Ah-in-nist, also known as Clifford, Sipes is Cheyenne with family ties in both Oklahoma and Montana. His father was the last authorized historian of the Cheyenne People, and a respected Chief and Pipe Carrier. His Mother is a citizen of the Caddo Nation. Ah-in-nist currently resides and works in Oklahoma. He writes and speaks publicly, working most recently on the “Calling Back the Spirits” initiative to “preserve by art and the written word what was previously learned only through the oral recounting of the story of Fort Marion by the descendants” of the warriors and Indigenous people imprisoned there. Ah-in-nist is one of the descendants who supports this work with his relatives.

Dr. Blaire Morseau, a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Her research spans Indigenous science fiction, traditional ecological knowledge, digital heritage, and Native counter-mapping. Her book, Mapping Neshnabé Futurity (May 2025), explores how Native environmental activism and traditional knowledge intersect with Indigenous speculative fiction to reclaim Indigenous spaces in the Great Lakes region.

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Ellis is Peewaalia and a citizen of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. She serves as her nation’s historical liaison. She is an associate professor of history at Princeton University, specializing in early American and Native American history. While her research focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth-century South, Liz also writes about contemporary Indigenous issues and political movements.

President’s Associates Presidential Professor Dr. Joshua Nelson (a Cherokee citizen) is an associate professor of English and affiliated faculty with Film & Media Studies, Native American Studies, and Women’s & Gender Studies at the University of Oklahoma, focusing on American Indian literature and film. He is the author of Progressive Traditions: Identity in Cherokee Literature and Culture, and a co-producer of the PBS documentary Searching for Sequoyah (directed by James Fortier and produced by LeAnne Howe). 

Dr. Kaitlin Reed, an enrolled citizen of the Yurok Tribe and of Hupa and Oneida descent, is an associate professor of Native American Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt. In her research, she focuses on tribal land and water rights, extractive capitalism, and settler colonial political economies. In her first book, Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California (2023), she connects the historical and ecological dots between the Gold Rush and the Green Rush, focusing on capitalistic resource extraction and violence against Indigenous lands and bodies. Kaitlin obtained her B.A. degree in Geography at Vassar College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. In 2018, she received the Charles Eastman Fellowship of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. In her free time, she likes to play video games, watch reality television, and spend time with her partner, Michael, and her cat, Fitzherbert.

Kelly Berry, Ed.D., is an enrolled citizen of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Plains Apache) with affiliations to the Kiowa and Choctaw Nations. Dr. Berry is a Mellon Impact Post-Doctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. His groundbreaking research explores the intersections of eSports, Native American education, and technology, focusing on infusing Indigenous knowledge into classrooms and reimagining the possibilities of gaming through an Indigenous lens.

Kevin Maillard, JD and PhD, is Professor of Law at Syracuse University, a contributor to the New York Times and an author of children’s literature. He has written for The Atlantic and has provided on-air commentary to ABC News and MSNBC. He is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, which won the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, he is based in Manhattan, New York.

Dr. Melanie (“Mel”) Fillmore (they/them/she/her) is urban mixed Hunkpapa, Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota. Mel is an assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Their work is an iterative approach to understand the political engagement of Indigenous communities in policy and data. They envision a future of collaborative governance led by Indigenous ancestral wisdom and lived experiences. Mel was the lead researcher on the 2020 HCR33 Report on Idaho’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). Their 2024 dissertation, “Redefining Missing in the Third Space of Sovereignty,” considers how US federalism is fundamentally changed in collaborative structures and are created between tribes, states, and the federal institutions, particularly when tribes are leading collaborations on agreements or policy initiatives.

Violet Duncan is a Plains Cree and Taino author, storyteller, and educator dedicated to celebrating Indigenous culture and traditions. She is the author of Buffalo Dreams and other children's books that highlight Native identity, resilience, and storytelling. A powwow dancer and performer, she travels internationally, sharing Indigenous knowledge through literature, dance, and workshops. Duncan is also an advocate for Indigenous representation in publishing, creating stories that inspire young readers and strengthen cultural connections for future generations.

Yvette Brown-Shirley, MD, is a Diné neurologist specializing in sports neurology and brain injury medicine at Barrow Neurological Institute. She is board-certified in neurology and brain injury medicine and is dedicated to addressing neurologic health inequities in Native communities. Dr. Brown-Shirley earned her medical degree from the University of New Mexico and completed her residency and fellowship at Barrow. Passionate about Indigenous health advocacy, she works to improve access to neurological care for Native American student-athletes and underserved populations.