UNM’s Institute for American Indian Education celebrates 20 years

The Institute for American Indian Education (IAIE) is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary on Dec. 6. The celebration takes place at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center from 3 to 6 p.m. in Chaco I and Chaco II rooms. Appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages will be served.

IAIE was created within the College of Education in 2004 by Native education faculty responding to the call for increased numbers of Native American teachers. The institute was first funded by the New Mexico Public Education Department's Indian Education Division from 2004 to 2010. In 2017, the work expanded to collaborate with other faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Native American Studies (NAS) as a planning effort to revitalize the institute.

IAIE comprises Native faculty in the College of Education and Human Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Native American Studies. Collectively, IAIE faculty recognize the critical nature of preparing pre-service educators, administrators (K-12 and higher education), non-teaching educational professionals, researchers, and policymakers to work with Native People in the state.

In its two decades of operations, IAIE has helped tackle the educator and administrator shortage within New Mexico's 23 federally recognized Native Nations. IAIE's mission is to support community intergenerational well-being and educational outcomes of Indigenous Peoples by cultivating the quality of educational professionals through community engagement with Native Nations and collaborative partnerships with educational stakeholders.

"The Institute for American Indian Education (IAIE) has been such a foundational center for our College. The faculty affiliated with IAIE have been wonderful collaborators with a strong grounding in community-engaged research and service," said UNM College of Education and Human Sciences Dean Kristopher Goodrich. "The voice and vision of the Indigenous communities they work with, and from where many of these faculty call home, has grounded their activities and inspired lasting and fundamental changes to how the College thinks about its engagement with these important communities. Twenty years is a testament to the impact and importance of their work, and I am sure this institute will long be a leading voice in the College into the future."

Over the past 20 years, IAIE has attained several accomplishments, from increasing the number of American Indian teachers and administrators through tuition assistance to revitalize and preserve Native languages. The institute was also able to support over 80 American Indian students' complete education degrees and provide over 130 scholarships to education majors looking to teach in Native schools.

"In particular, I'm deeply appreciative of the leadership of Dr. Glenabah Martinez, who has directed IAIE for the past few years and has been a visionary in how IAIE has traveled and engaged in communities across New Mexico and brought their voice to important white papers and reports that has influenced policy and practice," added Goodrich. "She has also been a strong leader in educating our faculty about the Yazzie-Martinez consolidated decision and ways that the College might support the remedies through education, scholarship, and practice for the protected groups named in the lawsuit."

The College of Education and Human Sciences at The University of New Mexico leads the nation in the number of Native faculty representing diverse Indigenous Peoples. Individually, each faculty member is engaged in research that serves Indigenous Peoples and Nations. Collectively, Native faculty engage in critical dialogue on issues of scholarship/research, teaching, and service.

For more information, visit the Institute for American Indian Education.