Body, Spirit, Land: Critical Indigenous Theory Imagined by Sky Hopinka

you are here: the journal of creative geography, School of Geography, Development & Environment, University of Arizona, 2024

In this article, Larissa explores two films by Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga) through the lens of critical Indigenous theory. By analyzing the thematic concept and subject of the films, she traces an interrogation of settler colonialism but also reveals how the presence of memory, in both films, lingers through material culture and mirrors itself with relationships to land.

The Aesthetic of Power: Porcelain and the Expansion of White Saviorism

Spark: Elevating Scholarship on Social Issues, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan, 2021

The co-authors of this paper, Larissa Nez, Sophia Ellis and Rai Terry, examine kaolin, the essential ingredient in porcelain which enthralled the western imagination in the 16th-18th centuries, and its relationship to settler-colonialism, European bourgeois aesthetics, and abolitionism movements.

“Reuniting & Returning: Balancing our Universe through Weaving”

in Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Diné Textiles, ed. Hadley Welch Jensen. Museum of New Mexico Press.

Preorder Available / Shipping Mid-June 2024

Larissa’s essay explores the ways that Diné women were explicitly effected by new colonial economies that negatively impacted the ways weavings were configured, and disfigured, from the mid-twentieth century onwards. Her insights include a historical analysis of trading post economies, cultural beliefs around Diné weaving and feminism, and future implications for museums who seek to restore Diné autonomy in their spaces.

Shaped by the Loom: Dyeing & Coloring Educator Guide

Bard Graduate Center, 2023

In Spring 2023, Larissa was commissioned by Bard Graduate Center to be the lead author for Shaped by the Loom’s educator guide. This educator guide is designed for teachers and students in grades 4–6 as a complement to the exhibition Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest (organized by Bard Graduate Center Gallery, New York, 2023, and curated by Hadley Welch Jensen alongside a team of collaborators). By highlighting the collective knowledge that guides the making process, the exhibition presents weaving as an art form, a cultural practice, and a lived experience.

“Indigenous Power in Public Places”

in Jaune Quick-To-See Smith: Memory Map, ed. by Beth Huseman. The Whitney Museum of American Art, 2023

Larissa authored catalogue entry provides a historical scope and formal analysis on the Petroglyph Park series featured in the exhibition, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map.

“The Aesthetics and Ethics of Representation, Reclamation, and Resistance: The Art of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith”

in Poetic Justice: Judith F. Baca, Mildred Howard, and Jaune Quick-to See-Smith, ed. by Merry Scully. Museum of New Mexico Press, Forthcoming in 2024.

Larissa’s academic essay focused on the artistic growth and impact of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Her insights provided an expansive theoretical analysis on the formal qualities, technique, and inspiration behind major works featured in the exhibition.

Finding Our Way Past Trading Posts

Asparagus Magazine, July 2022

In the last issue of 2021 and the first special issue by Asparagus Magazine, Larissa wrote a First Voice essay reflecting on how trading posts in the Southwestern US harmed—and continue to harm—local Indigenous communities by commodifying items of personal, familiar, and spiritual value.

A Letter to My Freshman Self

Corby Books, September 2021

A Letter to My Freshman Self is an anthology of personal letters from University of Notre Dame’s alumni and present day students to their freshman selves. Speaking from diverse perspectives, the authors pass on their unique stories, compelling journeys, and powerful reflections to help freshmen make the most out of their college experience.

Be The Light, Vol. 4 / ND Family Doing Good During the Pandemic

We Are ND, April 2020

Notre Dame alumni, parents, and friends continue to be forces for good in the fight to end the COVID-19 pandemic and support the vulnerable during this challenging moment in time. Larissa’s efforts on the Navajo Nation are featured.

The Exploitation of Native Imagery for Profit

Terra Incognita Media, September 2017

This publication highlights the history of Native imagery being utilized in art, the development and portrayal of Native activism in the media, the issues of Native mascots in sports, and the exploitation of Native imagery for and by capitalism.

Seminar 11: Many Returns

Vera List Center for Art and Politics, March 2024

Convening this seminar as the Borderlands Curatorial Fellow, Larissa takes up questions around restitution and rematriation, or more specifically, land back and return from Indigenous perspectives, from Turtle Island to Palestine alongside the two featured speakers.

Seminar 6: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization: Rematriation and Preservation

Vera List Center for Art and Politics, May 2023

Convening this seminar as the Borderlands Curatorial Fellow, Larissa considers rematriation and the preservation of Indigenous culture, art, and land. With an emphasis on culture as a living process that incorporates both continuity and change, this seminar explores the ways Indigenous people from, and living in, the New York region are working across social and political landscapes to revitalize traditional practices, language usage, and artistic experimentation.

Larissa Nez — On Decolonizing Institutions

Fields of the Future: Unraveling the Loom podcast, Bard Graduate Center, Fall 2022

Larissa is a featured guest on the Fields of the Future: Unraveling the Loom podcast hosted by the Bard Graduate Center, a graduate research institute in New York City. Larissa discusses her relationship to Navajo weaving and culture while connecting it to her curatorial work and education.

Rug and Textile Appreciation Morning: Color Riot! How Color Changed Navajo Textiles

George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, April 2022

Through a virtual tour moderated by Laura Allen, weaver Velma Kee Craig, one of the three Diné curators of the original exhibition, will speak closely to the stunning textiles selected and the exhibition's themes. Larissa Nez (Diné), a contributing curator for the Montclair installation, will share additional community and artistic perspectives on weaving.

Ecologies of Making: Knowledge and Process in Navajo Weaving

Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest, Bard Graduate Center, February 2023

Larissa shared a research paper titled, “We Are Alive: Restoring Meaning and Life to Navajo Weavings,” along with presentations given by four Diné scholars, weavers, and artists at a research symposium in conjunction with the Shaped by the Loom exhibition opening events.

Indigenous Histories in New England

Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Brown University, April 2022

A research presentation by Mellon Graduate fellows at the Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice. These presentations reflect on graduate fellows participation on the Reimagining New England Histories (RENH) -a collaborative project with Williams College, Mystic Seaport Museum, as well as Indigenous and African American communities that seeks to tell the complex plurality of histories of these communities within the region of New England.

The Public History of King Philip's War: A Panel Discussion

Wayland Public Library, October 17, 2021

"The Sudbury Fight," "King Philip's Woods," "Metacomet Way." What comes to mind when you hear these terms and place names? What really was King Philip's War and how do we understand it's significance in our history?

Join us for a panel discussion on the history and impact of the violence, how it has been remembered through memorials and markers, and recent efforts to center a Native American perspective in our public memory of King Philip's War.

Interrupting Oppression in the Outdoors Workshop Series

Terra Incognita Media, Portland, OR, 2017

Larissa was a co-facilitator for the 2017 Interrupting Oppression workshops hosted by Terra Incognita Media in Portland, OR. In these early workshops, the Terra Incognita Media team linked the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and capitalism back to colonization and how the outdoor industry co-signs and directly contributes to the ongoing oppression of marginalized communities.