Waziyatawin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Waziyatawin
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Waziyatawin in 2011
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| Born |
Angela Lynn Cavender
February 13, 1968 |
| Other names | Angela Cavender Wilson |
| Education | University of Minnesota Cornell University |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | De Kiksuyapo! (Remember This!): The Eli Taylor Narratives and Dakota Conceptions of History (2000) |
Waziyatawin is a professor, author, and activist from the Wahpetunwan Dakota community. She comes from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota.
Her work focuses on how Indigenous women have fought against colonialism (when one group takes control of another's land and culture). She also studies how to bring back Indigenous knowledge and use truth-telling to help with restorative justice (making things right after harm has been done). Waziyatawin has written and edited many books about Dakota history, Indigenous resistance, and ways to achieve decolonization (getting back their own ways of life and lands).
Waziyatawin is known as a leading Indigenous thinker. She held a special research position called a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples at the University of Victoria. Before that, she taught at Arizona State University from 2000 to 2007.
Early Life and Education
Waziyatawin was born Angela Lynn Cavender in 1968 in Virginia, Minnesota. Her father, Chris Mato Nunpa, was a professor of Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies. Her mother, Edith Brown Travers, worked in social services. She spent her childhood living both on and off the Upper Sioux Indian Reservation.
In 1992, Waziyatawin earned two degrees from the University of Minnesota. She studied both history and American Indian studies. Later, she earned her master's degree in 1996 and her doctoral degree in 2000 from Cornell University. Her Ph.D. research was based on stories from her grandfather. She later published these stories in a book called Remember This! Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor Narratives.
In 1998, a difficult event happened with her eight-year-old daughter. Her daughter came home upset after her teacher read from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The book contained a hurtful phrase about Native Americans. Waziyatawin, like other Indigenous educators, felt that Wilder's book showed negative stereotypes of Native people. She tried for months to get the school to stop using the books, but she was not successful.
In 2007, she legally changed her name from Angela Cavender Wilson to Waziyatawin. This name, given to her by an elder when she was a child, means "woman of the north."
Academic Career
Waziyatawin became a tenured professor at Arizona State University, meaning she had a permanent teaching position. She taught there until 2007. In 2004, she edited her first book, Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities. She worked on this book with Devon Abbott Mihesuah.
In 2005, she edited another book called For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook with Michael Yellow Bird. This book included essays from eight Indigenous American scholars. In 2008, she joined the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria. She became a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples there. She was drawn to the program because it focused on Indigenous freedom and social action.
Waziyatawin is recognized as a leading Indigenous intellectual. Her research explores how Indigenous women resist colonialism. She also studies how to bring back Indigenous knowledge and use truth-telling for restorative justice. She has written or edited six books about Dakota history, Indigenous resistance, and strategies for decolonizing. She also started Oyate Nipi Kte, a non-profit group. This group works to bring back Dakota traditional knowledge and support Dakota liberation.
Activism
Waziyatawin is also an activist. In 2007, she became well-known for protesting Minnesota's 150th-anniversary celebration. She was arrested several times during these protests. The protests aimed to highlight broken treaties and the violence of colonialism. This included the hanging of 38 Dakota men during the Dakota War of 1862. This was the largest mass execution in American history.
In 2010, a student wrote a letter to the Winona Post newspaper. The student had attended a lecture Waziyatawin gave at Winona State University. The student claimed Waziyatawin had encouraged violence. In response, Waziyatawin explained her view to CBC News. She stated that she does not openly call for violence. However, she believes that Indigenous people have the right to use violence for self-defense. This means defending their people or their land. She emphasized that she has never promoted violence against white settlers.
Waziyatawin has also connected the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to settler colonialism in North America. In 2011, she visited Palestine. She went with a group of Indigenous and women of color scholars and artists. After their trip, the group released a statement. They supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This movement uses economic pressure to advocate for Palestinian rights.
Personal Life
Waziyatawin is married to Scott Wilson. She divides her time between Minnesota and Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria is located in the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples.
