iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Join us at University of New Mexico's George Pearl Hall this evening from 4-6pm MDT for a wonderful symposium featuring our executive director, Dr. Estevan Rael-Galvez!

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Miguel Girón as Native Bound Unbound’s first Postdoctoral Fellow! Please join us in welcoming Miguel to the NBU team!

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We are delighted to welcome Ismael Pardo as a Fellow with Native Bound Unbound!

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Listen to Bob Haozous and his daughter, Dr. Emily Haozous, as they have a conversation about the life and legacy of their ancestor Juan de Dios and the complexity of identity. Thank you StoryCorps for recording and facilitating this conversation. nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

346 years ago, the Pueblo Revolt occurred. One of the causes was the forced labor under the encomienda system. The video below, "Surviving Columbus" from PBS, and tells the story from the Indigenous perspective. Today, and every day, NBU is committed to helping preserve and share these histories.

youtu.be

Surviving Columbus (Parts 1 and 2)

YouTube video by New Mexico PBS

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

In 1529, Ocelo, the cacique of Guazama (Province of Nicaragua), accused the encomendero Rodrigo Núñez of abducting, branding, and enslaving Indigenous men, women, and children. Explore this remarkable legal proceeding in the Native Bound Unbound Archives: nativeboundunbound.org/archives/bb6...

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Read our newest article "A Sacred Trust: Recovering María Gertrudis Torres" by team member and researcher Daria Landress nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Listen to Dr. J Michael Francis, Hough Family Chair of Florida Studies Professor of History at University of South Florida, speak about his work uncovering the story of Catalina, the daughter of an American Indian in Spain in 1502. See stories like Catalina's at: nativeboundunbound.org/archives/

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Read more in Benjamin Madley's "An American Genocide" and visit our website to find other historical events and related books and media. nativeboundunbound.org/history/bibl...

nativeboundunbound.org

Native Bound Unbound

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

180 years ago today, Commodore Sloat's proclamation was announced in Monterey Bay, California which claimed the state for the USA and profoundly altered the relationship between colonists and California tribes.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

This July 4, help us recover history. Every gift will be matched up to $25,000 thanks to a generous donor. Support Hidden: Recovering and Reconnecting: givebutter.com/hidden-recovering-and-reconnecting-56bynr And read Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez’s article: elpalacio.org/2026/06/reckoning-with-1776/

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

For more books visit our bibliography page at Native Bound Unbound (NBU). Link to NBU bibliography: nativeboundunbound.org/history/bibl... Conrad, Paul. The Apache Diaspora: Four Centuries of Displacement and Survival. United States: University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 2021.

nativeboundunbound.org

Native Bound Unbound

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Summer history book recommendation, Apache Diaspora by Paul Conrad. Paul Conrad dives into language, exonyms, and the use of the word “Apache” in archival documents in the historiography of Apache diaspora across four centuries.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Summer history book recommendation, The Other Slavery by Andrés Reséndez. California under US rule accelerated the enslavement, detainment, and dispossession of American Indians throughout California territory. For more books visit our bibliography page at Native Bound Unbound.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Read an article by our executive director, Dr. Rael-Galvez, discussing 1776 and it's relation to New Mexico history and indigenous enslavement at elpalacio.org/2026/06/reck... or by following the link in our bio.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

For the full presentation please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r-v... or follow the link in our bio and watch "World Premiere of Native Bound Unbound".

youtube.com

World Premiere of Native Bound Unbound | Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

YouTube video by Native Bound Unbound

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Here is a short video summarizing the incredible speech that was given by Camila Carreon, an NBU researcher and intern, who spoke powerfully about what the project means to her at our launch last November.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Her work contributes to a growing effort to better understand these intertwined histories while also helping to shape an emerging collaboration with Harvard focused on expanding the study of Indigenous slavery within its institutional and regional context.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Now, as an intern with NBU, Jubi is building on this work through archival research in Massachusetts, identifying and organizing materials that reveal the presence of Indigenous slavery in the region’s historical record.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Her research has already begun to show these connections. In a 1637 voyage of the Desire, Jubi traced one of the earliest documented convergences of Indigenous & African slavery in New England, following the ship’s transport of Pequot captives to the Caribbean and its return with enslaved Africans.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 – 𝐉𝐮𝐛𝐢 𝐎𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐨 Jubi Oladipo first connected with us by reaching out to ask how she could help with the work. A student at Harvard College studying History and African American Studies, her research explores the intersections of African American and Native American histories.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Whatever the region, someone had to go out and collect the material, strip it, dry it, and bind it into a usable tool. They wore down quickly, and new ones were made as seasons changed and plants aged. They were everyday objects, used until they fell apart and then remade again.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

In arid regions, people relied on the tough fibers of lechuguilla or sotol since grasses were limited. In wetter lowlands and along the Caribbean coast, palm fronds, cane, and rushes were gathered and tied into sweeping bundles.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

