explains that “a quality curriculum provides teachers with guidance on how to approach, enhance, and customize lessons to meet the needs of their students” (157). When we use the tools of the Native Literature Design program and the framework from the California State University’s Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) we can create a curriculum that meets the needs of all of our students, gives students a voice, and celebrates the joy of Indigenous Genius.

In this session, participants learn how to level up literacy and language learning through a rhetorical approach to reading and composing. Using examples from California State University's Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) and the Native Literature Design Program, we explore teaching strategies and frameworks that promote transfer from reading to writing (and back again), between academic disciplines, and across genres and rhetorical situations. Most importantly, as part of the process of integrating these frameworks, participants will learn how to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into their existing curriculum.

Speakers

Margo Batha

English teacher Los Alamos High School and Coach, California State University Expository Reading and Writing Course, Los Alamos Public Schools

From Classroom to Community: Empowering Students by Indigenizing Your Secondary ELA Curriculum Using A Rhetorical Approach
How do we prepare students for where they’re going in life? Recent scholarship on writing and rhetoric offers important insights about how we can help students negotiate the critical transitions that increasingly determine postsecondary success—like the transition from middle... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

Ikhoyaka - Character Building

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Character Building of our Lakota (Native) students has been the first priority focus since the days we lived in tipis. Elders and Children were always first when considered in the families. Native people knew that if we raised decent human beings, our way of life would be easier to manage. Building character also helps our Native students excel and fosters a healthy identity. Native students must know who they are and where they fit in society. I use a number of books to establish Classroom Management and Classroom expectations. Examples of literature is Peta Shows Mesun the Light by Jessie Taken Alive - Rencountre and Gift Horse by SD Nelson. I also plug in the Lakota language into these teachings as much as possible. From these two books it is easier to establish Classroom Protocol.

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

Mother Water (Water Filter Lab)

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

This session explores why clean water is essential for health, ecosystems, and community well‑being, grounding the learning in both scientific principles and Indigenous teachings. Many Indigenous Nations view water as a living relative and emphasize responsibility, respect, and stewardship. These perspectives frame the scientific investigation into how water becomes contaminated and how communities work to protect it.

Speakers

Kim Etsitty (Diné)

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

Poetry in the Elementary Native Lit Classroom: Accessing the Joy of Language through Play

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

In this session, participants will learn strategies to engage students in the study of poetry through play. Participants will take a deep dive into Grade 4 Unit 2: Words of Empowerment and Resilience that focuses on the novel in verse Red Bird Sings by Dawn Quigley (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe). They will read and write poetry in rotations that provide the opportunity to experiment with different types of poetry, explore the connections between various forms of artistic expression (music, rap, drawing, photography) and poetry, and use poetry to deepen their connection to the land. We will connect this play back to the work of indigenous poets represented in the unit and think about how to empower students to interpret and create in this genre of writing.

Speakers

Sarah Caldwell

Albuquerque Public Schools

Sarah Caldwell is a bi-racial black educator who was raised in a suburb of Wichita, Kansas where her education focused exclusively on white authors until her English teacher, Mrs. A, assigned Toni Morrison during her senior year of high school. She immersed herself in texts by diverse... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

Sixth Grade Indigenous Science Curriculum

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

The session will provide an overview of the curriculum through modeling and engagement of learning through hands-on learning lessons connecting to ELA/art lessons, implementing place-based learning methods, and showing how to adapt and localize lessons to your classroom. The goal is to provide modeling, practicing, and provide tools to implement within the learners' classrooms.

Speakers

Diane Chavarria

Kha'p'o Community School

“Learning is a never-ending and exciting adventure” is the motto that paves the way of Diane's life. She is a proud wife and mother of four boys who are from the Santa Clara Pueblo. With a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the Pennsylvania State University, she pursued a background... Read More →

Tylar Rodriguez

Phoenix International Academy

Tylar Rodriguez currently works and lives in South Phoenix. He is an experienced educator at Phoenix International Academy and has participated in the Indigenous Science Initiative of the last 3 years as a curriculum writer and mentor.

