Dr. Leilani Sabzalian (Alutiiq) is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies in Education and the Co-Director of the Sapsik’wałá (Teacher) Education Program at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on creating spaces to support Indigenous students and Indigenous self-determination in public schools, and preparing teachers to challenge colonialism in curriculum, policy, and practice. She is also dedicated to improving Indigenous education in the state of Oregon by serving on the American Indian/Alaska Native State Advisory Committee, and collaborating with the Office of Indian Education on professional development to support the implementation of Tribal History/Shared History, a law that mandates curriculum on tribal history and sovereignty in all K-12 public schools in Oregon.
Dr. Sabzalian’s first book, Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools, uses storytelling to document the ways colonialism continues to shape educational policy and practice, and foster educators’ anticolonial literacy and commitment to supporting Indigenous students in public schools. Her latest book, Teaching Criticially About Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K-12 Curriculum, co-authored with Drs. Alison Schmitke and Jeff Edmundson, complicates the Corps of Discovery and promotes students’ active and critical engagement with history.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUMANSANDNATURE.ORG:
Restoring Indigenous Systems of Relationality
A response to “How can we live respectfully with the land and with one another?”
NOTEWORTHY LINKS:
- Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools
A book by Leilani Sabzalian.
- Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark
A book by Alison Schmitke, Leilani Sabzalian, and Jeff Edmundson.
