DU's Native American and Indigenous Initiatives

Billy Stratton, PhD

Billy Stratton, PhD

PhD, American Indian Studies and DU liaison to the NAAC; Associate Professor of English and Literary Arts

Billy J. Stratton is a first-generation college graduate who grew up a hop and a skip away from Loretta Lynn's home in the heart of eastern Kentucky. He earned a BA, with honors, from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio, 2002) in English and Philosophy and a Ph.D in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona (2008). His teaching and research circulate around contemporary Native American and American literature, while also teaching special topics in the areas of ecocriticism, dystopian worlds, posthumanism, and creative writing, as well as literature of the American West and South.

His criticism, fiction, commentary, and editorial work has appeared in numerous books by Routledge, Oxford University Press, and Michigan State University Press, and journals such as Arizona Quarterly, Cream City Review, Salon, The Journal of American Culture, The Independent, Wicazo-Sa Review, Rhizomes, SAIL, Big Muddy, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and TIME. He is the author of Buried in Shades of Night: Contested Voices, Indian Captivity, and the Legacy of King Philip's War (2013), while being contributing editor to The Fictions of Stephen Graham Jones: A Critical Companion (2016). Finally, he has been instrumental in efforts to create dialogue and historical understanding at the University of Denver around the issue of the Sand Creek massacre.

Support Indigenous and Native American Students & Apply for Scholarships

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  Native American Student Scholarship Fund

  The Native American Student Scholarship at DU helps students attain a college education that will benefit not only them but their families and communities, too.

  GIVE NOW

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  Native American Student Support Fund

  The Native American Student Support Fund seeks to empower the Native American student community at DU by bolstering programs such as the annual New Beginnings Pow Wow and traditional blanket wrapping ceremonies at commencement.

  GIVE NOW

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  Native American Student Scholarship Fund (Sturm College of Law)

  The Native American Student Scholarship fund through DU's Sturm College of Law exists to help law students attain a college education that will benefit not only them, but their families and communities. 

  Visit the Scholarship & Student Success page for more information 

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  DU Empowerment Scholarship

  The DU Empowerment Scholarship covers the standard cost of tuition. Because financial need is required, you must submit the FAFSA, CSS Profile, and any other requested documents to be considered.

  While service to and involvement in the Native American community are the guiding principles of both scholarships, a holistic review of your admission application assists our committee in making selections. Recipients are notified in early April.

   

Ad Hoc Native American & Indigenous Leadership Council

2021-2022

• Chris A. Nelson, K'awaika & Diné | DU Faculty, Assistant Professor
  

  Christine (Chris) Nelson, PhD (She/Her), joined the DEI team as the faculty director for Native American initiatives. Chris, working alongside Stevie Lee and other faculty directors, provides vision and assessment for the future of Native American initiatives at DU. Through this role and drawing on her scholarly expertise, Chris helps the University better serve our Native community. She utilizes a blending of critical theory and Indigenous relationality theory to explore the purpose of higher education. By addressing the collective and political factors influencing college access and completion for Indigenous college students, Chris strives to uphold the educational aspirations held by Indigenous communities.

• Miriam Valdovinos, Xicana Indigenous & Purepecha | DU Faculty, Assistant Professor
  

  In her research, Miriam (She/Her) is committed to addressing the health effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences in Latinx and incorporating Indigenous healing with families. She holds a PhD in social welfare and graduate certificate in feminist studies from the University of Washington. As a Xicana Indigenous social welfare scholar, she centers testimonio narrative methodologies, culture, healing, and resistance.

• Rosemarie Escalante, Pascua Yaquí | DU Graduate and MBA Marketing Candidate
  

  Rosemarie (She/Her) is a current DU MBA candidate with over five years of marketing, legal, and business experience. I strive to represent the Indigenous Initiatives of the council with as much focus and drive as that exhibited by my ancestors.

• Mason Estes, La Jolla Band & Luiseño | DU Undergraduate, Marketing Major and NSA Undergraduate Representative
  

  Mason Estes (He/Him) is La Jolla Band - Luiseño in his senior year at the University of Denver. Mason is from Broomfield, Colorado and majoring in Marketing with a minor in Leadership and Political Science. Mason will be serving as the University of Denver's undergraduate student body vice president next year and hopes to pursue a future in organizing and contributing to the liberation of Indigenous people around the world.

• Reshawn Edison, Diné | DU Undergraduate, Anthropology Major
  

  Reshawn (He/Him) embodies the resilience and ambition of his ancestors. As an Indigenous scholar, he has immersed himself through the lens of Anthropology which has allowed him to become grounded while inspiring in the way he perceives the world. He is a full time student, and a part time artist.

• Taylor Lucero, Pueblo of Laguna | DU Undergraduate, Criminology Major and NSA Co-Chair President
  

  My name is Taylor Lucero (She/Her). I am from the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico. I will be a rising senior, majoring in Criminology with a double minor in Psychology and Critical Race & Ethnic Studies. I am also the Co-Chair President for the DU Native Student Alliance.

• Stevie Lee, Diné | PhD., Associate Director | DEI Native American Initiatives
  

  Stevie Rose Tohdacheeny Lee (She/Her), PhD., is originally from Shiprock, New Mexico, located in the Navajo Nation. Currently, Stevie serves as the Interim Native American Liaison and Program Manager in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Denver. She works in the capacity of providing support for current Native American/Indigenous undergraduate and graduate students with the goal of academic success, retention, and graduation while helping to create a community founded upon social and cultural support. 

• Chenoa Crowshoe-Patterson, Blackfeet & Karuk | DU Alum, specializing in social work, mental wellness and education
  

  Chenoa (She/Her) hopes to bring learned skills and knowledge from her past and current work and time spent learning in the Native community to priorities and goals of the Indigenous perspective to DU’s Native American and Indigenous Leadership Council.