University at Buffalo's Indigenous Studies Department Welcomes Cassidy Schoenfelder as a Post-Doctoral Scholar

AIS PhD Minor (Class of 2026) Cassidy Schoenfelder has been welcomed to the University at Buffalo's Indigenous Studies Department as a post-doctoral scholar. Congrats, Cassidy!

Cassidy Schoenfelder (Oglála Sioux Tribe; mixed European descent) is an Indigenous geohumanities scholar and PhD Candidate in geography at the University of Arizona (Tohono O'o'dham and Pascua Yaqui lands), born and raised in Hé Sápa, the Black Hills of South Dakota. She holds a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Montana and a master's degree in art history from the University of Oregon, and visual culture studies remains central to how she approaches her work in geography. Using community-based, [auto]ethnographic, archival, visual, and observation research, her dissertation identifies Indigenous visual sovereignty as an applied mechanism for Indigenous conservation governance in national parks. She observes how Xunaa Lingít visual culture productions in southeastern Alaska-based Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve restore a community sense-of-belonging, increase tribal decision-making and management efforts, and shift park perceptions of the lands they manage, from empty wilderness to active Indigenous homeland.

She is a summer research fellow at NYU’s Indigenous Data Law Lab, a member of the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance, co-leader of the Indigenous Leadership Network at the National Parks Conservation Association, and proud dog-mom to her bloodhound, Betty Blue.