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

Understanding Tribal Systems and Building Meaningful Relationships

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

This session will explore the importance of localizing education efforts through meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities. Drawing from the presenter’s experience working in Tribal education, she will share practical insights from her own work in building relationships and navigating collaboration. Participants will then be introduced to foundational knowledge of Tribal governance systems and how they are structured, in particular Tribal Education Departments, to help educators understand the scope of the work and services that they provide to their communities.
Building on this foundation, the session will focus on strategies for developing respectful and effective partnerships with Indigenous Communities, and will conclude with practical guidance and concrete steps participants can take to begin building meaningful relationships.

Speakers

Bettina Sandoval (Taos Pueblo)

Bettina Sandoval was born into the community of Taos Pueblo, she is deeply rooted in her values and connections and is driven to make a positive impact anywhere she goes. Her passion for education started when she earned a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education from the University... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

10:00am MDT

What Are GMO's

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

In this engaging 8th grade science session, participants will take on the role of students and investigate the science of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through the lens of both modern biotechnology and indigenous knowledge systems. Participants will begin by analyzing an excerpt from Robin Wall Kimmerer to ground their thinking in relationality and respect for the natural world. Using a "notice and wonder" protocol, participants generate questions about GMOs and consider their role in addressing global challenges, including feeding a population of over 8 billion people.
Through collaborative learning strategies such as a write-pair-share and movement-based discussion, participants actively construct understanding while engaging with their peers. A multimedia component introduces foundational scientific concepts behind genetic modification that prepares students to critically evaluate the benefits and risks of GMOs.
The most interactive participation is when students / participants are in a structured debate, examining multiple perspectives on GMOs, including environmental, cultural, ethical and economic impacts. This activity encourages critical thinking, evidence-based reasoning and respectful dialogue. Throughout the session, Indigenous Science principles-including respect, reciprocity and relationality- are woven into instruction by inviting students / participants to reflect on how scientific advancements intersect with indigenous values, land-based knowledge and community well-being.
By the end of the session, students / participants are not only understanding how GMOs are created and used but they also develop a more nuanced perspective on their implications, empowering them to think critically about science in real-world contexts.

Speakers

Talaya Platero - Diné

Wednesday July 15, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session A

2:45pm MDT

Designing an Equitable High School Classroom

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

Our session is rooted in the research of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad's five pursuits in her equity framework for schools: identity, skills, intellectualism, criticality and joy. While the work and practice of essential skills such as "introducing a precise, knowledgeable claim" is necessary in these pursuits, they serve more as the result of rather than the focus of the equitable classroom.

Speakers

Emily Beenen

Albuquerque Academy

Emily Beenen is a white, cisgender woman from the Midwest who currently teaches 8th and 9th grade ELA at Albuquerque Academy. Previously, she spent 19 years teaching primarily 11th and 12th grade AP Literature and AP Language at the Native American Community Academy. She applied to... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

Designing with Relatives: Indigenous Mentorship and the Native Auntie Way of Learning

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

Many Indigenous educators grow professionally through relationships rather than formal professional development systems. Mentorship from aunties, elders, colleagues, and community members often teaches ways of observing, responding, and caring for others that shape how we approach leadership and learning.

This interactive session begins with a personal story from the facilitator’s upbringing on the Navajo Nation, reflecting on early lessons learned from aunties and elders about observation, responsibility, and relational accountability. These experiences introduce the idea that Indigenous mentorship is a form of professional learning that continues to influence how educators design learning environments today.

Participants will engage in guided reflection to identify the mentors and community members who shaped their own approaches to teaching and leadership. Through collaborative discussion and simple mapping activities, participants will explore how Indigenous values such as relational accountability, observation, and collective responsibility can inform classroom design and professional practice.

Aligned with the principles of Indigenous Genius by Design, this session centers community knowledge, teacher expertise, and relational learning. Participants will leave with practical ideas for incorporating Indigenous mentorship and values into their teaching and professional growth.

