In this powerful conversation, Dr. Christine Ami shares her journey of navigating the cultural arts program at Diné College during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the lens of Wołí Bee, a Navajo concept of perseverance, she discusses how Indigenous cultural arts serve as a lifeline of resilience, community connection, and healing. Christine explores the challenges of maintaining educational programs, supporting students, and preserving cultural practices while facing personal grief and professional transitions during an unprecedented global crisis.

Dr. Christine Ami is a Diné scholar, weaver, and educator at Diné College, specializing in cultural arts and Indigenous studies. With expertise in grant management, curriculum development, and Indigenous animal studies, she has dedicated her career to preserving and promoting Indigenous cultural practices. Christine is an NEH award recipient and continues to research and teach about the intersections of Indigenous culture, education, and community resilience.

Resources:

Christine Marie Ami, "Wołí bee: Diné Cultural Arts Amid Pandemics,"
in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).

Christine M. Ami website

Christine M. Ami, "Meet Our Faculty," School of Business and Social Science, Diné College website

Christine Ami, "Between the Loom and the Laptop: A Diné Sabbatical," Tribal College Journal (Summer 2025), tribalcollegejournal.org/between-the-loom-and-the-laptop-a-tribal-college-faculty-sabbatical/.

Christine Ami, "'When Waters Rise and Rocks Speak': An Analysis of Indigenous Research Credential Theft by an Ally,” Wicazo Sa Review. 34, 2 (2022), muse.jhu.edu/issue/48824.

Christine Ami, "Politics of Distrust: The Navajo Nation’s use of propaganda devices to recruit participants for COVID-19 trial vaccine," Indian Country Today (2020), https://ictnews.org/opinion/politics-of-distrust-the-navajo-nations-use-of-propaganda-devices-to-recruit-participants-for-covid-19-trial-vaccine/.

Christine Ami, "Review Essay: The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature (Esther G. Belin, Jeff Berglund, Connie A. Jacobs, Anthony Webster, and Sherwin Bitsui, eds.)," Transmotion 8, 1 (2022): 209-217, https://doi.org/10.22024/UniKent/03/tm.1064.

Christine Ami, "Playing Indian: Internal Colonization Seated at the Navajo Loom," Navajo Cultural Arts Program Blog (2020), https://lib.dinecollege.edu/NCAP_Blog/02-2020.

Dr. Christine Ami, "Navajo Cultural Arts Program," Diné College YouTube short video (posted 2017)

"Navajo Food Research and Scholarships at Diné College Libraries by Dr. Christine Ami," Diné College Kinyaa'áanii Library Special Collections Series, YouTube video (posted February 8, 2024)

In this episode, Dr. Farina King is joined by Dr. Gavin A. Healey, a contributing author of COVID-19 in Indian Country and Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Gavin highlights how Indigenous graffiti and muralism emerged as vital tools of community care and resistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from his chapter, “Native American Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic,” Gavin addresses works by artists such as Ivan Lee (Diné), whose mural of a masked Diné woman sends a COVID-19 warning, and Jemez Pueblo artist Jaque Fragua, whose pieces amplify Indigenous sovereignty and survival. Photographer Kayla Jackson’s documentation of pandemic murals adds another dimension to the discussion. Gavin reflects on how these public art forms became acts of visual sovereignty, cultural expression, and collective healing in Indian Country, "demistifying" aerosol muralism.

Gavin A. Healey holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona with an emphasis in Native Art and public art. His expertise in community-based participatory research and mixed method design aspires to provide agency to individual and community voices with a focus on Native graffiti muralism. This work with collaborators focuses on Native art and Native public art as dialectics of place-making and Native sovereignty. Coupled with his universities' duties, Gavin has spent his career working with Native artists and communities, urban and reservation, as an artist assistant on public murals, curator of museum and gallery exhibitions, and a conscientious ally in community wellbeing. His doctoral research produced the first empirical data collected on Native public art through public surveying. He is working on a forthcoming edited volume with Indigenous artists.

Resources:

Gavin A. Healey, “Native American Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic: Alternative Messaging of Community Well-Being,” in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).

Gavin Alexander Healey, NAU Directory Webpage

Mural by Navajo graffiti artist, Ivan Lee in COVID-19 archive.

Jaque Fragua (Jemez Pueblo) featured on SODO Track Artists

Kayla Jackson photography, "Creative Cowboy."

NAU Applied Indigenous Studies

Hoka Skenandore (Oneida, Oglala Lakota, and Luiseno) artist website

In this episode of Native Circles, Dr. Farina King, co-editor of COVID-19 in Indian Country, talks with co-authors Dr. Amoneeta Beckstein and Dr. Tapati Dutta about their chapter, exploring the lived experiences of eight Native American college students during the pandemic. Drawing from semi-structured interviews, the chapter centers the students' voices as they navigate the challenges of COVID-19—illuminating themes of historical trauma, mental health struggles, and educational disruptions rooted in colonial legacies. Yet, amid these hardships, stories of resilience or "reziliency," cultural strength, and community support arise. In this conversation, the authors reflect on their perspectives as researchers and underscore the students’ expressions of survivance, collectivistic coping, and cultural healing.

Dr. Beckstein is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Fort Lewis College whose work focuses on multicultural counseling, mindfulness, and decolonizing psychology to promote healing for BIPOC and Indigenous communities. He previously directed the Counseling Center at Webster University Thailand and brings a creative approach to mental health, including poetry and advocacy. Dr. Dutta is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Fort Lewis College with over 25 years of experience in global health, focusing on health disparities and community-based interventions for marginalized populations. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist and a TEDx speaker recognized for her work in HIV prevention and compassionate public health education.

Resources:

Amoneeta Beckstein and Tapati Dutta, "Lived Experiences of Native American College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic," in COVID-19 in Indian Country: Native American Memories and Experiences of the Pandemic, eds. Farina King and Wade Davies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), 121-143.

Amoneeta Beckstein professional profile website; and Amoneeta's Researchgate

TEDx Talk "Life Lessons via Cannibals, Sex Workers & Marginalized People," TEDx Indianapolis Women.

Undergraduate Research Talk "The Radical Potential of Community Research by Tapati Dutta."

"Translation and assessment of encultured meaning of the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support in Diné bizaad (Navajo) using community-based participatory action research methods."

"Students’ COVID-19 vaccine behaviors, intentions, and beliefs at a US Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution (NASNTI)."

"College leadership decisions and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: an elite interview study."

Spotlight on COVID-19: An Interview with Dr. Tapati Dutta, MCHES®, by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing

Evolution of storytelling pedagogy in global health course at a U.S. Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution from Fall 2019 to Spring 2023

Fort Lewis College’s Virtual International Internships