
Adrienne Keene
Native American Writer, Activist and Blogger
Dr. Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) is a Native scholar, writer, blogger, and activist, and is passionate about reframing how the world sees contemporary Native cultures. She is the creator and author of Native Appropriations, a blog discussing cultural appropriation and stereotypes of Native peoples in fashion, film, music, and other forms of pop culture. Through…
Categories :
Full Bio
Dr. Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) is a Native scholar, writer, blogger, and activist, and is passionate about reframing how the world sees contemporary Native cultures. She is the creator and author of Native Appropriations, a blog discussing cultural appropriation and stereotypes of Native peoples in fashion, film, music, and other forms of pop culture.
Through her writing and activism, Keene questions and problematizes the ways Indigenous peoples are represented, asking for celebrities, large corporations, and designers to consider the ways they incorporate “Native” elements into their work. She is very interested in the way Native peoples are using social and new media to challenge misrepresentations and present counter-narratives that showcase true Native cultures and identities.
Her blog work has been nominated for the Women’s Media Center Social Media Award (2011), as well as featured in many mainstream media outlets.
Adrienne holds a doctorate in Culture, Communities, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on college access for Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) students and the role of precollege access programs in student success. She has worked closely with a non-profit called College Horizons, which assists Native students in the college application process — as a participant, alumna, faculty member, and now researcher.
Her dissertation, entitled “College Pride, Native Pride” and Education for Nation Building: Portraits of Native Students Navigating Freshman Year, is a portraiture study (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1998) that follows four alumni of College Horizons in their transition to college.
Adrienne has presented at colleges and universities nationwide as well as at numerous conferences. Most recently, she was a keynote at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education – NCORE 2015. She is comfortable speaking on topics related to both of her areas of interest—cultural appropriation and representations, as well as Native students’ experiences in the college process.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!

LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!

MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!

SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!

CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!

PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!

CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.

GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!

FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
Native Appropriations, Indigenous Social Media, and Responding to Racism
This presentation also covers cultural appropriation and stereotyping, but pulls in more of the personal story behind Native Appropriations, and the journey of thinking about the blog as a space to challenge racism, and understanding the blog as a space for “consenting to learn in public.” I cover the 4 “C”s of the blog: Critical Lens, Contemporary Issues, Community, and Counter-narratives, and the ways each of these play out in the space of Native Appropriations. I also discuss and provide practical advice about handling the deluge of hate mail that can accompany being a woman of color on the internet, and the power of the space to create real change, as well as how a blog can work alongside an academic career path.
Native Representations, Pop Culture, and Cultural Resistance in Cyberspace
This presentation delves into the concepts of stereotypes and cultural appropriation, and looks at the ways Native peoples are represented throughout popular culture–from Hollywood to the fashion industry, and discusses the way that Native peoples are pushing back on misrepresentation through social and new media, using case studies from native appropriations about Paul Frank, Urban Outfitters, The Lone Ranger, and more. Audience members will walk away with language and tools of how to talk about the harms of cultural appropriation, but also the best ways to incorporate Native fashion and Native media respectfully.
Representations Matter: Serving Native Students in Higher Education
This presentation discusses the experience of Native students in higher education, using my own experiences at Stanford in dealing with mascots and misrepresentations, while providing context and statistics about the invisibility of Native students in college spaces. I make an argument that universities need to ask themselves 4 questions: Whose land are you on? Who are your Native students? How are you recruiting and retaining Native students? and How are Native peoples represented on your campus? as a means to think through the ways schools can better support Native communities and students. I provide research and examples on the ways Native peoples are misrepresented and stereotyped to build a case for why representations matter.
Workshops for Native Students/Students of Color on Responding to Campus Racism
Using real life praxis scenarios rooted in Critical Race Theory, students work through how they would respond at multiple levels (interpersonally, institutionally) to instances of racism on campus. They will work in small groups to develop a “game plan” for when such instances occur on their campuses–identifying their allies and support networks, sources of power and leverage, and thinking through possible outcomes and resolutions for these scenarios. Students leave with an understanding of possible ways to approach situations that occur in the varied spaces of a university (dorm, classroom, parties, etc), where and who to turn to when this occurs, how to coalition build with other communities of color on campus, and best courses of action to remedy and move forward.
Other speech topics include:
- Native American Mascots and Cultural Appropriation
- Learning to Lead from Behind a Keyboard: Representations, Activism, and Native Appropriations
- Cultural Appropriation in Fashion and Pop Culture: What is it and why does it matter?
- College Pride, Native Pride: Native Student Experiences in College
- Who’s Got Reservations? Media and Its Role in Native America
Dr. Keene is also open to any other topics on Native representations, stereotypes, mascots, social media activism, or cultural appropriation; as well as the experiences of Native students in college environments.
Videos
Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Appreciation: Exploring the Fine Line
Dr. Adrienne Keene: "Native Appropriations"
Books
News
Testimonials
GET IDEAS

1 HOUR OR LESS