Speakers

April Yazza (Diné and A:shiwi)

Doctoral Candidate, University of New Mexico

Yá’át’ééh! My name is April Brannon Yazza. I am of the Red Running into the Water People clan, born for the A:shiwi people, and I am originally from Tsayatoh, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation. Today I serve communities across Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

I am a doctoral candidate in the Native Americans in Educational Leadership program at the University of New Mexico, where our work centers Indigenous pedagogy, community-rooted research, and leadership grounded in cultural values. I am also a proud NACA-Inspired Schools Network... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

Healing With, Not Just For

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

Our session will be with Cecelia (Acoma) and Shayai Lucero (Acoma/Laguna), Native American Mother and Daughter from New Mexico. Cecelia and Shayai will share their deep knowledge of plant medicine, curanderismo, wellness and regulation strategies so educators and administrators can integrate and nurture themselves on their paths beyond the symposium.
Presentation Objectives include:
* Contemplate ways to integrate wellness into Science curriculum
* Learn about and consider incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives within the classroom
* Practice strategies for self-regulation and restoration to mitigate effects of teaching burn-out

Speakers

Shayai Lucero (Acoma)

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

ISI 101

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

In this session, participants will learn about the story of the ISI, from early days in 2023 to the launch of the open-access curriculum. There will be an opportunity to hear the story of the project as well as to explore the resources and start thinking about how to adapt or localize the resources in diverse contexts.

Speakers

Paul LeFrancois

K12 Education Program Coordinator, LANL Foundation

Driven by a passion for place-based teaching and learning and a deep belief in public education, Paul LeFrancois serves as the K12 Education Program Manager for the LANL Foundation. In this role, he is responsible for coordinating the Indigenous Science Initiative and the National... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

Native Lit Student's: Taking the Experience Home with Paloma & Agalisiga

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

Learn about Paloma's experience in NativeLit as a middle school student at NACA and how it has impacted her life. Then will transition to how Paloma and her partner Agalisiga now center Indigenous-centered literacy in their roles as parents, educators, Cherokee language learners, and creators (books and music). Audience members can also ask questions. May be especially beneficial to schools, specifically immersion schools, or other indigenous-centered schools who are beginning their NativeLit programs.

Speakers

Agalisiga Mackey (Cherokee)

Agalisiga “Chuj” Mackey is a Cherokee guitarist/musician and singer/songwriter from the Cherokee Nation in Northeast Oklahoma. Mackey spent the early years of his life growing up on a creek bank in the small traditional Cherokee community of Kenwood, OK. Mackey grew up participating... Read More →

Olivia Martinez (Kickapoo, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Hispanic)

Olivia “Liv” Martinez (she/her) is Kickapoo, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Hispanic, born and raised in Albuquerque’s South Valley. Her early connection to land and community shaped her passion for outdoor education and working with youth. Now serving as Program Manager at Nature... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

Our Landscapes: Our Stories

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

An informative session learning about the amazing cultural landscapes of the National Park Service. Our landscapes are a text and tell stories. Connecting the geographical and cultural stories of the places to the classroom in Native Literature and Indigenous Science curriculum contents.

Speakers

Diane Chavarria

Kha'p'o Community School

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

Service in Science

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

In this session, participants will consider how science can provide an opportunity for meaningful ways to incorporate service opportunities for students to directly inform and impact their community. Participants will look at a variety of practices to make learning visible that offer students genuine and authentic opportunities to demonstrate their learning. Participants will ground themselves in a service mindset and consider how science classes can better support stewardship of the Land.

Speakers

Tylar Rodriguez

Phoenix International Academy

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

2:45pm MDT

The Voices of Us: Honoring Stories and American Identity

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT

TBA

In this hands-on session, participants will explore storytelling as a way to understand identity, culture, and what it means to be American. Through interviews, stories, poetry, and photography, participants step into the role of the student, experiencing how personal and cultural narratives reveal diverse perspectives. Together, we will honor and respect that each person’s definition of “American” is unique, and leave with practical strategies to bring land-based, identity-centered storytelling into any classroom.

