Thirty years ago, the Labriola National American Indian Data Center was founded to support the continuous education for Indigenous students and community members.
Today, donors like you continue to make an impact. The Labriola Center, an Indigenous library center, is led by an all-Indigenous staff that supports the needs of ASU Indigenous students, faculty, and regional Tribal communities.
"At the Labriola Center, we feel it is vital to make space and place for indigeneity throughout ASU,” said Alexander Soto (Tohono O’odham), director of the Labriola National American Indian Data Center. “Thanks to the support from donors, we are able to enhance the visibility of our community through culturally relevant events, services and resources.”
When you give to the Labriola Center, your gift goes directly to meaningful library services, events and resources for Native American students at ASU.
“Community building through cultural resilience is at the center of what we do at the Labriola," Senior program coordinator Eric Hardy (Diné) said. "With your support, we strive to create community safe spaces that resonate culturally with ASU’s Indigenous students and community.”
This past year, the Labriola Center hosted many events from film screenings to lo-fi study sessions to a “Rez Metal” music concert. Donors help provide supplies for the center’s many events. In addition, hosting the Office of Indian Education Symposium connected K-12 teachers with culturally appropriate literary texts about Indigenous peoples for Native American children and teens.
Major initiatives supporting the next generation of BIPOC community archivists and building archives partnerships with tribal nations in Arizona are elevating the center’s work. The team also curated an exhibit on the West campus, “What’s Life All About?,” celebrating Native American community leader, author and storyteller Jean Chaudhuri (Muscogee-Creek).
Community engagement is a key focus of the Labriola Center in helping connect with Indigenous students.
“Through this center, I have been able to make more connections to the community and network with other aspiring Indigenous professionals and students, like myself. Labriola provides a critical environment that is safe for intellectual Indigenous conversations critical to our issues that affect us as Indigenous students and community members,” said student Nataani Hanley-Moraga (Navajo/Húŋkpapȟa Lakota). “Community engagement is critical to build trust between Indigenous communities and western institutions, so communities can entrust their knowledge for archival purposes. In Labriola’s eyes, archiving and the advancement of Tribal Data Sovereignty starts with community.”
What does the Labriola Center mean to students at ASU?
“Before I joined the Labriola, it was especially difficult to find community with other Native students in classes or around campus,” said Lourdes Pereira (Hia-Ced O'odham and Yoeme) and student archivist at the Labriola Center. “As the Labriola has grown, it has also become a space where I can engage with other Indigenous students and receive that sense of community while being away from home. I also enjoy seeing non-natives at our library, because I believe it reflects just how much of a culturally safe place we have.”
Help the Labriola Center make an impact for another 30 years by making a gift today. Thank you for making a difference.