During Winter Quarter 2015, Dr. Jason Younker, Assistant Vice President and Advisor to the President on Sovereignty and Government to Government Relations, spoke with the CGO and shared a meal in the Carson Dining Hall. Dr. Younker is a member the Coquille Nation, the president of the Association of Indigenous Anthropologists, has a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Oregon, and came previously from the department of sociology and anthropology at Rochester Institute of Technology where he served as a tenured associate professor and chair of the department.

Dr. Younker spoke passionately about his own youth, the various places he worked (including playing baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays!), lived, and built community before coming to the University of Oregon, and the future he dreams of for the Coquille Nation. Dr. Younker is very proud to be part of the University of Oregon community, and discussed how UO is one of very few universities in the country—and the only one in the PAC 12—to permanently fly the nine flags representing all nine Oregon tribal nations on campus. The nine flagpoles are placed in a circle at the heart of campus, reminding students of the significance of Oregon’s tribes.

Chloe B., a CGO student, wrote after Dr. Younker’s visit: “I enjoyed the change up and was happy our guest had many interesting things to share. Sometimes it is important for our group to just listen and take in the experiences of different communities that surround us. In order to grow our own ethical code, we need to be educated, and I think our guest did a great job on giving us a general background on the Coquille tribe. I was very interested in learning more about the Coquille tribe.”

 

Dr. Younker stressed that he would like to see ALL CGO members and students from the University of Oregon at the annual University of Oregon Mother’s Day Powwow at the Many Nations Longhouse.

More information about Dr. Younker’s tribe can be found at: http://www.coquilletribe.org/