Published: October 31, 2024 by Matsuko Friedland

Please join the SJSU iSchool in celebrating Native American Heritage Month as we honor the achievements of our Native American community members.

Native American heritage first became officially recognized by the United States government in 1986 as “Native American Indian Heritage Week” after Congress passed S.J. Resolution 390. Four years later, the week-long celebration became a national heritage month celebrated in November. Thereafter, the resolution that was previously designated as “National American Indian Heritage Month” or “Native American Indian Month” has since been amended in 2008 to include the celebration of Alaskan Natives, now referred to as “National Native American Heritage Month.” (source: United States Senate)

Join us on Friday, November 22, 2024 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time, for our free online symposium, “Guardians of Culture: Sovereignty, Service, and Self-Determination in Libraries, Archives, and Language Preservation”, featuring presentations and a panel discussion with Cindy Hohl, Brandon Castle, Susan Gehr, Genasis Kalawe, Jonna Paden.

Register here for this free event: https://sjsu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p_3qm6TUR0CYA-rkxM19pA  

Cindy Hohl: President, American Library Association

Cindy Hohl is a member of the Santee Sioux Nation and is the President of the American Library Association. She is the project manager of the Bridging Knowledge Scholarship at SJSU, sponsored by the IMLS. She is also a past president of the American Indian Library Association (AILA) and works with librarians to share information across the globe as a member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Indigenous Matters Section and in her work as Co-Chair on the Tribal Library Council for the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM). 

With a passion for upholding Intellectual Freedom, Cindy serves as an ex-officio trustee on the executive board of the Freedom to Read Foundation and as a member of the Missouri Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee. As a proud ALA Spectrum Scholar, she strives to increase diversity in the library field through mentorship, recruitment, and advocacy. Cindy is the first Spectrum Scholar to be elected to the role of ALA President. 

Cindy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Friends University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Baker University and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Wayne State University.

Brandon Castle: Native American & Indigenous Studies Librarian, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Brandon Castle is an enrolled member of the Ketchikan Indian Community and is originally from Ketchikan, Alaska. He completed his MLIS degree at SJSU May 2024 and was part of the Bridging Knowledge scholarship program that aimed to support Indigenous scholars into the field of librarianship. He is currently the Native American & Indigenous Studies Librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Susan Gehr: Librarian, College of the Redwoods

Susan Gehr is an enrolled descendant of the Karuk Tribe, and her family comes from Inaam and Athithúfvuunupma. Formerly a director for the Karuk Tribe’s Language Program, she co-published a dictionary of the Karuk language. She was a member of the SJSU Circle of Learning scholarship program and completed her MLIS in December of 2013. Her MLIS thesis “Breath of Life: Revitalizing California’s Native Languages Through Archives”, was an oral history of the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival and a study of the role archivists can have in Native languages revitalization. She is currently a librarian at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.  

Genasis Kalawe: Digital Technician, Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digital Repository

Genasis Kalawe, born and raised on the island of Molokaʻi, has always been deeply connected to Hawaiian language and culture. After earning her bachelor’s degree in ʻIke Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Studies) and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language) from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she returned to Molokaʻi to contribute to her community. Not long after, she joined an opportunity to digitize primary and secondary material related to Molokai’s heritage and found herself learning about record management and digital preservation. After receiving support to receive her MLIS degree through San Jose State University iSchool, Genasis continues her journey as a digital technician for the Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digital Repository, an initiative dedicated to preserving and making accessible the cultural and historical records of Molokaʻi. 

Jonna Paden: Archivist, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and President, American Indian Library Association (AILA)

Jonna C. Paden is an enrolled member of Acoma Pueblo. She is the Archivist at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM and the American Indian Library Association (AILA) President. She is an active member of two Special Interest Groups (SIG) of the New Mexico Library Association: Archives & Archivists and Native American Libraries, of which she was a four-term Chair, as well as a member of the Tribal Library Council and the Native Emerging Professionals Network (NEPN) for the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM). For the fall semester, she is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts, a tribal college located on Pueblo homelands in Santa Fe, NM. As part of the SJSU Circle of Learning scholarship program, Jonna earned her MLIS in Archival Studies and Records Management in May of 2014.