Documenting the Native American Past at UNM

There is a big project underway at UNM focusing on recording the history of Native American students and teachers who have attended the University.

Mary Alice Tsosie is heading up the project and aims to give American Indians their own perspective in history. Tsosie is the program manager of UNM University Libraries and is working to interview past and present American Indian professors, faculty members and alumni. She began in January when it became apparent that there was information missing regarding the Native Americans who have attended the University.

"I think everbody wants their history recorded and written down. Everybody has a perspective, UNM has a perspective, the Native Americans have a perspective," Tsosie said. "I think everybody wants their viewpoint to be acknowledged, to know that we exist, to know that we went through UNM. If we don't have that recording, who's going to do it?"

She has interviewed 14 participants so far and has her sights on many more. She is most interested in students from the 1950s who studied during the protests, and also past directors of UNM's Native American Studies department.

This would be the first compiled history account that UNM has participated in. Tsosie strives to share the stories of those she is interviewing because they helped pave a path for the current generation of Native Americans at the University. She is inspired by their dedication to make a difference for today's students so that they can succeed, achieve and graduate.

Tsosie has enlisted the help of assistant professor Lloyd Lee. He is in charge of historical research to help Tsosie have context for future interviews. He says that he is composing the interviews in a way that would allow future historians to contribute and build upon their foundation. He is a strong believer in archiving history properly.

"Personally," he says, "I think it's about making sure the legacy of Native students and Native people who have come to the University that they're documented, written down to their experience here, and I'm just helping that process."

If you have information that may help their research, contact Antonio Sanchez at news@dailylobo.com. Or contact the university directly and ask for the University Libraries department.