Labriola Center Highlights from June 2024
As summer comes to a close, the Labriola Center wants to share some events that took place over at Hayden Library, such as Emerging Beyond Colonization and Storytelling Lab for an Indigenous Healing Voices Poetry Night with Laura Tohe, INSPIRE, a welcome event with the Blackfeet Tribe, Career Programming with Hoop of Learning and Community Driven Archives, the National Endowment for the Humanities Workshops, and a summer book club on Indigenous horror led by one of our Library Aides!
Indigenous Healing Voices Poetry Night with Laura Tohe
On Monday, June 3, the Labriola Center hosted an Indigenous Healing Voices Poetry Night with Laura Tohe, Ruben Cu:k Ba’ak from Emerging Beyond Colonization, and Kristen Suagee-Beauduy (Cherokee Nation) from the Storytelling Lab. The Storytelling Lab is "the research lab of Dr. Jamie A. Lee, who brings together inquiry around Archives, Bodies, Technology, and Storytelling…Using analog and digital technologies to document our lives, we are able to communicate our archival, digital storytelling, and oral history research to a broader public as engaged research and, importantly, as a vehicle for social justice."
Emerging Beyond Colonization was founded by poet Ruben Cu:k Ba'ak (Tohono O'odham) and MC IngriQue Salt (Diné). Emerging Beyond Colonization is currently providing virtual readings and had the opportunity to host an open mic at the Labriola Center with Laura Tohe (Tsénahabiłnii, Sleepy Rock People clan, and born for the Tódich’inii, Bitter Water clan). Program Coordinator Yitazba Largo-Anderson (Diné) MC'd the evening's event and introduced local poets Levi Long (Diné), Taté Walker (Lakota citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota), Ruben Cu:k Ba’ak (Traditional O’odham), Laura Tohe (Diné), and volunteers.
A poet, writer, and librettist, Laura Tohe is an esteemed poet, writer, and librettist with Exemplar Distinction in the English Department at Arizona State University. Her work has appeared in the U.S., Canada, South America and in Europe with French, Dutch and Italian translations. She has read her poetry internationally in the U.S., Europe, and South America. Laura holds a doctorate degree in creative writing, Indigenous American Literature, and American Literature.
Levi Long (Diné) works in communications focusing on digital content design, social media and media relations. He has a B.A. in English from Fort Lewis College and an M.S. in Digital Audiences from Arizona State University. He is Ma'iideeshgeezhnii (Coyote Pass) born for the Dzil Ta'ah Kiyaa'áanii (Towering House Near the Mountain) and has a background in theater, news and creative writing.
Taté Walker is a Lakota citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. They are an award-winning Two Spirit storyteller for magazine outlets, news publications, and anthologies. Taté is the author of “The Trickster Riots,” a full-length poetry collection from Abalone Mountain Press. Learn more at jtatewalker.com.
Ruben Cu:k Ba’ak is a Traditional O’odham from the Tohono O’odham Nation. He helps people win wars against alcoholism, drugs, and playing the victim. Rubens’ lived the rez life, lived through institutions, violence and interweaved it all in his writing.
American Indian High School Visit with INSPIRE
INSPIRE is a week-long college readiness program for American Indian high school students from Tribal Nations. "INSPIRE students will participate in a variety of college going activities that will enhance their academic experience through culturally-relevant learning projects. They will be introduced to ASU student resources and will connect with ASU American Indian students, staff and faculty."
On Friday, June 21, American Indian high school students had the chance to learn about the Labriola Center and participated in several group activities, such as a tour and scavenger hunt of the Labriola Center, make buttons with Makerspace, and a chance to win Labriola Center swag by listing at least 10 or more answers on the location of the 23 Tribal Nations within Arizona.
Career Programming with Hoop of Learning and Community Driven Archives
On Tuesday, June 25, the Labriola Center hosted The Hoop of Learning Program from Mesa Community College. As stated on their website, "Maricopa Community Colleges’ Hoop of Learning (HOL) is an early high school-to-college bridge program available at nine of our ten colleges. Since its establishment in 1995, HOL’s intention is to reduce economic and cultural barriers that American Indian students may face while helping them transition from high school to college." Mona Scott Figueroa (Táchii'nii nishli, Naahiłii báshíshchíín) is an American Indian Studies and Sociology residential faculty and Program Director of Information Studies and eSociety Ethnic Studies at Mesa Community College. She brought a group of about 15 students to the Center to learn from Archivist and Assistant Vina Begay and the Fire Keepers' cohort about careers within librarianship, particularly archiving.
The beginning of their visit consisted of a tour of the Labriola Center, followed by presentations from Vina Begay about her background before entering the library field, Myacedes Miller's fellowship project on Jean Chaudhuri and Fred Wilson Collection, and Janine Nelson's project working on the Phoenix Indian School Collection. Vina spoke about her theater background and how she found herself in libraries during the 2008 recession, where she created library programming with puppets.
Myacedes spoke about her project reviewing the archival collections and her understanding of archives previously and prior to the fellowship. She mentioned the importance of community memory and stewarding our knowledge and story. Janine Nelson said something similar in reference to her family, where she learned her grandfather helped build the railroad from Arizona to California. Janine Nelson's project focused on the Phoenix Indian School, where she learned was referred to as "The Carlisle of the Southwest" when it was established.
After the presentation, the students had the opportunity to work in a zine about career possibilities, where they could create a poem about where they are from, find out their values through exercises, and write down their inspirations. The students also looked through the vinyl collection and played a game where they had to guess the location of Arizona's tribal nations on a whiteboard.
Highlights from the Labriola Center from July 2024
In July, the Labriola Center's staff presented at a symposium at Talking Stick Resort, and one of our Library Aides conducted a summer book club focused on Indigenous horror!
