2015-2016 Eastman Fellow: Farina King

Bilagáanaa niliigo’ dóó Kinyaa’áaniiyásh’chíín. Bilagáanaa dabicheii dóó Tsinaajinii dabinálí. Ákót’éego diné asdzá̹á̹ nilí̹. Farina King is “Bilagáanaa” (Euro-American), born for “Kinyaa’áanii” (the Towering House Clan) of the Diné (Navajo). Her maternal grandfather was Euro-American, and her paternal grandfather was “Tsinaajinii” (Black-streaked Woods People Clan) of the Diné. She is currently a U.S. History Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State University. She received her M.A. in African History from the University of Wisconsin and a B.A. from Brigham Young University with a double major in History and French Studies. Her main area of research is colonial and post-colonial Indigenous Studies, primarily Indigenous experiences of colonial and distant education. Farina has written and presented about Indigenous Mormon experiences in the twentieth century, drawing from some interviews that she conducted for the Latter-day Saint Native American Oral History Project at Brigham Young University. Her doctoral project explores how historical changes in education shaped Diné collective identity and community by examining the interconnections between Navajo students, their people, and Diné Bikéyah (Navajo lands) through the twentieth century. The study incorporates a Diné historical framework that centers on a Navajo mapping of the world and the Four Sacred Directions. She primarily applies oral histories and cultural historical methodologies to feature Diné perspectives, which reveal how the land, mountains, and directions serve as focal points of Navajo worldviews and learning experiences. Farina has received support for her research from various organizations including the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association, PEO International, American Philosophical Society, Navajo Nation, American Indian Graduate Center, and others. You can learn more about Farina’s work and background at her personal website, farinaking.com.