Inés M. Talamantez (Mescalero Apache) is a pioneer in developing the field of Native American Religious Studies. Dr. Talamantez is the founder of one of the only Religious Studies Ph.D. programs in the United States focusing on Native American Traditions, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Talamantez’s work offers new ways to imagine the colonial encounter. She will discuss the indifference and violence of the colonial legacy and the consequences of the loss of Native American land, language, and theologies. She also will be joined by Dr. Andrea McComb, who currently teaches Native American Religious Studies at the University of Arizona. They will discuss the importance of the field of Native American Religious Studies in higher education.
