Unceded Kinship

unceded kinship

About Initiative

Discover Projects

Library Exhibit

Indigenous Map

About the UO Global Justice Grant Initiative 

 

amber starks

Unceded Kinship seeks to engage students and the UO community in honoring the past, present, and future of Native and Afro descendent peoples. The project explores how we can restore our relationships to one another and to the natural world while holding kinship, solidarity, and community as sacred. As a Global Justice Grant project, refusing the narratives of erasure, dehumanization, and subjugation, and envisioning a future rooted in Black Liberation and Indigenous Sovereignty are the drives behind the Unceded Kinship initiative. The funding for the grant was provided through the UO Savage Endowment for International Relations and Peace. Unceded Kinship was launched by UO Common Reading in 2021 and is guided and organized by UO alum Amber Starks, enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and of Shawnee, Yuchi, Quapaw, and Cherokee descent. Amber is a nationally-recognized community organizer, artist, and stylist. The project intersects with UO Common Reading's selection—Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

►  Learn about Braiding Sweetgrass
►  Find out more about Amber's vision
►  Read about Unceded Kinship in Around the O

 

Unceded Kinship Grant Work

 

air water land
The Air Water Land Symposium
This symposium featured Amber Starks as a speaker, focusing on environmental justice and sustainable food systems. Designed to foster critical conversations from Indigenous and Black/Afro-descendant communities across the Americas, this event is organized around themes of air, land, and water, with a committed focus to issues impacting local communities.
lane county history
Strides for Social Justice
A PeaceHealth initiative developed in partnership with the Eugene Marathon – is designed to be a free, inclusive program that will engage and educate participants on the contributions, achievements and milestones of Black residents of Lane County, highlighting the injustices many have faced. Together we can stop the cycle of racism, building a more inclusive culture in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
common seeing
Common Seeing: Meeting Points
Every year, the University of Oregon’s Common Reading program encourages campus-wide engagement with a shared book and related resources. JSMA’s corresponding Common Seeing expands this conversation through the visual arts. This year’s Common Seeing brings together works by nine contemporary Native artists that speak to these issues and each’s experiences as individuals and members of their communities. 

Discover More Projects

 

 

In Conversation with Michelle Obama

JSMA Black Lives Matter Artists Grant

Storytelling and Science: Braiding Sweetgrass

Lummi Nation Totem Pole Journey

UO Libraries: Black Scholars

Library Guide: Listen Learn Act

No Cost Braiding Sweetgrass e-book

Common Reading: Listen Learn Act

African American Workshop and Lecture Series

Indigenous UO Map

This map highlights the key points of interests related to Native American and Indigenous history on campus. This project was created and developed by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Academic Residential Community in 2018.

Contact us

If you have any questions, are interested in getting involved with Unceded Kinship, or want to give feedback on the project, the team would love to hear from you! 

Email us at commonreading@uoregon.edu
Follow us on Twitter @CommonUo
See the latest on Instagram @uocommonreading

First-Year Programs
5256 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5256
Office: Oregon Hall, Room 107