Trans-Indigenous Education: Indigeneity, Relationships, and Higher Education

Abstract

Trans-Indigenous education encompasses spaces, practices, and programs that allow diverse histories, cultures, and experiences to be shared among diverse Indigenous students. Trans-Indigenous education attends to the interpersonal and spatial dimensions existing in higher education settings that center diverse Indigenous knowledges to build communities based on a shared consciousness. This article highlights the ways that American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) students engaged in trans-Indigenous education across Tovaangar (what is known as the Los Angeles Basin). We offer insights from four trans-Indigenous higher education programs at UCLA and the Claremont Colleges. We conclude by providing trans-Indigenous education as an anti/decolonial framework, arguing that these spaces have the potential to foster relationalities among people and place and reinforce Indigenous knowledge systems that are transformational while providing stronger networks of support among diverse Indigenous students.