In the long history of coerced domestic labor, the broom was one of the tools most often in the hands of those who were enslaved.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Its purpose is work; it sweeps dust, debris, and whatever settles on the floor. Brooms stood in corners, leaned against doorways, or rested beside a hearth, always present, rarely acknowledged, and usually out of sight.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view... There is something about a broom that feels subtly resonant of slavery. Across time and many landscapes, it appears as a simple household tool, made by gathering grasses or shrubs and binding them into a bundle.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Antoine, 10 years old at death, a "panis child belonging to Joseph Carignan" in Batiscan, Quebec. Native Bound Unbound is committed to recovering as much information as possible about each individual. You can visit Antoine's page at nativeboundunbound.org/people/7450d... to learn more.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

givebutter.com/hidden-recov... President Elizabeth Alexander recently shared inspiring words about NBU. Foundational support from the Mellon Foundation was instrumental in catalyzing the project, but we need help moving forward to continue our work! Please click the link above to learn more.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

The New Yorker recently published “The Hidden History of Native American Enslavement.” At Native Bound Unbound, we are working to recover and reconnect the lives behind this history. Support the work: givebutter.com/hidden-recov... #IndigenousHistory #PublicHistory

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Want to help with the project? You can give us feedback about the website! Follow the link in our bio or click on the address below to access our site survey: forms.gle/uFxYYU2Y1Vbt...

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Reposted by Native Bound Unbound

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 26/02/2026

Indigenous slavery, which lasted for centuries, has gone by many names. A new public history project wants us to see it for what it was. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/6enUA-

newyorkermag.visitlink.me

The Hidden History of Native American Enslavement

Indigenous slavery, which lasted for centuries, has gone by many names. A new public history project wants us to see it for what it was.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

We are incredibly thankful to @newyorker.com and @geraldo-cadava.bsky.social for highlighting not just our project but the history of Indigenous slavery. Read more at www.newyorker.com/books/page-t... or by following the link in our bio.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Did you see our new maps of the Puerto de Santo Domingo? There is a new "Story" on the site that places these in the context of our project and gives more detail about the human trafficking and enslavement that occurred. View it at nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

We have added a new StoryCorps featuring Dr. Deborah Trujillo Terracino and her cousin Leonard. They talk about their ancestors Juan Estevan Trujillo and his son Lorenzo Trujillo from Abiquiú, New Mexico. Check it out on our website at nativeboundunbound.org/stories/view...

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

This article from August 13, 1766 in the Edinburgh Evening Courant is now available on the website and details how a 14 year old boy ran away from his “master's” house in Glasgow. Read more at nativeboundunbound.org/archives/22b...

nativeboundunbound.org

SCT The Edinburgh Evening Courant

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Were you aware that Indigenous peoples from the Americas were enslaved and shipped across the Atlantic to places like Scotland and England?

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Treuer examines how Native identity in the United States has been shaped by law, policy, and the legacy of settler colonialism, producing the terms through which being and belonging have been recognized, denied, or challenged.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

This project exists because of the support of institutions and individuals, a constellation of team members across disciplines and geographies, and the community members and descendants who have entrusted us with stories, documents, and memories. This work is, above all, relational.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Just days after the winter solstice, we stand at the threshold of a new year. As the light slowly returns, this season has long been a time for storytelling. As we reflect on the recent premiere of Native Bound Unbound and the work ahead, gratitude is at the center of our thoughts.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

There is still time to help us reach our year end goal for fundraising! Please help us recover the names and histories of those Indigenous enslaved individuals still waiting in the pages of the archives and the whispers of their stories. givebutter.com/jaV6NO

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

This correction demonstrates the importance of examining historical records in their full context rather than in isolation—a critical practice in genealogical research and one that Native Bound Unbound is committed to as we honor the stories of Indigenous ancestors with accuracy and care.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

While the parish register shows "a.D. 1927" at the top of the page, when viewing the entire book, the year was actually 1926. The entry itself is #11, dated December 21, 1927, with a correction made by the priest to the right, a number six over the number 7.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Please follow the story of Francisco Valdez, as we trace the imprints from the past into the present, honoring his resilience and the legacy of family, identity, and survival that continues through generations.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Native Bound Unbound is committed to honoring Francisco Valdez in 2026 by uploading documents, images, oral history and memory, as well as transcribed and translated interviews given by his descendants over the years, to his personal profile on the Native Bound Unbound website.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

We recognize that the stories of Indigenous people captured and bound in servitude are especially critical for descendants. For these individuals and communities, uncovering and honoring these histories offers the potential for transcendence and healing.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Though Francisco could never remember his language, his homeland, or even which tribe he came from, he maintained his Indigenous identity throughout his life and passed this knowledge to his descendants.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

His story, recorded across three census enumerations, shows his transfer between households and his continued servitude into adulthood, a pattern that represents the experience of countless Indigenous children forcibly removed from their people.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Francisco was an Indigenous child documented as enslaved at age three in the 1860 census of New Mexico Territory.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Francisco was an Indigenous child documented as enslaved at age three in the 1860 census of New Mexico Territory.

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Native Bound Unbound @natboundunbound.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

In this post, we trace the ancestry of Kelly Casias, a great-grandson of Francisco Valdez.

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