Special Events
Special Events and Ticket Information:
NAISA is excited to invite you to join us for enriching and one-of-a-kind experiences during this year's conference. Below, you’ll find some details about these special events. We’ll share more details about these events, including their locations and times, as soon as possible. Please check back regularly for the latest updates.
Pre-Conference Event: Five Tribes
This convening is for scholars of and from the Five Tribes now in Oklahoma: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee Creek and Seminole. Given their shared histories of removal to Indian Territory-cum-Oklahoma and engagements with one another throughout time, this gathering of scholars aims to be an intellectual counterpart to the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes. It is an opportunity for scholars of the Five Tribes to learn from one another and work together especially as the Five Tribes are facing major shared challenges in and by the State of Oklahoma. Registration required. Limit of 50 participants.
Tentative Itinerary
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12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lunch
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1:00 - 2:30 PM - Open Discussion: The State of Five Tribes Scholarship
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2:30 - 3:00 PM - Break
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3:00 - 4:30 PM - Open Discussion: Supporting Tribal Sovereignty in Oklahoma
When: Tuesday, June 24th,12:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: TBA
To Register for the Pre-Conference Event: Five Tribes, please click here.
You will receive an email confirming registration. For questions or more information, please contact: megan.baker@northwestern.edu
Pre-Conference Event: Roast and Toast
Join us to celebrate and critique the things about our disciplines that make us smile and the things that make us sigh. We’ll “Roast” and “Toast” Indigenous Studies and History prompted by their interesting, frustrating, challenging, and amusing quirks that Indigenous historical scholars experience when practicing within, across and between these disciplines.
The Indigenous historical collectives Shekon Neechie and Te Pouhere Kōrero are organizing this hybrid event (in-person and video conferencing) in connection with the 2025 NAISA Conference. It is open to all Indigenous historical scholars including Indigenous faculty and Indigenous graduate students.
This is our third shared event since the pre-conference gathering at NAISA 2023 (Toronto). We are excited to reconvene in Oklahoma and initiate further conversation among Indigenous scholars especially on issues connected to disciplinarity that can become invisible to those working within disciplines, but
highly visible to those outside of it. These issues help us to reflect on what matters to us as scholars and can help deepen critical reflection on why and where we work. Participants will receive guidelines on contributing to the event closer to the time.
We aim to attract a range of scholars at different career stages, from both sides of the border and across the Pacific Ocean. We’ll begin with a ‘lightning’ Roast and Toast round by senior Historians and Indigenous Studies scholars, followed by a discussion and response among the group. Smaller sessions will then follow, which will discuss tailored questions about methodological, personnel, and structural strengths and challenges to better articulate what works and doesn’t work in the gaps and overlaps among these areas of scholarly activity.
The in-person stream of the event will run from 1:00-4:00 pm at the Native Nations Center, University of Oklahoma and the online event will begin at 1:30 pm Central Daylight Time (6:30 am on 26 June New Zealand Standard Time; 2:30 pm Eastern Standard Time, 11:30 am Pacific Daylight Time and so on).
When: Wednesday, June 25th,1:00 pm - 4:00 pm CST
Location: Copeland Hall, Native Nations Center, University of Oklahoma and online
Light Snacks and Transportation from the Omni Hotel to University of Oklahoma will be provided.
To Register for the Pre-Conference Event: Roast and Treat, please click here.
For questions or more information, please contact: indigenoushistoricalcollective@gmail.com
Pre-Conference Event: Oklahoma History Center
Visit the Oklahoma History Center for a panel discussion about Choctaw and Oklahoma historian Muriel Hazel Wright (1889–1975). Wright was the longtime editor of The Chronicles of Oklahoma and the author of numerous works, including A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma (1951).
A panel moderated by Patricia Loughlin (University of Central Oklahoma) and featuring Anna Davis (Oklahoma Historical Society), Grace Ellis (Yale University), and Brianna Theobald (University of Rochester) will reaffirm Wright’s significance by framing her work in broader historic context, including the Native club women’s movement and national discourses concerning American history textbooks.
Registrants receive free admission to the Oklahoma History Center and will have the opportunity to visit the museum galleries and research center.
When: Wednesday, June 25, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location: Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma City
Cost: This event is free. Registration is required.
Registration Deadline: June 23rd
To register for this Pre-Conference Event at the Oklahoma History Center, please click here.
To view more information about this event, please click here.
For questions and more information, please contact matthew.pearce@history.ok.gov or call 405-522-8659.
Pre-Conference Event: Indigenous Doctoral Gathering
Join us for an Indigenous Doctoral Gathering Pre-Conference at the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday, June 25th (before NAISA)!
This FREE event will provide an opportunity for Native and Indigenous doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars to network and share research projects in a relational space.
When: Wednesday, June 25th from 9:00 am - 6:30 pm
Location: University of Oklahoma
Cost: This event is free. Registration is requested.
Registration Deadline: April 4th
Contact: IndigenousJRCOE@ou.edu
To register for the Pre-Conference Event: Indigenous Doctoral Gathering, please click here.
Pre-Conference Special Event: Chickasaw Culture Center
Join this half-day outing to the beautiful Chickasaw Culture Center in the Chickasaw Nation. Transportation and lunch at the Aaimpa Café will be provided. Participants will be able view the Away From Home exhibit and will be offered a brief tour of the Holisso: The Center for the Study of Chickasaw History and Culture. This free event is sponsored by the American Indian Studies Center at UCLA.