Speakers

Abbie Winter

Regional Facilitator/Coach, Albuquerque Public Schools

Abbie Winter is a passionate educator and facilitator who believes classrooms should echo with story, voice, and possibility. With over 20 years of experience rooted in project-based learning, she creates spaces where students think critically, create boldly, and find their place... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:45pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session C

8:30am MDT

Orientation to the day

Thursday July 16, 2026 8:30am - 8:45am MDT

TBA

Thursday July 16, 2026 8:30am - 8:45am MDT
TBA

General Session

8:45am MDT

Keynote 2 - "Embracing Critical Indigenous Literacies in Curriculum Spaces"

Thursday July 16, 2026 8:45am - 9:45am MDT

TBA

Speakers

Natalie Martinez - Laguna

Thursday July 16, 2026 8:45am - 9:45am MDT
TBA

General Session Keynote

10:00am MDT

Elementary Indigenous Science

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Talk about the elementary curriculum I created for the NACA elementary teachers and how it's helped them continue indigenous science in their classrooms. Talks about connections to themselves, to land, to plants, to water, to animals, and how to utilize our senses (hear, sight, touch, taste, smell, and how you feel in your heart). Goes over all the different ways to incorporate the outdoors but hands on learning but can also be flexible and adaptable to fit science needs.

Updated session description (4/14) - This session will focus on showing teachers how they can co-learn with the land using their senses and understanding how social emotional learning can be beneficial to classroom/ outdoor classroom environments to increase curiosity and understanding of the world around them.

Or: “In this session, participants will explore the elementary curriculum Victoria created while at NACA Elementary and how it has helped teachers facilitate Indigenous Science learning in their classrooms. This session will include time practicing making connections to self, land, plants, water, and animals as well as how to utilize our senses (hearing, sight, touch, taste, smell, and how you feel in your heart). Additionally, participants will learn different methods for incorporating the outdoors and hands on learning through an exploration of being flexible and adaptable to fit specific classroom and school science needs.”

Speakers

Victoria Martinez (Laguna, Zia, Zuni, and Santo Domingo)

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

From Classroom to Community: Empowering Students by Indigenizing Your Secondary ELA Curriculum Using A Rhetorical Approach

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Speakers

Margo Batha

English teacher Los Alamos High School and Coach, California State University Expository Reading and Writing Course, Los Alamos Public Schools

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

Inter-Indigenous Perspectives on Place-Based Learning

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

This interactive session explores land-based learning through an inter-Indigenous lens, highlighting how relationships with land, story, and community can shape meaningful educational experiences for youth. Facilitators Liv Martinez and Atieno Ouma will share practices from their work in outdoor and place-based education that encourage middle school students to build curiosity, observation skills, and a sense of responsibility toward the environments and communities they are part of.

Participants will engage in a model lesson and collaborative activities designed to help educators incorporate land-based learning into their own classrooms or school communities. Together, we will explore how Indigenous science practices such as observation, storytelling, and relational learning can support student identity, belonging, and connection to place.

Speakers

Olivia Martinez (Kickapoo, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Hispanic)

Atieno Ouma (Kenyan from the Luo tribe)

Nature Ninos

Atieno Ouma is a dedicated leader in outdoor education and community engagement with extensive experience designing experiential programs that connect young people to education, community, and the natural world. Originally from Kenya and raised in Massachusetts, she has lived in New... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

Language and the Land: Resources for Connecting to Critical Concepts

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Land is a teacher. Land is not just a backdrop but a living entity that provides sustenance, medicine, and knowledge. This session provides ways that teachers can connect the land to literature by asking the following questions: How do we see land as text? How do you integrate land as text? Focusing on poetry, children's books, and non-fiction texts this session will help teachers k-12 connect land to language and literature.
Participants will practice using language to describe the land and practice writing and identifying questions that help students' land as text comprehension.

Speakers

Azella Humetewa

Senior Director of School Design & Sustainability, NACA inspired Schools Network

Faith Rosetta (Santo Domingo Pueblo)

Diane Katzenmeyer Delgado

Director of Indigenous Genius by Design (Curriculum), NACA inspired Schools Network

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

Localizing Your Curriculum- Planning in Place

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Join us for an interactive session grounded in land based learning. Educators will reflect on their own recent outdoor experiences and explore how to design meaningful field trips that center relationships with land, community, and student
Identity. Participants will consider how outdoor learning connects to Indigenous Science Initiative curriculum, including ways to frame pre- and post- learning experiences that will deepen understanding. This session will also highlight what it looks like to
teach in the field, sharing practical tools and strategies for responding to student curiosity, honoring teachable moments, and adapting to the natural flow of learning
Outdoors. Educators will leave with concrete approaches to creating intentional, culturally
grounded, and responsive outdoor learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom.

