Assistant Professor Angel Hinzo‘s first memory of USD spans back to her time attending high school in North County, San Diego, and later at UC San Diego for her undergraduate degree when she visited campus. When she returned to USD several years later for her role as a visiting professor, she felt apprehensive.
Her mixed feelings stemmed from the mission style of campus buildings — albeit beautiful, they hold a long, and sometimes troubling history. “I was unsettled to be teaching Native American history in this place knowing the tensions and violence surrounding California Indian history…it was something I worked through,” she says. “I’m trained in Native studies, where it’s important to teach from the place you’re at — it’s very much grounded in place. [At USD] it’s grounded in California Indian history.”
Over time, the apprehension Hinzo felt was eased by real, important work she saw being done across campus. For example, when the university renamed Serra Hall to Saints Tekakwitha and Serra Hall in acknowledgment of the indgenous peoples, namely the Kumeyaay Nation, who were settled in San Diego before Catholic missionaries.
When the Department of Ethnic Studies began their search for an assistant professor, Hinzo applied believing in the work of the department and university to build connections with their local communities.
“I saw them working to build communities and make these connections — they do have good connections with the local Kumeyaay community. That made me interested in staying,” she says.
After accepting the role, Hinzo became a part of the “small but mighty” ethnic studies team. She’s found motivation and inspiration from her colleagues, like Alberto López Pulido, who leads The Turning Wheel Project.
“There’s a lot of institutional support for the department, a lot of desire to get input from the department, and interest in wanting to support the work that’s being done,” she says, noting how encouraging it’s been to see ideas come to life in the San Diego community. “To be able to see his project and his work getting support is important.”
Hinzo has begun building community in her own way — right in her classrooms. She invites local community members, like Stan and Martha Rodriguez from Kumeyaay Community College, to her classes to speak with students, a practice that has now become a staple of her courses and a valuable learning experience for students.
Her research in Native American studies “fluctuates between being historical and archival to ethnographic and focused on the lived experiences of today,” which inherently informs her teaching. She finds that students are often surprised by the discursive nature of how they engage with history in her classes, especially students who are accustomed to learning history in chronological order.
“Some students expect us to have this 1400s-1800s history, but when we engage with the history, we have to understand why these issues matter today to Native communities — like through the history of federal policies — we’re living today in the impact of these policies,” she says….
The above comes from a Dec. 17 release from the USD News Center.
Thankfully, we live in a free country. If Dr. Hinzo or any of us are bothered by the architecture of our employer, we are free to seek employment elsewhere. We don’t need to tear down the institution. No one is forced to take a six-figure income and work overlooking the ocean. Has USD mistreated people in the recent past? And, would Pope Francis have canonized Saint Junipero Serra if he mistreated the indigenous people? Dr. Hinzo spoke of the history of federal policies. Would she agree that we need fewer of them, not more? “We acknowledge that USD is built on Kumeyaay Indigenous homelands and are especially committed to engaging decolonizing methodologies and practices.” Does their Ethnic Studies Dept. include study of local Portuguese or Italian communities? Any White or Asian ethnicities? It appears not. (Check out the Dept.’s webpage.) Hopefully, parents spending $67,000 per year to send their young adult children to USD know what they’re paying for. Consider $37,000 at Thomas Aquinas College or $46,000 at John Paul the Great Catholic University and receive a truly Catholic education.
We looked at TAC and JP the Great and they have very limited offerings. Other issues too. But if their majors are what you want, you should definitely look into them.
I’ll add this to my end of year If I Could Care Less I Would File.
Sts. Kateri Tekakwitha and Junipero Serra and all Saints, intercede for all teachers and their students.
God bless Angel Hinzo and all who love her.
That’s ms chunk to you.
Until 1993, the Ho-Chunk Nation was formerly known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe, but the term Winnebago is a misnomer derived from the Algonquian language family and refers to the marsh lands of the region. Today, there are approximately 8,000 Ho-Chunk Nation citizens living in the five districts of the Ho-Chunk Nation as well as living throughout the United States and the world.
The Ho-Chunk Nation is not located on a reservation or a single continuous land base in Wisconsin, but rather, the Ho-Chunk Nation owns land in 14 counties in Wisconsin, including Adams, Clark, Crawford, Dane, Eau Claire, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Marathon, Monroe, Sauk, Shawano, Vernon and Wood Counties and also land in the State of Illinois. There is a Ho-Chunk reservation in Nebraska, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. This is a result of the failed attempts from 1832-1874 to ethnically cleanse the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin and Illinois into what would be become Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, which the Ho-Chunk thwarted by continuously returning during this process, finally exploiting the 1862 Homestead Act to purchase land in their ancestral home.
Wisconsin’s First Nations website
What has two thumbs and doesn’t give a fig?
