biography of the day--brenda flyswithhawks

[niyad]

Brenda Flyswithhawks
Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Brenda is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of the Tsalagi (Cherokee) Nation, and is from the Qualla Boundary Reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina. She is of the Bird Clan by birth and is a traditional dancer, singer, drummer, and storyteller. Brenda adheres to her traditional Tsalagi teachings and believes that all Native people are in a coming home process‚ coming home to the traditional way of life.
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In 1989 Brenda was recruited by the Behavioral Sciences Department to teach psychology as a sabbatical replacement instructor. She continued as an adjunct faculty for the following three years, was hired into a tenure track teaching position by the district in 1993, and received tenure in 1997.
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Professional Involvement and Community Service

Brenda is also an international lecturer regarding mental health, educational, and legal issues of American Indian people. She has worked extensively over the past thirty years as an AIDS educator in the American Indian community. She has served as Chair of the California Native American AIDS Advisory Board, Chair of the People of Color AIDS Task Force in Santa Rosa, and as a board member of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center in Oakland, California. She was also instrumental in the planning of the first annual Traditional Gathering for American Indian Medicine and Spiritual Leaders to address AIDS in the Indian community. Brenda is also an expert witness for the courts regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act and a consultant regarding American Indian clinical, legal, and tribal matters. She also serves as a member of the Sonoma County Indian Health Project Board of Directors.

As an international lecturer, Brenda also lectures on the issue of multiculturalism with a specific focus on diversity and inclusive curriculum in the world of academia. She is well known for her integrative teaching style within the classroom regarding race, class, gender, and heterosexism issues. She is also a consultant to the Center for Research on Women, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts and Co-Director of their National S.E.E.D. (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Organization.

Resources:
Source: Online.santarosa.edu - Faculty Profile

http://www.maynardije.org/