Annual Report 2007-08
Broad understanding
Traditional indigenous knowledge can help solve modern problems — this is a central idea in Devon Mihesuah’s work.
Her assignment is multifaceted: teach in the Global Indigenous Nations
program; act as liaison to Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence;
serve as an affiliate in the Tribal Law and Governance Center; and help to develop a new academic entity, KU’s Indigenous Institute. This institute will focus basic research on Native North American cultures, and Mihesuah intends it to attract high-ability students and strong faculty.
She’s an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She currently has two books forthcoming, a book on Choctaw law and a novel whose heroine is a Choctaw homicide detective. Her next project is a book on strategies for physical survival adopted by displaced Indians, based on oral histories recorded by a 1930s WPA project.
Her concern for tribal health has led to work with Native knowledge ranging from languages and history to indigenous plants, gardening and cookery. A longtime gardener, she has published an award-winning cookbook of indigenous recipes. She maintains a website dedicated to indigenous food and health that includes information about typical health problems, benefits of indigenous foods, recipes and even exercise tips.
“Tribal health is worse now than ever,” she says, “but it’s very empowering to make better choices in what you eat, perhaps to
grow something your ancestors grew.”
For faculty
KU Endowment provides direct support for endowed chairs, distinguished professors and teaching professors. In addition, funding helps to cover the costs of faculty awards, continuing education and professional travel. Gifts for new endowed professorships at Kansas Regents institutions qualify for additional support from the state through the Kansas Partnership for Faculty of Distinction Program. The program began in 2000 and has since provided $6.8 million in supplemental state support for KU faculty.
In FY08, it provided $2.1 million.
