Born and raised in Oklahoma, I am Shawnee, Sac and Fox, Mvskoke Creek and Seminole. I started at Bacone Jr. College, then transferred to the University of Oklahoma, where I earned a BA, MA and a Ph.D. in History. I am a first generation college graduate and the first high school graduate in my family. Presently, I am a Distinguished Foundation Professor of History, Distinguished Scholar of Sustainability in the Wrigley School of Sustainability, and Affiliate Faculty in American Indian Studies at Arizona State University. My Mvskoke grandmother disliked laziness and she instilled a hard work ethic in me. A love for research and writing has led to faculty positions at four universities and visiting professorships at seven universities (including University of Nottingham in England and the Frei University in Berlin, Germany). I learned a lot from postdoctoral fellowships at UCLA and The Newberry Library in Chicago. Good fortune has allowed me to work with more than two dozen master’s and doctoral students. Over the years, I have worked on 20 historical documentaries, and I am the author and editor of fifteen books. The most recent ones are “That’s What They Used To Say”: Reflections on American Indian Oral Traditions (2017), and an edited volume, Indian Treaties in the United States (2018). In 2000, President Clinton appointed me to the Advisory Council for the National Endowment for the Humanities. I have been a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians since 2002. In 2010, I received a National Museum of the American Indian Award of Achievement in History and Education. I have lectured throughout the U.S. and in Canada, China, Japan, Germany, England, Finland, Peru, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands. When I changed from a chemical engineer major to history as an undergraduate, I wanted a better understanding of Indians, our histories and cultures. I learned to build bridges of understanding and as one of the few Indian doctoral students in History during the late 1970s, I found the Western History Association welcoming and many western historians encouraged me. Since then I have dedicated my career to advance the understanding of American Indians, all people of color, and the West that I am a part of. The Western History Association is an organization where you can just be yourself. The WHA is like a family to me and my best friends are western historians.

Kent Blansett (Co-Chair), University of Nebraska at Omaha Farina King (Co-Chair), Northeastern State University  Erika M. Bsumek, University of Texas-Austin

Quin'Nita Cobbins, University of Washington

B. Erin Cole, Minnesota Historical Society

Sandra Enríquez, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Jason Heppler, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Robert (Bob) F. Jefferson, Jr., University of New Mexico

Laura K. Muñoz, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Keith Carlson, University of Saskatchewan

Joshua Reid, University of Washington

Brent Rogers, Joseph Smith Papers

Gregory E. Smoak, University of Utah

Brianna Theobald, University of Rochester

Lindsey Passenger Wieck, St. Mary's University-San Antonio

Brian S Collier, University of Notre Dame (Co-Chair)  Billy Kiser, University of Texas at San Antonio (Co-Chair)  Angelica Docog, Institute of Texan Cultures, UT San Antonio

Michael Duchemin, Briscoe Western Art Museum

Francis Galan, Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Gilberto Hinojosa, University of the Incarnate Word

Todd Kerstetter, Texas Christian University

Amy Porter, Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Omar Valerio-Jimenez, University of Texas at San Antonio

Teresa Van Hoy, St. Mary's University-San Antonio

Edward Westermann, Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Richard Bruce Winders, The Alamo

Adam Matthew Digital
Arizona Historical Society
Center for the Study of the American West
Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy
Clements Center for Southwest Studies
Coalition for Western Women's History
Montana Historical Society
Mormon History Association 
New Mexico Historical Review
North Dakota State University Press
Oxford University Press
St. Mary's University 
Texas A&M University Press
Texas Tech University Press
University of Arizona Press
University of California Press
University of Nebraska Press
University of Nevada Press
University of New Mexico Press
University of North Carolina Press
University of Oklahoma Press
University of Texas Press
University of Washington Press
University Press of Colorado
University Press of Kansas
Western History Association 
Western Writers of America
Yale University Press

The Alamo

Department of History, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Public History Program, Arizona State University

School of Historical, Philosophical, & Religious Studies, Arizona State University

Berkshire Conference of Women Historians

Better Way Foundation

Bexar County Historical Commission

Department of History, Boise State University

Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University

Briscoe Western Art Museum

The Papers of William F. Cody, Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Public Lands History Center, Colorado State University

Center for the American West, University of Colorado Boulder

Public History Program, University of Colorado Denver

Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West

The Huntington Library

Knox Robinson Films

Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Resources – Western Region

Marriott Library, University of Utah
Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska

College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Department of History, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Dr. C.C. and Mable L. Criss Library, University of Nebraska at Omaha

University of Nebraska Press

Public History Program, University of Nevada at Las Vegas

Center for the Southwest, University of New Mexico

University of North Carolina Press

Public History Program, Oklahoma State University

Department of History, University of Oklahoma

Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries

Department of History, Penn State University

George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center, Penn State University

Department of History, Southern Methodist University

William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University

St. Mary’s University Public History Program

Department of History, University of Texas at Austin

Institute for Texas Cultures, University of Texas at San Antonio

Arts & Humanities Department, Texas A&M University - San Antonio

AddRan College of Liberal Arts, Texas Christian University

Department of History, Texas Christian University

American West Center, University of Utah

American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming

Department of History, University of Wyoming

University of Wyoming Libraries

Beinecke Library, Yale University