Bio
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy is an Associate Professor of Native American Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt who researches Indigenous feminisms, California Indians, Environmental Justice, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and decolonization. She is the Co-Director of the NAS Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab & Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute where she leads several research projects focused on the resurgence of Indigenous Science and place-based learning. This includes the "Food for Indigenous Futures Project" which looks at connections between food justice, food sovereignty, mental health, and substance abuse prevention for Native American Youth.
She has also helped organize several community facing events like the Northern California #LandBack Symposium, the Water Advocacy & Water Protectors Certificate Program, the Humboldt Indigenous Foods Festival, and the California Indian Conference. Dr. Risling Baldy is also the Program Coordinator for the Masters of Social Science in Environment & Community.
Her book: We Are Dancing For You: Native feminisms and the revitalization of women's coming-of-age ceremonies received "Best First Book in Native American and Indigenous Studies" at the 2019 Native American Indigenous Studies Association Conference. The book uses a framework of Native Feminisms to locate revitalization within a broad context of decolonizing praxis and considers how this renaissance of women's coming-of-age ceremonies confounds ethnographic depictions of Native women; challenges anthropological theories about menstruation, gender, and coming-of-age; and addresses gender inequality and gender violence within Native communities. The book is available with the University of Washington Press.
She received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies at UC Davis; her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Diego State University; and her B.A. in Psychology with a Specialization in Health and Development from Stanford University. In 2007, Dr. Risling Baldy co-founded the Native Women's Collective, a nonprofit organization that supports the continued revitalization of Native American arts and culture. She is Hupa, Karuk, and Yurok and enrolled in the Hoopa Valley Tribe.
She has also helped organize several community facing events like the Northern California #LandBack Symposium, the Water Advocacy & Water Protectors Certificate Program, the Humboldt Indigenous Foods Festival, and the California Indian Conference. Dr. Risling Baldy is also the Program Coordinator for the Masters of Social Science in Environment & Community.
Her book: We Are Dancing For You: Native feminisms and the revitalization of women's coming-of-age ceremonies received "Best First Book in Native American and Indigenous Studies" at the 2019 Native American Indigenous Studies Association Conference. The book uses a framework of Native Feminisms to locate revitalization within a broad context of decolonizing praxis and considers how this renaissance of women's coming-of-age ceremonies confounds ethnographic depictions of Native women; challenges anthropological theories about menstruation, gender, and coming-of-age; and addresses gender inequality and gender violence within Native communities. The book is available with the University of Washington Press.
She received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies at UC Davis; her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Diego State University; and her B.A. in Psychology with a Specialization in Health and Development from Stanford University. In 2007, Dr. Risling Baldy co-founded the Native Women's Collective, a nonprofit organization that supports the continued revitalization of Native American arts and culture. She is Hupa, Karuk, and Yurok and enrolled in the Hoopa Valley Tribe.
