Associate Professor : Native American Studies Office phone:
505 277-0437
leola@unm.edu
Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, Ph.D. [Diné/Filipina & traditionally accepted into Santa Ana Pueblo] is an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Native American Studies. Her research and service activities focus on Indigenous educational sovereignty and wellbeing. She is a member of the UNM Diversity Council Curriculum Subcommittee and the Institute for American Indian Education (IAIE). She has been an Expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Faculty Fellow, Student Experience Project Fellow and an Academic Affairs General Education Faculty Fellow on Race and Social Justice. Beyond UNM, she has also served as President of the American Indian Studies Association Council. Her board membership has included the New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union and the Torreon Community Alliance. Dr. Paquin’s published work includes article contributions to the Wicazo Sa Review and Journal of the West. Her chapter contributions include the books: The Yazzie Case: Interrogating the Martinez/Yazzie v. New Mexico Lawsuit; Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy; and Indigenous Health and Justice. She has collaborated with numerous school districts and colleges in New Mexico. Through her various community-based partnerships, she creates curriculum and gray literature to support the growth of Indigenous platforms. She is a joyful member of the Running Medicine movement community which centers the intersection of her academic identities and family roles. Thus, she enjoys mentoring students with Indigenous wellbeing initiatives and research agendas. She has been an active faculty mentor in the El Puente Research Fellowship, Arts & Sciences Support for Undergraduate Research Experience Fellowship, and in the Graduate College’s Faculty Mentoring Program.