I think these professors and students of today, who claim to be so “emotionally bothered” by matters of history, all need a much more grown-up perspective, and objectivity in their academic pursuits. They are way too emotional, too mired in useless, destructive emotions, too unbalanced! You cannot see and deal with the world effectively, if you are stuck in the past, mired in extreme emotions! And you cannot help people effectively that way, either. Best to set the past aside, be grateful for today’s opportunities and blessings, understand the past– but move on to a brighter and more successful future.
College is largely a waste of time and money now.
I knew college was mostly a waste of time when one of my half-brothers took an astrology class in a state university in the 1970’s. First Lady Nancy Reagan was a thorough disappointment when she let out that she went to an astrologer. The pull of the moon and such might affect tides and such, but the stars have nothing to do with our fortune.
As Julius Caesar said to Brutus, “The problem, Dear Brutus, is not in the stars, it is in ourselves.”
Fer cryin out loud…. THATS Cassius to Brutus, dearest Anne
Thanks for the correction. You are right. I should have checked before posting as it has been a long time since I read that. Mea culpa!
Snowflakes in San Diego are offended by the sunshine. What should we do? Many ears were burning as some accidently heard that racist song “White Christmas” and had to endure stories of a flying White man from the North placing himself above others and bearing the gifts of his White privilege. (Never mind the fact that, on average, Whites have less income than many Asian ethnic groups.) As a snowflake, Dr. Hinzo might consider returning to Nebraska this winter and helping those in her tribe who experience a more than 40 percent poverty rate and have annual household incomes of less than $30,000. Social justice is usually better, well, at least more easily, preached from a distance, like suburban coastal California.
Why do people feel the need to tell other people how to live and to pass judgement on them and call them names?
Sometimes mockery is the best approach
I am seriously trying to figure out this behavior. Best approach to do what?
Maybe because they’re tired of having people pass judgment on them and call them names.
So…do unto others as they do unto you?
You said you’re trying to figure out why. I’m providing a possible explanation, not justifying such. Often people respond to injustices and lies with anger out of their hurt. I have at times. cd, have you never responded in an unkind way that you’ve regretted after?
If not, you’re more saintly than any others I know, including myself. We all need to turn to the heat down on discussions; the professionals, like the professor, and the amateurs, like most readers here.
Reactive abuse is a thing and I have been guilty, but this associate professor did nothing to the people who post here. It is completely not Christian.
The website seems to be looking for things at USD to get people riled up about.
It seems weird.
Some Christians and some anti-vaxxers are concerned that the govt is going to do to them what it did to the First Nations.
It seems like a topic that would interest them.
Good point. As are many Blacks in relation to the COVID vaccines.
the farther you stick your chin out with outrageous accusations, the more likely someone will slap it.
this woman visited USD while a grad student. she said the buildings scared her. nevertheless, she sought and got an appointment to the faculty of the same USD. so she chose to have the same buildings “scare” her every day. she chose to punish herself. now she complains.
over-concern for her in these circumstances is not only unwarranted, but wrong: it would be like a sadist being kind to a masochist.
Come on man. An ahem overweight Indian professor named Dr ho chunk? And She is offended by Buildings?
That’s gold Jerry… Gold!
So you are saying its an easy target. But why the need to take a shot at an easy target?
It’s fun?
thank you for being honest.
I get it but why is it fun to be mean?
It’s fun to make jokes, and sometimes jokes are about someone else. It’s not mean, necessarily, it’s just funny. But in woke America fun isn’t allowed anymore. The TV show Seinfeld would not be allowed to be made today because it makes fun of people. Karens and Democrats have ruined everything.
I was on this website and a relative walked in and said “Are you on California Catholic tinheads?” I asked them why they said that and they said because the people on that site are like people who wear tin foil on their heads
I asked them if it was fun to say that. They said yes.
Never liked Don Rickles either.
See that’s funny. Good job.
One assistant professor of “ethnic studies” [whatever the hell that is] is offended by USD’s architecture. So sure, by all means, tear the whole place down and replace it with teepees and sweat lodges. Is that woman out of her mind? She’s a junior member of the faculty, teaching a subject that lacks any academic rigor. I’d bet hers is a course of indoctrination where she shoots off her mouth about how the intrinsically evil “white power” is still enslaving all others. Enough of this BS.
If USD is to make any changes it should keep the architecture, fire this faux windbag, and hire instead a prof who will teach students something of real value.
I think it’s cultural appropriation for a Native American to earn an income as a professor in a university, which was invented by Europeans. If she really wanted to be authentic, she’d stay on a reservation and live in a teepee. Why is she appropriating European culture, which she evidently despises so much?
How totally unAmerican and cruel
The meanness of the people here never ceases to distress me.
Imagine what Jesus and Mary feel.
I don’t think Jesus and Mary feel anything other than joy. Since they enjoy the beatific vision and exist in full resurrected glory, there can be no sorrow in them. There is no sorrow in heaven, where every tear will be wiped away. So they feel joy. Only joy. Next question?