Speakers

Alice Tsoodle (Kiowa & Cherokee)

NACA inspired Schools Network

Alice Tsoodle comes from the Kiowa and Cherokee people of Oklahoma and is descendent of European settlers. She grew up in New Mexico and returns by way of Oklahoma, Colorado, and Washington. Her interests and experiences include walking with and learning from children as they reclaim... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

Memoirs as Medicine

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Indigenous literacy is more than reading and writing—it is the preservation of voice, identity, memory, and community knowledge. This session explores how storytelling and memoir can serve as powerful literacy tools that strengthen student identity, engagement, and academic growth across PK–12 classrooms.
Drawing from Memoirs of a Rez Girl and years of experience in Indigenous education, this session demonstrates how culturally grounded storytelling supports reading, writing, speaking, and listening while affirming students’ lived experiences. Participants will explore how literacy instruction rooted in identity and voice fosters confidence, belonging, and resilience, particularly for Indigenous learners whose stories are often absent from traditional curriculum.

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

Storytelling: Passing on Indigenous Knowledge Through the Framework of Storytelling

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Step into a reflective pause with Michael as he shares the living tradition of Pueblo storytelling, where stories are more than narratives—they are vessels of ancestral knowledge, identity, and responsibility. Through the timeless presence of tricksters, participants explore how humor, mischief, and consequence become powerful teaching tools rooted in place, community, and emergence. This session invites participants to reconnect with storytelling as an Indigenous framework for preserving language, ceremony, culture, and lived experience—honoring the wisdom of the past while carrying it forward with intention and heart.

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

10:00am MDT

Understanding Tribal Systems and Building Meaningful Relationships

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT

TBA

Speakers

Bettina Sandoval (Taos Pueblo)

Thursday July 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MDT
TBA

Breakout Session D

11:30am MDT

Lunch and Social Break

Thursday July 16, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm MDT

TBA

Thursday July 16, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm MDT
TBA

Lunch

12:30pm MDT

Author and Illustrator Panel

Thursday July 16, 2026 12:30pm - 1:30pm MDT

TBA

Thursday July 16, 2026 12:30pm - 1:30pm MDT
TBA

General Session

1:45pm MDT

Bridging Explicit Instruction with Indigenous Genius by Design (IGbD)

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

Speakers

Jenny Atcitty (Diné)

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

1:45pm MDT

Designing with Relatives: Indigenous Mentorship and the Native Auntie Way of Learning

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

Speakers

April Yazza (Diné and A:shiwi)

Doctoral Candidate, University of New Mexico

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

1:45pm MDT

Indigenous Inclusive Education: Storytelling to Create Inclusive Environments for All Our Relations

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

This session is built from my PhD and Spencer Foundation funded research to explore Indigenous perspectives of disability from Turtle Island to Aotearoa. I begin with a Diné ancestral story of Locust and Snail Girl, to challenge deficit framing of ability and expand ways for educators to reframe understandings of disability. I move on to share how similar resonating stories and perspectives are found in wider Indigenous schools in Aotearoa and family perspectives in the U.S, to convey how place-based knowledges, and communities are shifting understandings of what it means to enact Inclusive Education for Indigenous diverse learners. It brings us back to our relational values of connection, that move over space, waters, and land, to show how we can learn from one another to build more inclusive worlds for our diverse Indigenous youth.

Speakers

Dr. Sandra Yellowhorse

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

1:45pm MDT

Interactive Journaling: Art-Based Practices for Story, Reflection, and Learning

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

This interactive workshop introduces interactive journaling as a creative and reflective learning practice that educators can use across grade levels to support engagement with Native literature, storytelling, and land-based learning.

