Campus Directory

Pronouns he, him, his, his, himself

Division Arts Division

Department/College/Unit Film and Digital Media Department

Title Assistant Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Latin American & Latino Studies

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Web Site

Primary Office Location Kresge College Academic Building
1207

Office Hours for Students/ Office Hours Thursdays, noon - 2pm

Mail Stop Film and Digital Media

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D., History, UC Santa Cruz, with Designated Emphases in American Studies & in Latin American and Latino Studies, 2016.

M.A., History, UC Santa Cruz, 2010.

B.A., American Studies, UC Santa Cruz, 2004.

B.A., Philosophy, UC Irvine, 1999.

Summary of Expertise

My work focuses on Indigenous histories, politics, and stories from 19th Century California. My research and writings emphasize Indigenous politics of survival and perseverance by centering stories on Indigenous peoples rather than colonial institutions, such as the missions. I am a public historian who creates and works on audio and video projects centering Indigenous voices and perspectives. 

Research Interests

Native American History; Spanish Borderlands; Indigenous Studies; Colonialism and Nationalism; American History; California History; Representation(s) of Native American People and Cultures; Critical Race & Ethnic Studies; Latin American and Latino Studies; Indigenous Studies; American Studies. 

Awards, Honors and Grants

• We are not Animals - recipient of 2023 John C. Ewers Award for best published book on North American Indian Ethnohistory.
• 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title, We are not Animals

• Arts Research Institute - Collaborative Grant & an Equity and Innovation Grant - for Indigenous Testimonies at Mission Santa Cruz Film Project.

• Dolkas-Mertz Distinguished Historian Award – for virtual bell exhibit.

• “‘If They Do Not Fulfill What They Have Promised, I Will Accuse Them’: Locating Indigenous Women and their Influence in the California Missions” 2021 Arrington-Prucha Prize (best article on American western religious history).
• “‘If They Do Not Fulfill What They Have Promised, I Will Accuse Them’: Locating Indigenous Women and Their Influence in the California Missions” voted by Oxford University Press as one of top two articles published in Western Historical Quarterly in 2020. 
• UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, UC Riverside, 2018-2020

Selected Exhibitions

Project Manager, "For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Mission Bell as a Symbol through the Ages," virtual exhibit, hosted online at Mission Santa Cruz State Historic Park.

Selected Presentations

• Roundtable Participant, “Transforming the Teaching of the California Missions: Essential Collaborations to Teach from an Indigenous Perspective,” in Teaching History Conference: Challenges in Teaching and Learning History: Issues of Pedagogy & Content at UC Davis, May 7, 2021, on panel with Daisy Martin, Judith Scott, Valentin Lopez (Amah Mutsun Tribal Band), Alexii Sigona, and Renya Ramirez.

• “Women and Power in Early Native North America,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Virtual Conference on American History, April 15-18, 2021.

• “We are not Animals: Indigenous History of Santa Cruz,” Amah Mutsun Speaker Series: Critical Mission Studies Research: Telling the Truth, Santa Cruz, California, November 7, 2020.

• Presenter, "Captain Coleto and the Yokuts: Social and political stratification within California mission communities,” Western History Association 60th Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 17th, 2020.

• Chair & Presenter, “Fausta & Serafina: Indigenous Women in Positions of Power within the California Missions,” Western History Association 59th Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 19, 2019.

• “Portola’s Encounters with the Guachirron and Quiroste: the Real Story of Indigenous Generosity & Spanish Duplicity,” Amah Mutsun Speaker Series: Nothing to Celebrate: Reconsidering the Legacy of Portola, Santa Cruz, California, October 16, 2019.

• Presenter, “Life in the Mission of Padre Killers,” UC Riverside President’s & Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow Symposium, Riverside, California, May 1, 2019.

Selected Publications

“We are Not Animals”: Indigenous Politics of Survival, Rebellion, and Reconstitution in 19th Century California. Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press (2022)

"'If They Do Not Fulfill What They Have Promised, I Will Accuse Them’: Locating Indigenous Women and Their Influence in the California Missions.” Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Autumn 2020): 291—313.

“The Many Lives of Justiniano Roxas: The Centenarian Fantasy in American History and Memory.” Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 2018): 168—204. Co-written with Boyd Cothran.