Native American Advisory Group Listening Exercise

Attendees at the chancellor’s Listening Exercise with the Native American Advisory Group on May 8, 2025 expressed concerns and offered suggestions regarding the need for increased support and resources for Native American and Indigenous affairs within the university.

A speaker emphasized the importance of allocating dedicated funding to this community’s scholarship, creative work, initiatives and other needs, suggesting a specific line item within the capital fundraising campaign. Several speakers emphasized the benefit of maintaining a concerted effort to address these issues and underscored the need for a unified approach. Another audience member expressed concern about existing funding, questioning its adequacy to meet the needs of various Native American initiatives.

Overall, the discussion focused on a pressing need for tangible action to improve the well-being of Native American and Indigenous students and faculty.

Themes

• Funding: Discussion focused on the need for increased funding to support Native American and Indigenous studies and initiatives at the university. One speaker would like to see plans on how the Bruins Rising Initiative would come to fruition despite budgetary constraints.
• Student Support: The need for better support services, including academic advising, mentoring, and cultural programming, for Native American and Indigenous students was discussed.
• Inclusive Excellence: The importance of increasing the representation and inclusion of Native American and Indigenous voices and perspectives within the university community was stressed.
• Fundraising Campaign: One speaker suggested dedicating a specific line item within the university’s capital fundraising campaign to Native American and Indigenous affairs. Another speaker recommended advocating for a dedicated development officer.
• American Indian Studies Center: Speakers highlighted the importance and role of the American Indian Studies Center in supporting Native American and Indigenous students and faculty.
• Dedicated Faculty Space: Attendees called for the creation of dedicated faculty space to attract and retain Native American and Indigenous scholars.
• Land Grant Acknowledgement: Some speakers mentioned the importance of acknowledging the university’s location on Indigenous land. The audience asked about the chancellor’s vision regarding the relationship between UCLA and the land-based Native nations in our surrounding area.
• Research Opportunities: The audience emphasized the need for more research opportunities focused on Native American and Indigenous language learning, documentation, and teaching. More funding was also requested for linguistics areas to support the archiving and revitalization of Native American projects.
• Native American Identity: A speaker was concerned about those who might falsely use a Native American identity for various academic-related benefits.
• Co-Stewardship of UCLA Lands: A speaker maintained that the UCLA Owens properties, located at Stunt Ranch in Malibu and in the White Mountains of the Owens Valley, should be made available to Native Indigenous Tribes to co-steward those lands.