Faculty & Staff

 Christina Leza, Associate Professor of Anthropology (Yoeme & Chicana)
cleza@coloradocollege.edu
Christina Leza is a linguistic anthropologist and Yoeme-Chicana activist scholar whose research interests include Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous rights, discourse and identity, racial and ethnic discourses, grassroots activism, cognitive anthropology, and the U.S.-Mexico border. Her most recent research has focused on Indigenous activist responses to U.S.-Mexico border enforcement. She has also examined broader discourse patterns among indigenous grassroots activists in the U.S. and Latin America. Her publications include Divided Peoples: Policy, Activism and Indigenous Identities on the U.S.-Mexico Border (University of Arizona Press), and "Hip Hop is Resistance: Indigeneity on the U.S.-Mexico Border" in the edited volume Music and Modernity among First Peoples of North America (Wesleyan University Press).

 Natanya Pully, Associate Professor of English, Chair (Dine')
npulley@coloradocollege.edu
My fiction and non-fiction work often explores humans in the process of negotiating a reality that seems absurd, alien, or unconsciously constructed out of fear and insecurity. These voices must confront their own natures and temporal and spatial existence. In my writing, not only is being human dangerous, but so are narratives as they spin out or reel in or unravel and feel out liminal spaces. This has led me to not only study the craft of fiction writing, but also the evolution of the novel and narrative theory. Additionally, I find horror and monster theory and theories of bodies as well as graphic novels enjoyable when it comes to asking what sort of narratives make us feel undone or question our idea of story and our world. As a biracial writer, I have found my own stories often straddle worlds and expectations, which has led me to study Native American writing and experimental works of writers of color with an eye towards the blending and blurring of narratives and constructed reality.

My joy as a writer and teacher is to explore and experiment. I enjoy collage and watercolor—both mediums with plenty of room for surprises and mistakes. In the spirit of exploration, I am attempting different kinds of book arts and failing better with each venture. I'm originally from Utah and after some years in other parts of the nation, I'm very happy to be nestled amongst the Rockies again with my husband J.P. and our shih tzu Roxy.

 Dwanna McKay, Associate Professor of Race, Ethnicity & Migration Studies (Muscogee)
dmckay@coloradocollege.edu
Dwanna L. McKay (formerly Robertson) is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and joined the Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies program in 2016. Professor McKay centers her teaching, research, service, and activism on an overall commitment to social justice. Raised within the boundaries of her tribal nation in Oklahoma, McKay understands the definitive disadvantage of growing up in a rural area steeped in discrimination and how that manifests in constrained access to basic needs like housing, healthcare, employment opportunities, and equitable education. McKay fuses active research and teaching agendas in social inequality, intersectionality, critical race theory, and indigenous identity with broad interdisciplinary knowledge.

 Ira Huff, Men's Assistant Lacrosse Coach (Seneca, Hawk Clan)
ihuff@coloradocollege.edu 
Ira Huff is Seneca, Hawk Clan, and was raised on the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in Western New York State. He has been working with the Men's Lacrosse program since 2019, and has spent the last ten years coaching, mentoring and teaching Native and non-Native youth in New York, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Colorado. He is the Cultural Director of Earth Lacrosse, a non-profit organization founded with three distinct goals in mind: teaching the Indigenous roots of the game, raising awareness and consciousness regarding Indigenous issues, and coaching lacrosse at a high level. In addition to coaching, he has been published in Yellow Medicine Review and The Grief Diaries. Huff earned a bachelor's degree in English & Textual Studies from Syracuse University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 Carlos Duarte (Pascua Yaqui)
cduarte@coloradocollege.edu
Carlos Duarte is the Instruction and First-Year Engagement Librarian at the Charles L. Tutt Library at Colorado College. His focus in on delivering information literacy instruction to students at Colorado College. He received his M.S.I.S. from the University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in Academic Librarianship and earned his MA Portfolio from the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program. Carlos attended the University of New Mexico as an undergraduate where he majored in history. 

Christian Valvano, Assistant Registrar, Fine Arts Center (Stockbridge-Munsee)
cvalvano@coloradocollege.edu

Elder in Residence
As a member of the Chaplain’s Office, the Elder in Residence provides cultural, social, and spiritual encouragement and support for the diverse Student Community as students deepen their understanding of what culture and spirituality means to them.

 Debbie Howell 
Debbie is Sisseton/Wahpeton Dakota and a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma (Skidi/Wolf Band).  She presently serves on: El Pomar Foundation Elevating Leadership Development Advisory Council, Denver Indian Health and Family Services Board, Native American Women’s Association Board as treasurer, and Garden of the Gods Rock Ledge Ranch Powwow as treasurer.  This past year she was part of the University of Colorado Denver Metro Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Covid-19 Community Engagement Alliance and has contributed her knowledge to other Native, women’s and community committees and causes.

Connect with Elder in Residence:

• Email dhowell@coloradocollege.edu
• Office # 719-389-7941
• Office Worner Campus Center #211