I have a friend who likes to make lists. Taking a cue from her and being quite anxious about preparing for the start of the quarter I have decided the best way to tell people what I did this summer is to list it out.

How I Spent My Summer… by Cutcha Risling Baldy

JUNE:

• Got really excited because I’m teaching Native American Literature in the fall and decided to put together my syllabus and course reader. Needed to find a non fiction essay about the second Wounded Knee... looking and looking.
• Finished this book (teaching it Fall 2011) 
• Reread this book (teaching it Fall 2011)
• Reread this book (teaching it Fall 2011)
• Started to read the Hunger Games book and thought “what am I doing? I can’t read this book. I gotta read a real book instead!” 
• Still have no idea what the Hunger Games is about. But it sounds yummy. Ba dum dum dum.
  
• Officially became a (1/3) business owner of Wren Usdi Productions. 
• Continued job working as Project Coordinator for “The Uneasy Remains Film Project.” 
• Finished a grant to plan and host a symposium on Native Arts & Culture in Northern California for the Native Women’s Collective (where I am the Executive Director)
• Filmed for the Arts, Voices, Perspectives Project
  
• Went camping with family and swam in Whiskey Town lake. Jumped off the back of my Aunt’s patio boat. Swam until I couldn’t feel my toes or fingers.
  

JULY:

• Started job working as a Graduate Student Researcher for the Environmental Justice Project at UC Davis.
  
• Went to my first Fourth of July in Davis. Sat right underneath the fireworks. Had some guy come stand right in front of me with a kid on his shoulders. Tried to enjoy the silhouette of a dude and his kid and some fireworks.
• Tried to finish this book.   Still haven’t finished that book actually. 
• Flower Dance Ceremony – we sing, we dance, we pray, we laugh. 
• Home again…
  

AUGUST:

• Grant drafts to foundations and agencies for the Environmental Justice Project and “The Uneasy Remains Film Project.”
• Finished this book.  
• Finally finished my course reader and turned it in.
  
• Made 20 pairs of earrings (for sale at the Native Women’s Collective Etsy shop!)
• Kept meaning to watch The Daily Show. 
• Read an article about how The Colbert Report is now better than The Daily Show. 
• Am not getting in to that debate. 
• Wrote this blog entry: http://cutchabaldy.weebly.com/1/post/2011/08/the-subject-line-of-an-email-should-be-its-thesis-statement.html
• And this one: http://cutchabaldy.weebly.com/1/post/2011/08/foucault-is-the-guy-who-said-i-am-thinking-of-a-number-between-1-10-panopticon.html 
• And this one: http://cutchabaldy.weebly.com/1/post/2011/08/the-politics-of-the-listserv.html
• Apparently liked blogging in August. 
• Went home for a nice long visit. 
• Ate a lot of Mexican food because there is a lot of Mexican food in Humboldt County.
  
• Deerskin Dance Ceremony – we dance, we renew, we eat, we rejoice.

SEPTEMBER:

• September is still summer?
• It is when you are on the quarter system. 
• Finished the film treatment for “The Uneasy Remains Film Project.” 
• Finished some more grants for various projects. 
• Let’s see – was on a panel about how to be a graduate student.  Eat cheap food and stay up late… end of advice.
• Worked on the Arts, Voices, Perspectives Project for the Native Women’s Collective and made this “trailer” video. 
• Wrote a blog entry about what I did this summer.
• Decided new school year resolution is to get to bed before 1 a.m. each night. 
• Broke new school year resolution last night.
  
• Will probably do it again tonight.
  

Cutcha Risling Baldy  is a PhD Graduate Student in Native American Studies and a recipient of the Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. She has her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Diego State University and her B.A. in Psychology with a special focus in Health and Development from Stanford University. Ms. Risling Baldy is an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe with ties to the Karuk and Yurok peoples. Her research focuses on feminist perspectives in contemporary Native culture, methodologies and theory development for Native American Studies and arts & culture expression (literature, song, ceremony, and oral histories). You can find out more about her here.

The "Uneasy Remains" Film is a project of Wren Usdi Productions, a film production company run by NAS Grad Students Brook Colley and Cutcha Risling Baldy (along with UCD English Grad Student Gina Caison). The project also involves several grad students from the NAS department and other departments across the UCD Campus.

The Uneasy Remains Film Project and Research Interest Group examines the history of studying and collecting Indigenous human remains at UC Davis and how this history has been informed by the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The film also queries the gendered dynamics of this history as it relates to academic research and the representations of Indigenous bodies. the project represents a collaborative effort of local tribes, community members, and students in multiple disciplines and departments at UC Davis. It brings these groups into dialogue on this complex issue and aims to promote interdisciplinary educational opportunities for students interested in learning more about the history of the study of Indigenous human remains and repatriation movements. the project will result in a feature length film, curriculum materials, and an archive database of research materials for use by tribes, schools, and other organizations. Although the project examines UC Davis as a case study for these issues, this dialogue has implications for museums and Native groups throughout the nation and globe, as access to human remains and repatriation movements represent a significant node in the ongoing conversation regarding the human rights struggles of Indigenous peoples. So far the Uneasy Remains Research Interest Group includes a network of 25 students and the support of several faculty members. Currently, the project is supported by the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research, the Yocha Dehe Endowed Chair in Native American Studies, and the Native Women's Collective. For more information, please email uneasyremains@gmail.com.

The "Uneasy Remains" Film Project has received a $5,000 grant from the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development and a $1,800 grant from the Center for Collaborative Research for an Equitable California (CCREC).

The "Uneasy Remains" Film is a project of Wren Usdi Productions, a film production company run by NAS Grad Students Brook Colley and Cutcha Risling Baldy (along with UCD English Grad Student Gina Caison). The project also involves several grad students from the NAS department and other departments across the UCD Campus.

The Uneasy Remains Film Project and Research Interest Group examines the history of studying and collecting Indigenous human remains at UC Davis and how this history has been informed by the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The film also queries the gendered dynamics of this history as it relates to academic research and the representations of Indigenous bodies. the project represents a collaborative effort of local tribes, community members, and students in multiple disciplines and departments at UC Davis. It brings these groups into dialogue on this complex issue and aims to promote interdisciplinary educational opportunities for students interested in learning more about the history of the study of Indigenous human remains and repatriation movements. the project will result in a feature length film, curriculum materials, and an archive database of research materials for use by tribes, schools, and other organizations. Although the project examines UC Davis as a case study for these issues, this dialogue has implications for museums and Native groups throughout the nation and globe, as access to human remains and repatriation movements represent a significant node in the ongoing conversation regarding the human rights struggles of Indigenous peoples. So far the Uneasy Remains Research Interest Group includes a network of 25 students and the support of several faculty members. Currently, the project is supported by the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research, the Yocha Dehe Endowed Chair in Native American Studies, and the Native Women's Collective. For more information, please email uneasyremains@gmail.com.