Special Collections and Archives contains information about UCI’s Native American students and programs. To commemorate November’s Native American Heritage Month, let’s take a look in the stacks and see what we have!
UCI Special Collections and Archives recently acquired the records of the American Indian Student Association (AISA). This collection contains brochures, posters, and pamphlets on conferences and events sponsored by AISA, correspondence and reports documenting student involvement and, more broadly, the issues of Native American students at UCI. AISA was founded in 1974 as one of the four founding student organizations of the Cross Cultural Center. AISA is a social, cultural, educational, and political organization that represents and advocates for Native voices across campus and the community.
Although the collection is small (1 box, or 0.4 linear feet in archive speak), it contains a lot of information about major historical events in Native American history on campus. One report recounts how, in 1990, Native American students worked together to revive UCI’s American Indian Council. This unit was the umbrella organization for all American Indian organizations at UCI. They brought in speakers, fundraised, and engaged in various outreach efforts.
Dulce Guerrero, history student intern, made the collection accessible by creating the collection’s online finding aid, where you can learn more about the collection.
Additional material about Native American students and programs can be found in the Cross Cultural Research Center collection and the Program in Comparative Culture records. Additionally, there are photographs in the University Communications photographs. Feel free to visit the archives’ reading room to see these materials firsthand.