(Photo: Dr. Wendy Greyeyes, Dr. Renae Watchman, & Kayla Jackson)
Nits’áá dóó ídahwiil’aah “We are learning from you” Spring Speaker Series featuring Renae Watchman, Author of “Restoring Relations Through Stories: From Dinétah to Denendah.”
18th April 2024
TSAILE, AZ – The Diné College Office of the President and the School of Arts and Humanities recently organized an installment of the Nits’áá dóó ídahwiil’aah “We are Learning from You” Spring Speaker Series. Dr. Renae Watchman, an author and associate professor of Indigenous Studies at McMaster University, provided an insight.
During the event, Dr. Watchman discussed her latest work, a monograph titled “Restoring Relations Through Stories: from Dinétah to Denendeh,” which was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2024. Her book explores traditional stories by Diné and Dene storytellers through oral literature and film.
Dr. Watchman’s work is dedicated to the restoration of storied autonomy, identities, kinship, and languages, all of which are valued in the Indigenous community. Through her research, she strives to foster harmony, beauty, wellness, peace, and balance, or hózhǫ́, which are essential values in the Diné culture.
Dr. Watchman’s work explores narrative autonomy as hane’tonomy and visual storytelling from a Diné perspective. Her research provides insights into restoring that resists inauthentic and misappropriated narratives while inspiring the Indigenous community. She also sheds light on the power of storytelling to generate ancestral and kinship ties between the Diné and Dene across time and space, further strengthening the bonds within the community.
Renae Watchman’s maternal family is originally from Shiprock, New Mexico, and her teaching and research interests lie in Indigenous literary arts and Indigenous film studies. Overall, her work is a significant contribution to the field of Indigenous literature and inspires those seeking to promote and preserve Indigenous communities’ cultural heritage.
