Speaker: Caitlyn Ayoka Wicks, is Cherokee, 2nd year US History Ph.D. student at Indiana University, studying Native American Activism in the 20th and 21st centuries with a focus on Settler Colonialism Theory and Gender Studies influences

Native youth are one of the most powerful and yet most silenced groups of voices in the United States and Canada today. These voices channel our ancestors' long history of activism and survival from resisting colonization, resisting removal, AIM, the Native Youth Council, IdleNoMore, #NoDAPL, and MMIWG2S, among other movements for Indigenous rights, lives, and above all - sovereignty. Building on the work of Indigenous scholars such as Nick Estes, Jodi Byrd, Sandy Grande, many others, and her own research, Ayoka's talk seeks to provide a historical analysis of Indigenous activism, particularly of Indigenous Youth, while providing hope for Indigenous students that the fight is not over, is worth it, and has many warriors alongside you to fight for our stolen sisters, for our land, and for our sovereignty.