Laticia is enrolled Six Nations of the Grand River Mohawk Nation and a member of the Wolf Clan. She was raised in the Tuscarora Nation community in Western New York, located several miles from Niagara Falls, New York. She is currently the Project Manager of the Indigenous America 250 initiative, a collaborative effort between the National Park Service-Region 1-Tribal and Cultural Affairs and Office of Native American Affairs, and Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park. In her role, Laticia works to plan and implement the early research phase with Indigenous Peoples and the Revolutionary War in Maine. She will also take a leading role in collaborating with and supporting the research team’s outreach and relationship-building with Indigenous communities, and she is thrilled to have the opportunity to support Indigenous historical research and scholarship in innovative ways.
Laticia has a strong and diverse background in community-engaged research, outreach, and education within the Western New York regional community. She has worked with several community and non-profit organizations including the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Center for Indigenous Cancer Research, and Indigenous Women’s Initiatives. She has also developed extensive teaching and research experience in Native American and Indigenous Studies through her graduate career at the University at Buffalo. Her teaching and research interests include Indigenous food sovereignty, language revitalization, Indigenous activism, Women and Gender Studies, and Native American literature and history. She has been the recipient of a number of grants and fellowships, including the Humanities New York Public Humanities Fellowship and the American Philosophical Society Phillips Grant for Native American Research.
Laticia is a PhD Candidate in (Native) American Studies at the University at Buffalo. She holds an MA in Native American Studies from the University of Oklahoma and a BA in English and Anthropology from Buffalo State University. Her dissertation, titled “Haudenosaunee Food, Health, and Wellness Traditions Recovery,” is nearing completion in early 2024. Her research examines Indigenous food history through the lens of gender, Indigenous ecological knowledge, language, and contemporary food sovereignty practices. Laticia works remotely from Buffalo, New York where she resides with her husband and two cats, Sylvester and Chewbacca. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and food preservation, as well as photography, beadwork, and other traditional arts and craft work. Laticia’s profile photo shows her home garden in 2022, where she grew Hopi Dye sunflowers, scarlet runner beans, and a variety of Native flowers aimed to support our pollinator friends.
