How have colonial legacies—from the Spanish Colonial period to the present—shaped the lives, lands, and cultures of Indigenous and Latinx peoples across the U.S. and Latin America? How do modern borders and nation-states perpetuate the erasure of Indigenous existence and histories across the Americas?
On Thursday, April 24, 2025, “The Limits and Possibilities of Crossborder Latinidades and Indigeneities” symposium will bring together interdisciplinary Latinx and Indigenous scholars and researchers studying settler colonialism, transnational Indigeneities, and race through archival and ethnographic approaches for a vital exploration of the complex relationship between Indigenous and Latinx peoples’ identities and histories through a transnational lens. Participants will examine the shifting borders and interactions of Indigenous and Latinx people and diasporas, focusing on regions that are now California, Texas, Oregon, Mexico, and Central America, while working to decenter Euro-American approaches to understanding these communities.
The symposium features a keynote by María Josefina Saldaña-Portillo a professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and several panel discussions. It is cosponsored by the Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. For information, contact cllas@uoregon.edu
12 p.m.
Keynote: María Josefina Saldaña-Portillo, Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University.
1 p.m.
Panel: “Pre-1848 Mexican Borderlands: Californio Ranchero Culture and Indigenous California.” Yvette Saavedra, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Naomi Sussman, History; moderated by Laura Pulido, Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies.
2 p.m.
Panel: “Media, History and Citizenship of Indigenous and Latinx Peoples: Contested Lands and Identities across the Borderlands.” Ramón Resendiz, Indiana University, UO Anthropology, and Rachel Nez (Navajo Diné Nation) Director, All Our Kin Collective. Fort Lewis College; moderated by Gabe Sanchez, Anthropology.
3 p.m.
Panel: “Building Comunidad and Transborder Territories in Indigenous Diasporas From Mexico and Guatemala.” Daina Sanchez, Chicana and Chicano Studies, UC Santa Barbara, and Lynn Stephen, Anthropology; moderated by Jason Younker (Coquille), UO advisor on sovereignty and government-to government relations.
4 p.m.
Closing Remarks and Conversation. Miguel Gualdrón Ramírez, Philosophy, and María Josefina Saldaña-Portillo, Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University.
5 p.m.
Reception.
Sponsor: Center for Latina/o and Latin American Studies, cllas.uoregon.edu