Priority is for attendees of the Five Tribes NAISA Pre-Conference. Registration is required and participation is limited to 30 people on a first come, first-served basis. You will receive confirmation once the 30 spots have been filled.
When: Wednesday, June 25th, 11:30 am - 6:00 pm
Location: Chickasaw Culture Center (Pickup at Omni Hotel Oklahoma City)
Cost: This event is free. Registration is required.
Registration Deadline: June 14th
To register for Pre-Conference Event at the CCC, please click here.
For questions and more information, please contact: megan.baker@northwestern.edu
Opening Reception
Our welcome reception will feature light food and drinks, along with music, remarks, and a Native Nation flag processional. The event is open to all who have registered for the conference. To ensure we have space for everyone, we encourage all registrants to reserve their spot through the registration website.
When: Thursday, June 26th (evening), time TBA
Location: TBA, Omni Oklahoma City
Cost: This event is free. Registration is requested on the registration website.
Bead-N-Tea for Community Safety
Matriarch of Oklahoma invites you to a Bead-N-Tea at We The People community center in Oklahoma City, where we will eat, craft, create, support, and bear witness to the activism and Indigenous-led collaboration that explores safety for undocumented Indigenous people and 2SLGBTQ+ relatives. Transportation is provided and will leave the Omni Hotel at 1 pm Central Time and return by 4 pm Central Time on Saturday, June 28. Attendance is capped at 50 with a waiting list. This is a free event for registered conference attendees.
When: Saturday, June 28th, 1:00 pm
Location: We The People Community Center
Cost: This event is free. Registration is requested on the registration website.
Tribal Nations Night at First Americans Museum
This will be an evening of showcasing the Tribal cultures that represent Oklahoma Tribal Nations. Hosted at the First Americans Museum (FAM), this event will include a gourd dance, stomp dance (exhibition), social stickball, and short film showing. Attendees will also have access to the FAM gallery exhibits and food trucks featuring local cuisine throughout the duration of the evening. Transportation from the Omni Hotel will be provided. Open to all who have registered for the conference and their families and traveling companions.
When: Friday, June 27th from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: First Americans Museum, 659 American Indian Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73129
Cost Per Person:
$10.00 - Student
$20.00 - Limited Resources and/or Oklahoma Resident
$30.00 - Comfortable
$50.00 - Well-established
To purchase tickets to the Tribal Nations Night at FAM, please click here.
Closing Dinner and Reservation Dogs Panel
Join us for NAISA's closing dinner, where the local host committee will host a special Reservation Dogs panel featuring actors from the hit FX show created by Sterlin Harjo. We’ll conclude the evening and the conference with a round dance.
Space is limited and the event is open to all conference registrants, along with their families and traveling companions. Capacity for the Closing Dinner & Reservation Dogs Panel is 600, and tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis
When: Saturday, June 28th (evening), time TBA
Location: TBA, at the Omni Oklahoma City
Cost Per Person:
$30.00 - For persons ages 12 and over
$15.00 - For persons under age 12
To purchase tickets to the Closing Dinner and Reservation Dogs Panel, please click here.
Post-Conference Special Event: Learning about Choctaw Freedmen Together with the Pushmataha County Historical Society
Join Dr. Alaina Roberts, author of I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land (Freedman) and Dr. A. Shane Dillingham (Choctaw Citizen) at the Antlers Railroad Depot (119 W Main Street) with the Pushmataha County Historical Society for "Learning about Choctaw Freedman Together!
In the Southeast, the Choctaws survived raids and forged alliances with Europeans. When they moved West, they were resilient and gained wealth and influence. But one of the keys to their success was their enslavement of black women and men who played important roles in helping to build their nation. Why were these former slaves and their descendants not welcomed as kin who also survived removal and civil war? Let's discuss!
When: Sunday, June 29th, 2:00 pm
Location: Antlers Railroad Department, 119 W. Main Street
Cost: This event is free.
Post-Conference Special Event: Let’s Learn About
Chickasaw History
University of Pittsburgh Professor of History, Alaina Roberts, and Chickasaw citizen/University of North Texas Professor of History Rev. Robert O. Smith, invite members of the community to learn about and discuss the rich and complicated history of the Chickasaw people.
In their southeastern homelands, the Chickasaws survived raids from neighboring tribes and Europeans intent on enslaving them but also participated in the system as slave traders themselves. Through the late 1600s and early 1700s, the Chickasaws came together as a formidable people, creating alliances and gaining wealth. But one of the keys to their social and economic success was engaging in an institution Europeans and Americans had introduced: the enslavement of African women and men.
These Black people endured Removal with the Chickasaws and helped them rebuild in their new home, which would eventually become the state of Oklahoma. After the Civil War, even though these slaves had helped forge the new Chickasaw Nation, learned the Chickasaw language, cooked Chickasaw food, and many even had Chickasaw ancestry, the Chickasaw Nation refused to give them citizenship.
How can we understand what happened by looking back at traditional Chickasaw concepts of kinship and adoption? Drs. Roberts and Smith will draw on Chickasaw history to open a space for all attendees to talk with open-hearts and minds about what it means to be Chickasaw in 2025.
When: Monday, June 30th, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: Ardmore Public Library
Cost: This event is free.