Overview
Our institute responds to the changing priorities of tribal communities, which we assess on an ongoing basis through surveys and direct consultation meetings. Our shift in focus in response to those changing priorities will be reflected in our programming, grant submissions, and outreach efforts.
Goals and Objectives
- Heighten the visibility and inclusion of New England tribes at UMass Boston as students, faculty, and staff, and as participants in the university's programs, institutes, and centers
- Assist tribes in accessing federal, state, and private funds for purposes of social and economic development
- Identify and organize a community of current UMass Boston Native students, alumni, faculty, staff, and Native leaders from Massachusetts
- Encourage recruitment and retention of Native students, faculty, and staff at UMass Boston
- Bring Native leaders to campus in a variety of forums to educate the broader New England community on Native issues, both local and national
- Promote and support development of classes related to, about, and providing direct benefit to regional Native communities
Our History
INENAS traces its beginning to two conferences held in 2002 and 2003, both sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation's Beyond Outreach Project and hosted by the UMass Boston College of Public and Community Service. In 2006, a follow-up conference was organized by the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs (MCIA) and UMass Boston. Participants included representatives of nine New England tribal communities and several Native community organizations.
At the conference, MCIA commissioned funds to study how Native constituencies might benefit from an organization dedicated to the study of Native Americans as a people. Faculty from the UMass Boston College of Public and Community Service, the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, and the College of Liberal Arts designed multiple survey instruments and then collected data.
Responses to those 2006 surveys reflected the broad scope of concerns, needs, and priorities of New England's Native people. Their concerns range from access to health care, to better documentation of tribal history and traditions, to protection of hunting and fishing rights, to development of tribe-owned businesses, and the desire to work cooperatively with non-Native organizations. Indeed, the data reflected such broad and divergent areas of concern that the founding of an institute came to be viewed as the best way to address Native concerns.
Later in 2006, UMass Boston Senior Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Winston E. Langley presented to the UMass Board of Trustees the proposal to establish a Native American studies institute at the Boston campus. In 2007, the Board approved the proposal and the INENAS was established as a partnership with MCIA and the leadership of Native tribes in the six New England states.
In spring 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development joined with the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and provided funds to hire an interim director and procure office space.
In 2015, INENAS became part of the UMass Boston School for Global Inclusion and Social Development.
Institute for New England Native American Studies
Bayside, 4th Floor
150 Mt. Vernon St.
Boston, MA 02125
617.287.5784
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Cedric Woods
Director
Cedric.Woods@umb.edu
617.287.5784
This institute is part of the College of Education and Human Development.