UPDATE (thanks to Debbie Reese): Those who want to support a local organization monetarily can go this website of the O'odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective: http://oodhamsolidarity.blogspot.com/

The following stories were broadcast on local television during last week's annual meeting:

Several people who are getting ready to come to our meeting in Tucson are looking for ideas and resources and have asked council members and local organizers for help. We'll do as much as we can, and I thought I would respond by asking both those with questions and those with ideas and resources to use the comment section of this post to communicate with each other. I'll keep it here at the top of the list of blog entries so it's easy to find.

Thanks for your help.

Robert Warrior
2009-10 NAISA President

Members of the council and I have had some positive communication in the last couple of day with people struggling with decisions about participating in our meeting in Tucson. We have tried to respond to every email message we have gotten, so I thought I would make sure to say that we are open to hearing from you if you have questions or would benefit from hearing back from us. My email address is rwarrior@illinois.edu. The email addresses of everyone on the council are listed at the "Council" link to the left of this post.

Jeani O'Brien, NAISA's president-elect and I sent the following letter to Indian Country Today in response to their editorial published earlier today.

May 7, 2010

To the editor:

We are responding to your editorial questioning the decision of the elected leaders of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association to hold our annual meeting as scheduled in Tucson later this month in the face of the new immigration legislation signed into Arizona law April 23. We want to say first that we wish you had taken into account publicly announced changes to our program, which were sent out to our members and posted to our website yesterday, before you published your editorial. We invite Indian Country Today readers who want more information to find it at naisa.org.

[UPDATE: The plenary session announced here is now scheduled for Thursday, May 20 after the opening at 8 PM and is open to the public. The schedule may change depending on availability of speakers, etc. The poetry reading that was to have taken place then, also open to the public, is now scheduled for Friday evening, May 21]

Sent to NAISA members by email May 6, 2010

Dear NAISA members,

I whole-heartedly endorse the Council's decision. As scholars we have made choices about where we wish to be located in terms of our politics and bringing about institutional change, that is we have decided to work for change within our respective institutions so i say let us situate ourselves within the belly of the beast to make our protest. Arizona here we come!

The NAISA Council met several hours ago and asked me to write on behalf of the council to Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona regarding HB 2281, the anti-ethnic studies bill which is on her desk. I sent the attached letter earlier this evening.

Robert Warrior
2009-10 NAISA President

I want to express appreciation for the many NAISA members who have posted here and made comments about how the association and its leaders might respond to Arizona's new anti-immigration law (SB 1070). I hope you will continue to use this forum to pose questions, seek alternatives, and communicate to other members of our association.

At the same time, I want to let you know that some things take time to work out, and as the president of NAISA I am satisfied that the council is working in a deliberate and respectful way to address the various concerns that come before us.

The grass-roots Indigenous network of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico are calling upon peoples of the northern states and all Mexico for a border-wide boycott of the U.S. on May 14-15, 2010. Flyer attached.

(Thanks for Margo Tamez for sending this)