Participants will explore how combining writing, drawing, and visual storytelling in a journal format can help students process ideas, respond to literature, and make meaningful connections to identity, place, and community. Through guided activities, educators will experience journaling practices that encourage observation, reflection, and creative response. These methods support both literacy and inquiry-based learning and can easily be adapted for elementary, secondary, and adult learning environments.
Interactive journaling also creates space for students to explore personal voice and creative expression, helping educators cultivate classrooms grounded in curiosity, reflection, and Indigenous joy. Participants will leave with practical strategies they can immediately apply in their own classrooms.

Speakers

Ruth Riley (Acoma)

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

1:45pm MDT

ISI 101

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

Speakers

Paul LeFrancois

K12 Education Program Coordinator, LANL Foundation

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

1:45pm MDT

Localizing Native Literature: A Rooted & Rising Approach to Indigenous Genius by Design

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

This presentation demonstrates how teachers and school leaders can make curriculum their own by centering local land, language, identity, and community knowledge.

At NACA Elementary, localization is a professional stance. It positions educators as curriculum authors who design standards-aligned learning experiences rooted in the Nations represented in our student body. Through the Rooted and Rising mini-project framework, we align NACA’s Core Values and Native Literature to standards-based report cards and our upcoming 2026–2027 scope and sequence planning requirements.

This session addresses the symposium’s essential questions by examining why Indigenous Genius by Design strengthens instructional practice, student identity, and community-defined success; how Indigenous values guide the way we live, learn, and relate; why centering Indigenous joy is necessary for truth-telling and healing; and how storytelling creates meaning by connecting land, lineage, and leadership.

Speakers

Stacey Alana Coonsis (Diné)

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

1:45pm MDT

Teaching Through Zines: Land-Based Literacies for Creating, Healing, and Learning

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT

TBA

The goal of this workshop is to help our fellow teachers and relatives respond to the ancient, contemporary and future need of individuals, communities and nations to carry, nurture and create stories in relation to our experiences as land-based peoples. Students must have experiences on the land in order to honorably find, nurture and create stories that are relevant to continuing our land stewardship responsibilities. Stories provide powerful foundations from which to relate to the land, to learn upon/with the land, and empower youth to become land stewards, lifelong learners and storytellers. Students must work with surviving and relevant materials and resources in a creative way as colonization and other efforts have stifled, damaged and removed students and nations from relationships, opportunities and access to the land. Coupled with land-based experiences, stories and traditions, zines offer a collaborative and individual approach from which students are supported in their recognition, and development of their gifts, strengths, abilities, interests, languages, cultures, nations, experiences, traditions and joy. Zines as a creative format and methodology are introduced as a way to reinforce key literacy concepts such as the Reading and Writing Ropes, the drafting, writing and editing process of authorship, fluency, comprehension, critical thinking and analysis, as well as provide an uncensored medium for creative self-expression and storying. Participants will be invited to participate in an ImaginiNative Nature Walk, deep listening of a traditional story and perspectives from land-based educators and zinesters which reinforce the value that our stories support us to be land stewards, lifelong learners and storytellers. Participants will learn about the history and creation of zines, zine pedagogy and best practices, how to critically analyze a zine, create a mini-zine and contribute to a collectively produced zine.

Speakers

Joshua Frank Cardenas

University of New Mexico

Dr. Joshua Frank Cárdenas (Kanienʼkehá꞉ka-Rotinoshonni/White) is an Assistant Professor of Education at UNM Valencia. He has worked in education since 2003, teaching Pre-K to Ph.D. and began teaching at the college level in 2012. He has taught multiple PreK and K-12 settings... Read More →

Zoey “ZJ” Johnson

Zoey “ZJ” Johnson is an artist, student, and mentor working outside of the gender binary. Based in their work with zines and youth resistance, they focus their efforts around performance, community, and joy as disruption. Having just graduated with their Masters in Communication... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:45pm - 3:15pm MDT
TBA

Breakout Session E

3:30pm MDT

Conference Closing and Giveaways

Thursday July 16, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm MDT

TBA

Thursday July 16, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm MDT
TBA

General Session

4th Annual Indigenous Education Symposium

From $500.00

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