News Center

Bauer Visiting Hendrix for Indigenous Peoples Day Lecture

Focus of talk will be Catawba women and their roles in the 16th-19th centuries

CONWAY, Ark. (September 21, 2023) — Hendrix College welcomes Dr. Brooke Bauer to talk about a section of her award-winning book Becoming Catawba: Catawba Indian Women and Nation-building, 1540-1840 on October 9, 2023, Indigenous Peoples Day. The event begins at 7 p.m. in lecture hall B of the Mills Center for Social Sciences, Building 10 on the current campus map.

Bauer is an assistant professor of history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a citizen of the Catawba Nation. As an Early American historian, much of her work has focused on the history of Southeastern Native Americans, specifically women, and how colonialism has affected them. 

“I weave family history, cultural context, and ethnohistorical methodologies together to generate an internal perspective on Catawba’s past and present in the South,” Bauer says. “My work gives a voice to a small group of American Indian women who created change within their world to ensure the survival of their people.” 

Her book, which won the Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize in Southern History, centers Catawba women as producers and cultural conveyors of manufacturing pottery, the most visible marker of Catawba identity to Others. She highlights their crucial role among the Catawba people as women, mothers, providers, and protectors, and explains the identity they have created for themself and how it has contributed to building a nation.

For more information regarding Dr. Bauer’s studies and work, visit https://history.utk.edu/people/brooke-bauer

“Dr. Bauer’s innovative and deeply researched work addresses key themes of Indigenous women’s agency, colonialism, and material culture in Early America,” said Dr. Stacey Schwartzkopf, a professor of anthropology and chair of Hendrix College’s interdisciplinary minors program. “Her talk will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about this history of cultural survival and creativity.”

Bauer comes to campus thanks to funding from the Margaret Berry Hutton Odyssey Professorship, which Schwartzkopf currently holds.

About Hendrix College

Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges and celebrated among the country’s leading liberal arts colleges for academic quality, engaged learning opportunities and career preparation, vibrant campus life, and value. The Hendrix College Warriors compete in 21 NCAA Division III sports. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. Learn more at www.hendrix.edu.   

“… Through engagement that links the classroom with the world, and a commitment to diversity, inclusion, justice, and sustainable living, the Hendrix community inspires students to lead lives of accomplishment, integrity, service, and joy.” —Hendrix College Statement of Purpose