Seven Generations Indigenous Knowledge Center

The Faculty Exchange Program (FEP) advances a reciprocal, mission driven partnership between NAU faculty and Tribal Colleges and University faculty by creating transformative opportunities for shared learning and collaboration. The 7Gen Center develops programs that promote a structured exchange of faculty presentations across institutions, and faculty participants to elevate Indigenous Knowledges, advance culturally responsive teaching practices, engage in community-based learning initiatives, and address professional development priorities identified by TCU leadership. Individual faculty and group presentations are recorded and shared through the NAU Cline Library Special Collections and Archives’ Indigenous Knowledge Digital Learning Library (IKDLL), an Indigenous open educational resource repository. Materials housed within the IKDLL will be publicly accessible as part of the program’s commitment to knowledge sharing, educational access, and collaborative scholarship. The program has partnered with three Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) A:shiwi Tribal College and Career Readiness Center in Zuni, New Mexico; Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, New Mexico; and Tohono O’odham Community College in Sells, Arizona. The FEP is currently implementing its third faculty cohort.  

The 7Gen Center annual conference is the FEP program culmination that provides a forum for sharing impactful faculty collaborative faculty projects and advancing dialogue related to incorporating Indigenous Knowledges into higher education curriculum, research and practice.   

The Ancestral Skills Program (ASP) is led by Knowledge Holders who teach and share traditional ancestral skills with students, staff and faculty. The ASP invites Indigenous elders to teach our community about historical Indigenous roots and embracing cultural identities. ASP centers its activities on Indigenous languages, humor, love, and the process of learning about ancestral lifeways that are an integral part of individual development for many Indigenous Peoples. Teaching ancestral skills within an institution of higher education is a direct form of Indigenization and healing. Ancestral skills are holistic, spanning diverse mediums and teachings. A few examples of intergenerational skills taught include intertribal regalia making (i.e., ribbon skirts, beadwork, bow guard, etc.), basket making through multiple tribal techniques, grounding Indigenous identity through painting, the art of storytelling through poetry, filmography, and strengthening relationality with Pacific Islanders through engagement with the Aloha Festival and HAPA Luau. Hands-on workshops are led by our Knowledge Holders throughout the year for the campus community, helping to strengthen our cultural bonds and relationships. 

The Visiting Artist Program (VAP) seeks to Indigenize the campus by inviting Indigenous artists to educate, promote, and elevate Indigenous artistic expression, knowledges, and perspectives. Students have an opportunity to meet Indigenous artists and engage in meaningful conversations. Visiting artists center Indigenous perspectives as they explain their artistic process, share their skillsets, and motivate students to become artists. A few examples of programming included a visiting artist talk with Olympic Trials qualifier Hosava Kretzmann (Hopi and Diné) on the art and history of running, a co-sponsorship of the 2nd Annual Echoes of the Mountain Social Powwow featuring Apache crown dancers, and a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Awareness Day with a documentary screening and conversation with director Amanda Erickson (San Carlos Apache) of her film “She Cried That Day.” These presentations deepened our understanding of how Indigenous artistic expression supports and enhances the Indigenization efforts throughout campus.  

The Cultural Land Based Experiential Learning Program (CLBP) provides students, staff, and faculty with field visits to neighboring Tribal Homelands for an introductory learning experience that is deeply rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land. These cultural and educational immersive visits provide opportunities to learn from multiple knowledge holders about various elements that together create environments that sustain Indigenous Peoples. NAU students, staff, and faculty also share their perspectives to enrich the conversations to make the trips truly an exchange of Indigenous Knowledges. By sharing who Indigenous Peoples are, the land/community Indigenous Peoples come from, and what sustains Indigenous Peoples, the CLBP contributes to the changes within NAU systems and structures that ensure the growth and success of Indigenous students, staff, and faculty. The cultural field trips assist with establishing partnerships that can create lasting connections with local Indigenous communities.  

The 7Gen Center is grateful to have worked with an interdisciplinary ten-member Founding Faculty Advisory Council (FFAC) in 2023, who fulfilled a multifaceted role in shaping the center’s activities and initiatives. The FFAC attended multiple meetings to co-create the 7Gen Center’s preamble, mission, vision, values, goals, and bylaws, and served as ambassadors by promoting the center’s mission and collaboratively developing and participating in its programming. After the FFAC completed their term, the 7Gen Center worked with the two ten-member Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) cohorts in 2024 and in 2025, who were tasked with continuing the groundbreaking indigenization work initiated by the FFAC. Both interdisciplinary FAC cohorts advise the 7Gen Center on matters related to the development and implementation of the Center goals.  

A few programming examples they successfully hosted were a student and faculty mixer, Faculty Teach-Ins that explored how to bring Indigeneity into the curriculum, NAU HR professional development workshops, introduce guest speaker and facilitated an Indigenous languages presentation at the 7Gen Center Conference. The Faculty Advisory Council’s commitment to indigenization and collaborative approach ensure that Indigenous perspectives and knowledge are woven into the fabric of Northern Arizona University, fostering a more inclusive and culturally responsive educational environment. The FAC program concluded in 2025.  

The Indigenous Knowledge Holder (IKH) program collaborates with Indigenous scholars and practitioners who serve as subject matter experts within their culturally diverse professions. Indigenous Knowledge Holders engage with the 7Gen Center and campus partners as cultural consultants and as workshop presenters. The Indigenous Knowledge Holders (IKH) Program included two cohorts; 2023–2024 and 2024–2025. Each IKH cohort consisted of five remarkable Knowledge Holders who provided invaluable insights and recommendations to guide the appropriate use and implementation of 7Gen Center activities. Their contributions deepened our campus community’s understanding of Indigenization, cultural protocols, and traditional practices, a journey that continues to enrich our collective experiences across campus. This collective initiative sought to illustrate how Indigenous Knowledges can enrich our work and scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The IKH Program ran from Fall 2023 through Summer 2025.