UCLA American Indian Studies Center

01/28/2026

We write with deep sadness to share that Kathy Jefferson Bancroft joined the ancestors on the evening of January 25th.

Kathy was a member of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and served for many years as their Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. She was a tremendous advocate for water rights and water relations in Payahuunadü. Kathy combined science, ancestral knowledge, and keen organizing skills, working at the intersection of our knowledge systems to challenge the extraction and misuse of water from Payahuunadü by the City of Los Angeles and LADWP. She combined kindness, humor, determination, and direct, unwavering speech in the most powerful way. She worked tirelessly to educate the public and policymakers about environmental issues and to pass on water knowledge to future generations. She was a role model and a hero of earth stewardship. She will be profoundly missed.

With gratitude for the life that you lived, we honor you Kathy, and wish you agood journey on the White Dog’s Road.

09/11/2025

We are grateful to co-sponsor this event in October. Please join us!

This October we’re honored to host Mejdulene Bernard Shomali, a q***r Palestinian poet (Williams College) who will use a combination of poetry, research, and prose to consider some of the discursive and material facets of Palestinian liberation theories and practices, with special attention to forms of affective and embodied resistance. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sahq-dirt-shaheed-q***r-poetics-and-palestinian-resistance-tickets-1632974553849?aff=oddtdtcreator

Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Time: 12:30 – 2 pm
Location: Center for the Study of Women|Streisand Center (1500 Public Affairs)
Seating is first come. Lunch will be provided.

Cosponsored by UCLA American Indian Studies Center, UCLA LGBTQ Studies, UCLA Department of Gender Studies UCLA Asian American Studies Center UCLA Department of English UCLA Asian American Studies Department