Paul Apodaca
Encyclopedia
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, with particular emphasis on the peoples of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, as well as more generally on images of Indians in non-Indian popular culture.
Personal background
Apodaca was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and raised in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California. His father's family was from the eastern side of the Navajo
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
Reservation, of the Ma'ii deeshgiishinii Clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
(Jemez Clan), and his mother's family is Mixton. He received his M.A. in American Indian Studies and his Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA, where he received the 1996 award as Outstanding Graduate Student. http://dailybruin.com/archives/id/6982/ He lives in Orange, California
Orange, California
Southern California is well-known for year-round pleasant weather: - On average, the warmest month is August. - The highest recorded temperature was in 1985. - On average, the coolest month is December. - The lowest recorded temperature was in 1950...
, with his wife, Paula.
Professional career
Apodaca currently serves as an Associate Professor of AnthropologyAnthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and American Studies
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
at Chapman University
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, California affiliated with the Christian Church . Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media...
and as a Visiting Professor at UCLA. He has worked as Regional Advisor to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
(representing the California-Nevada-Utah region), and as a selector for the NMAI Native American Film and Video Festival
Native American Film and Video Festival
The Native American Film and Video Festival is a noncompetitive showcase of film, video and audio productions held biennially in New York City. Each festival screens between 50 and 80 documentaries, short features and animations, introduced by their producers and members of the native communities...
. He has also been a member of the Native California Network, and a board member for the California Council for the Humanities.http://www.americanindianstudies.ucla.edu/alumni.htm He is a contributing editor to News from Native California,http://www.heydaybooks.com/news/contact.html a past editor of the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology
The Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology is a leading regional source of scholarly information on the ethnography, archaeology, linguistics, and Native American history of the Western United States created by Harry Lawton....
, a teacher-consultant for the Pearson Scott Foresman
Pearson Scott Foresman
Scott Foresman is an elementary educational publisher for PreK through Grade 6 in all subject areas. It is owned by Pearson Education.-Company history:...
textbook publishers, and serves on the editorial Board of the Malki Museum Press.http://www.malkimuseum.org/board&staff.htm An artist and performer in his own right, Apodaca sat in as a spoken word performer with The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet is an American jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
during the 2009 Brubeck Festival, a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Brubeck's legendary album, Time Out
Time Out (album)
Time Out is a jazz album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1397. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9/8 and 5/4. The album is a subtle blend of cool...
.http://web.pacific.edu/x27689.xml He also appears in a special feature segment of the DVD release of the 2009 Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
film, Knowing
Knowing (film)
Knowing is a 2009 American-British science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage. The project was originally attached to a number of directors under Columbia Pictures, but it was placed in turnaround and eventually picked up by Escape Artists. Production was financially...
, discussing the cultural significance of apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
myths.http://www.dvdmg.com/knowing.shtml
For 17 years, Apodaca was a curator at the Bowers Museum
Bowers Museum
The Bowers Museum is located in Santa Ana, California, in Orange County. The museum offers exhibitions, lectures, art classes, travel programs, children’s art and music education programs, and other community events...
in Orange County, and he has worked with funding agencies like the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
, the California Arts Council
California Arts Council
The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento. Its eleven council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature...
, and the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department is the official Los Angeles, California, USA arts council.The agency approves the design of structures built on or over City property and accepts works of art to be acquired by the City...
. Apodaca has served as a consultant on Indian culture and imagery to Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....
and the Walt Disney Corporation, and served as a technical advisor on the 1989 television mini-series, Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove (film)
Lonesome Dove is a western television miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, Lonesome Dove was originally broadcast by CBS on February 5, 1989, drawing a huge viewing audience, earning numerous awards, and...
.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115238/fullcredits In 2008, Apodaca was appointed to a term as Lecturer in Residence of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, a part of Autry National Center
Autry National Center
The Autry National Center of the American West is an intercultural center and museum in Los Angeles, California that celebrates the diversity and history of the American West through three important institutions: the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the American West, and the...
, where he made presentations on "The Mayan End of the World?"; "“Unraveling the Mystery of Cogged Stones Used in Early California”; and "Imagery and Reality: The Role of American Indians in Film and Television."http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/pdfs/SWM_JulySept.pdf In 2008, he also served as keynote speaker at the University of California Native American Professional Development Conference. http://www.airp.uci.edu/napdc/Keynote.php
Among his more significant contributions as an anthropologist, Apodaca recovered and restored once-lost recordings of traditional Agua Caliente
Agua Caliente
Agua Caliente means "warm waters" or "hot springs" in Spanish. The term may refer to:-People:* Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, a Native American tribe of the U.S...
tribal leader Joe Patencio, Alvino Siva, and others singing bird songs of Cahuilla
Cahuilla
The Cahuilla, Iviatim in their own language, are Indians with a common culture whose ancestors inhabited inland areas of southern California 2,000 years ago. Their original territory included an area of about . The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California...
oral literature.http://www.oac.cdlib.org/data/13030/z1/kt6f59r9z1/files/kt6f59r9z1.pdf The collection is archived at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
.http://www.accmuseum.org/page66.html He is also responsible along with Henry Koerper of Cypress College
Cypress College
Cypress College is a community college located in Cypress, California. Opened on September 12, 1966 , the southern California college offers a variety of general education , transfer courses , and 141 vocational programs leading to Associate's degrees and certificates.-Overview:Cypress College's...
and Jon Erikson of the University of California Irvine, for California state legislation that added an eight thousand year old carving of a bear to the list of California state symbols as the official California State Prehistoric Artifact. http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/artifacts/ca_prehistoric_artifact.htm
Awards and recognition
Apodaca's awards include the 2007 Little Eagle Free Foundation Man of the Year (sponsored by the family of Walter KnottWalter Knott
Walter Marvin Knott was an American farmer who created the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in California....