Presentation at the Office of Indian Education Symposium
On Thursday, July 18, the location of the NEH and OIE Symposium took place near Talking Stick Resort. Director Alex Soto, Archivist and Assistant Librarian Vina Begay, and Sr. Program Coordinator Eric Hardy presented on the research and outreach conducted over the past few years, emphasizing the need for fellow tribal libraries to review their own collections and find relevant materials for young adults and children.
Sunday, July 28 Labriola Book Club: “When All the People Lights Have Gone Off” by Stephen Graham Jones
Lainey Tsosie, Library Aide at the Labriola Center, conducted two book clubs based on the theme of Indigenous horror. Her first book was After the People Lights Have Gone Off, a series of short stories by author Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet). "The fifteen stories in After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones explore the horrors and fears of the supernatural and the everyday. Included are two original stories, several rarities and out of print narratives, as well as a few "best of the year" inclusions. In "Thirteen," horrors lurk behind the flickering images on the big screen. "Welcome to the Reptile House" reveals the secrets that hide in our flesh. In 'The Black Sleeve of Destiny,' a single sweatshirt leads to unexpectedly dark adventures. And the title story, 'After the People Lights Have Gone Off,' is anything but your typical haunted house story."
Here is Lainey Tsosie reflection on her first book club:
Yá’át’ééh! On Sunday July 28, 2024 from 10am-12pm via zoom, I had the privilege of hosting our first book club meeting of the summer. We read Stephen Graham Jones’ “When All the People Lights Have Gone Off.” I was really excited to read this book as I have been wanting to explore more books within the genre of horror.
“When All the People Lights Have Gone Off,” is a book composed of 15 short horror stories. Each one is different and brings a completely different experience to the table. From tThe first chapter entitled “Thirteen” following the story of teenagers who accidentally bring monsters from the movie theater into their town to the actual story “When All the People Lights Have Gone Off” that depicted ghosts haunting a couple’s home, we had a great time deep diving into Jones’ storytelling. The book definitely created some scary imagery that left me feeling a little anxious when I would turn off the lights at night. He is very talented in creating horror stories that are different from what you might expect. My favorite story from the entire book was “Brushdogs” as it was told from an Indigenous father and son’s perspective. It was an ode to the fears we have in our communities as Indigenous people and gave a great representation in how horror can be framed within Indigenous speculative fiction.
As the host of the summer book club for this year, I was excited to lead the discussion and hear what everyone had to say about the book. I read the book and composed my own notes and questions when inspiration struck me. By the time I had all of my notes finalized, I had 15 questions ready to ask our club members during the discussion. My main goal was not to try to have our guests think one way or the other, as I believe there are no wrong answers in literary analysis, but to create sparks that lead to a variety of great takeaways. We started off broad by asking “what was your favorite story and why?” and “did any story take an unexpected turn? What happened?” My main question was “how does this book present horror in different ways,” as this is what Jones is particularly good at. Furthermore, the majority of Jones’ stories are also told from the perspective of men and in some relation to family. So, I also asked questions such as “how does Jones’ present family structure in his stories?” and “how is masculinity portrayed?” It was interesting to hear everyone’s opinions, as I feel everyone expressed different and insightful ideas. I enjoyed reading this book and I’m looking forward to the next!
I will also be hosting our August book club meeting via zoom on Sunday August 28th, 2024 from 10am-12pm. We invite anyone who is interested in joining us in our Stephen Graham Jones series with our next read, “The Only Good Indians.” If you are interested, please register via our linktree in order to receive the zoom link and passcode when we get closer to the date.
-Written by Lainey Tsosie (Diné)
Highlights from the Labriola Center from August 2024
August 25 Book Club: The Only Good Indians
In partnership with the Arizona for Humanities, the Labriola Center was able to give book club participants a copy of The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. Find the book in our Open Stacks here! Lainey Tsosie hosted this book club on The Only Good Indians and also wrote a book review that includes a quote from within the novel.
“And he definitely for sure saw a woman with an elk head through the boxcars flashing past- maybe even flashing past at the same flicker rate as the ceiling fan? It’s too much to hold in his head all at once. He loves Peta, but he’s terrified of her. Worse, there’s no proof either way. No way to tell… With his ears cleaned now, hears a telltale creak on the stairs. As if, say, someone didn’t actually just leave. As if someone just shut the door and locked it from the inside.” - Stephen Graham Jones, “The Only Good Indians,” page 86.
I really enjoyed this book and the different topics of Indigenous identity it covered. For me, this was more of a psychological thriller, which I enjoyed because Jones did such a great job putting the audience in the shoes of the characters. This read made me feel every emotion. It touched on Indigenous identity, specifically the importance of culture, complexities of relationships, life on the reservation, and topics of masculinity. It made me think deeper about some of the issues we deal with within our tribal communities. I would be laughing and then I would be anxious. I would be shocked from the chain of events that unfolded, and then I would be mourning. The twists and turns this novel provided were unlike anything I expected. I feel “The Only Good Indians” is a great read if you are looking for an Indigenous speculative fiction novel to add to your “to be read” list this fall.
- Written by Lainey Tsosie
Thursday, August 29 WCIDS Zine Launch Party
On Thursday, August 29, WCIDS (Women's Council of Indigenous Doctoral Scholars) celebrated their first published edition of their zine! Food and tea were provided by The Rez, An Urban Eatery paired with fresh beats by DJ HZO! The Women’s Council of Indigenous Doctoral Scholars is an organization at Arizona State University geared toward fostering a supportive community by, for, and with Indigenous doctoral students at any stage in their doctoral journey. Check out their social media page to learn more and follow their upcoming events.