These are hard times, I know. But universities and education are getting hit especially hard, and this includes our wonderful university presses. My first book, The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century, was published in 2018 by the University Press of Kansas and we (the authors of the books published by the press) were told, in 2021, that our press might be closing down due to all the financial challenges. This being said, I am going to spread the word out there and encourage people now to support knowledge, education, learning, and our future.

Here is the hyperlink to order my book (and I have donated any humble proceeds from the book to the Navajo Nation Scholarship Office- ONNSFA).

Also it is not too late to save the press, and I am on a mission along with many missions that I am sure you will hear more about by being connected to me- to support education and community through generations with consideration of the many generations ahead and of our ancestors who paved the way for us. This mission includes getting the word out there in support of saving the University Press of Kansas.

When I was a college student, one of the first books that I read cover to cover was published by this press, titled Education for Extinction that revealed the hard and traumatic history of Indian boarding school experiences. I was inspired then to write a book myself one day, which I finally did with the same press and with an endorsement by that same author, David Wallace Adams, who wrote the groundbreaking book (that one I read back in college).

Please help any way that you can whether it’s to buy my book or another great book from the University Press of Kansas and share that you did this and encourage others to support and spread the word to save the university press and support our scholarly presses. You can even just share my posts about it on social media (I have Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook). Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

Thank you for your consideration and all your support. This work would have never been done without many of you, my family and friends, whether it was the tender kindness, good laughs, taking care of me as a child into adulthood, and some of you for sharing your story with me, especially my dad, aunties, uncles, cousins, and kin of their boarding school days. Dad and Mom traveled with me for this book. Mom came to an archive caring for my baby at the time, and Dad would sit on many meetings with me to help interpret in Navajo and shared his childhood stories of boarding school (some of which I hear some of my siblings retelling which I am grateful to know). Remember always.

Check out this video I am sharing of a precious memory of when I opened my first book in print for the first time with family- it gives a glimpse into how precious this work is to me and my family.

UPDATE (March 2021) from the petition “Save University Press of Kansas!”: The University Press of Kansas will remain open! Thank you for all the support and efforts of letting the University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees and the world know that we value university presses, especially the University Press of Kansas. Remember to continue supporting education and university presses. Each of us can make a difference even in the simplest ways.

This is part of the recent press release about this good news: “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE University Press of Kansas to continue its work under the leadership of the Dean of the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries Lawrence, KS., March 19, 2021 — The University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees, which is comprised of the provosts from each of the six Kansas Regent institutions, has confirmed KU Dean of Libraries Kevin L. Smith to serve as director of the Press. Smith, a well-known authority in the field of scholarly communications, will continue his role as Dean in addition to serving as Director of the University Press of Kansas (UPK). This change will allow UPK to take advantage of publishing and scholarly alignment opportunities as well as operate in a more cost-efficient manner.”