), the 1999 Mary Smith Lockwood National Medal for Education from the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
, the Orange County Human Rights Award, and a Smithsonian Institution Museum Professional Award. He wrote and performed music for the Academy Award winning film, Broken Rainbow (1986), a documentary film that helped to stop the relocation of twelve thousand Navajos in northern Arizona. Apodaca also won a 1997 Native American Journalists Association
Native American Journalists Association
The Native American Journalists Association, based in Norman, Oklahoma on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism, and focuses on improving communications among Native peoples, and between Native Americans and the general public...
award for his article, "California Tongues: Language Revival as Basis for Cultural Renaissance," published in the Native Americas Journal (Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
American Indian Program). In 2009, he was named a member of the Honorary Host Committee for the 40 Years of Ethnic Studies celebration at UCLA, along with other luminaries such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
, Rafer Johnson
Rafer Johnson
Rafer Lewis Johnson is an American former decathlete and film actor.-Biography:Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but the family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was nine. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's...
, Cheech Marin
Cheech Marin
Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin is an American comedian, actor and writer who gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dominguez on Nash Bridges...
, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa , born Antonio Ramón Villar, Jr., is the 41st and current Mayor of Los Angeles, California, the third Mexican American to have ever held office in the city of Los Angeles and the first in over 130 years. He is also the current president of the United States Conference of...
.
Selected bibliography
Wikikmal: The Birdsong Tradition of the Cahuilla Indians. Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center,UCLA (forthcoming 2010).“Founding a Tribal Museum: The Malki Museum” (with Katherine Siva Saubel
Katherine Siva Saubel
Katherine Siva Saubel was a Native American scholar, educator, tribal leader, author, and activist committed to preserving her Cahuilla history, culture and language. Her efforts focused on preserving the language of the Cahuilla people...
), in American Indian Places: A Guide to American Indian Landmarks, edited by Francis Kennedy. New York: Houghton Mifflin (2008).
"Under West's wing, NMAI made history," Indian Country Today
Indian Country Today
Indian Country Today Media Network is a weekly U.S. newsmagazine that is the primary national news source for Natives, American Indians, and Tribes in the U.S. and Alaska. The ICT Media Network revealed their new online multi-media news platform in January 2011; it is a daily, hourly, or "as news...
(Jan 18, 2008) http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28404104.html
"Hollywood Tragicomedy," Indian Country Today
Indian Country Today
Indian Country Today Media Network is a weekly U.S. newsmagazine that is the primary national news source for Natives, American Indians, and Tribes in the U.S. and Alaska. The ICT Media Network revealed their new online multi-media news platform in January 2011; it is a daily, hourly, or "as news...
(November 30, 2007)http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28142509.html
"Cactus Stones: Symbolism and Representation in Southern California and Seri Indigenous Folk Art and Artifacts," Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology
The Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology is a leading regional source of scholarly information on the ethnography, archaeology, linguistics, and Native American history of the Western United States created by Harry Lawton....
23(2):215-228 (2001).http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/davidson/Archaeology%20Lab%20Material%20Culture/Week%206%20Nature%20of%20artifacts/2001,%20Apodaca,%20cogged%20stones%20of%20california.pdf
"Review of Kozak & Lopez, Devil Sickness and Devil Songs: Tohono O'odham Poetics," in American Ethnologist, 28(2): 496-497 (2001).
"Cahuilla bird songs" (with Luke Madrigal), California Chronicles, 2(2): 4-8 (November 1999).
"Powerful Images: Portrayals of Native America," American Anthropologist
American Anthropologist
American Anthropologist is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association . It is known for publishing a wide range of work in anthropology, including articles on cultural, biological and linguistic anthropology and archeology...
, 101(4): 818 (1998).
Tradition, Myth, and Performance of Cahuilla Bird Songs, Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA (1999).
"Testaments of Hope," Chronicle of Higher Education, (February 20, 1998)http://chronicle.com/data/articles.dir/eguid-44.dir/24eguide.htm
"Archaeological, Ethnohistoric, and Historic Notes Regarding ORA-58 and other Sites Along the Lower Santa Ana River Drainage, Costa
Mesa" (with Henry C. Koerper, David D. Earl, and Roger Mason). Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 32(1):1–36 (1996).
Images of Power: Masterworks of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art (with Armand J. Labbe), Univ of Washington Press (1995).
"California Indian Shamanism and California Indian Nights," News from Native California 7(2): 24-26 (1994).
"Sharing Information: The Cahuilla Tribe and the Bowers Museum," News from Native California 5(2) (Feb/April 1991).
"Permanent Sandpainting as an Art Form" in Sharing a Heritage: American Indian Arts, Charlotte Heth, ed., UCLA AISC Press (1991).
Gabrielino/Tongva Culture (video) (with George Angelo), Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc./Vision Maker Video. (Lincoln, Neb.) (1991).
Broken Rainbow (film) (with Maria Florio, Victoria Mudd, Laura Nyro, Fredric Myrow, Rick Krizman) Earthworks/Direct Cinema Ltd. (Los Angeles, CA) (1987).