There are thorns in their hearts from our sins.
No, that’s not Catholic faith nor teaching. That’s just pious gobbledygook.
I do not think that private revelations are pious gobbledygook but you are correct that they are not part of the deposit of faith and one is not required to believe them.
The Church does accept them though.
In many private revelations, Jesus appears as the Suffering Christ. He reminds us that our sins hurt Him.
Mary has appeared with swords in her heart and as the suffering Mother.
“She finds that students are often surprised… how they engage with history in her classes, especially students who are accustomed to learning history in chronological order.” It’s trendy, but history is usually best taught in chronological order. There are major factors like cause and effect. It’s true her ancestors were mistreated. But, past mistreatment is different than mistreatment today. Dr. Hinzo makes sweeping generalizations like “Despite centuries of attempts to eradicate Ho-Chunk people, we persist.” How many centuries and who? Many groups, including Blacks, Irish, Italians, Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese and others have been mistreated in our nation’s past. Yet, we’re not bound by the past and the experiences of our ancestors. As Christians, we should know and experience the healing and forgiving power of the sacraments. She shares a troubling dream of hers from which I hope she finds freedom, healing and peace:
“Another dream. This time the FBI is attempting to abduct me to induce post-traumatic stress disorder through A Clock Work Orange tactics. I find out they’re doing this to all Indian people. Forcing them to watch films of historical acts of violence perpetuated on their ancestors to induce PTSD. It’s another way to incapacitate Indian people and stealthily commit genocide. Throughout the dream I’m managing to hide from them, but I don’t know how I can help those who have been captured. I had this dream twice. This dream is too disturbing and I don’t tell anyone about it.”
Ever hear of eminent domain? Don’t think it is history.
I agree completely!
Is there some kind of huge financial reward for being so outraged and full of resentment that you’re offended by the style of buildings? I notice, she’s not offended by those obviously White Privilege eye improvement gadget lenses on her eyes or that horrible White money she receives from USD.
I was recently confronted by people who wanted to know my thoughts on “Residential Schools” and the abuse that occurred there. They spoke of how their families were torn apart and how there were so many deaths and so much suffering. Their culture was crushed and they were forced to give up the way they dressed, their language, their traditional religion, their freedom and how that still made them suffer emotionally.
I told them that I understood and had compassion because I had been in a residential school myself, that my family was torn apart and how there were so many deaths and suffering in my family and culture too. My ancestors were forced to give up their traditional religion and were nearly starved to death and forced to leave their land and were taken thousands of miles away, many of them doing forced labor or servitude and forced into fighting more than one war for the people who did this. They were eventually killed by the millions in places like Normandy, North Africa, Belgium, Germany, France, Korea, the Philippines, Hawaii, the Pacific Ocean, South Vietnam and even on the streets of the United States as Police Officers and Firefighters and other First Responders.
My dad was killed in Korea in 1951, U.S. Army. I don’t blame the Koreans or the Chinese and I don’t walk around with a chip on my shoulder or with resentment ruining my life now.
Oh MMe Ho Chunk – how abused and picked upon you are. When you drive home at night, turn on the TV News, read the Newspaper, and next to your computer, and then to reading your novel before bedtime, how you must thank God for all these modern inventions of Indians(?) Or, are you so comfortable because of Western culture? It’s time, indigenous tribes. Grow up!! You live in a wonderful country, and most of us are sick and tired of this continual whining drivel, and how evil our society is….
I knew this would happen. Sooner or later offended woke acasemics had to attack “Eurocentric” architecture because architecture is the only living art. We live and work in buildings. Classic, Gothic and Romanesque Revival, and Georgian architecture will be attacked on our college and universities. Mobs will demand these beautiful buildings be altered or destroyed because they are the glory of Western Civilization. The left hate all forms of beauty that inspire people. Next on their list will be museums and their contents.
Good thing pants originated in Central Asia before getting to Europe or they’d stop wearing them!
Wait, it’s cultural appropriation to wear pants, since they likely came from China.
Once this starts, where will it end?
It’s cultural appropriation to go to Taco Bell or even a real Mexican restaurant!
Maybe she can use some of her salary to build an Indigenous People’s village on the campus. Then she can teach in drafty huts and use bathroom facilities outside. Only teach when there is enough light in the huts to read. Start only eating “Native American” food and at the same time lose some weight. This woman is seriously stupid.
No she is not stupid.
Why did you feel the need to write that?
Is she your teacher and you don’t like her?
Or did she steal your boyfriend?
Really, What is going on with you?
Do you work at the university and think she is getting special treatment?
That is envy and it is a sin.
I always thought the American people held First Nations in high regard.
Maybe in California it is different
She is probably kinder than you and will give you permission to eat corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, wild rice, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, avocados, papayas, potatoes and cacao.
We are not getting so uptight that we do not share our food with others. Eat whatever you can afford. Whatever food the Lord brings you.