Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action - Human Resources
Campus: Hill Hall 303
Mail: Dept. 3422
1000 E University Ave
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: 307.766.1603
Fax: 307.766.5607
Email: HR@uwyo.edu
Mission: The Native Employee Network envisions a community of UW employees that identify as Native American who will collaborate to promote the well-being of all Indigenous employees.
The Native Employee Network meets monthly for activities for Native Employees. Upon invitation employees will have an opportunity to participate in activities that promote community and professional development.
Greetings, my name is Melvin Arthur and I am the Team Leader for the Native American and Indigenous Employee Network. My academic and professional careers are aimed at ending health disparities in the Wind River Indian Reservation through action research that directly engages healing.
Currently, I’m employed by the University of Wyoming as a research scientist working on the Growing Resilience project which is measuring the impacts of home gardening on the health of tribal members in Wyoming. I am a lead co-investigator on the qualitative process and outcome research. I co-developed and am implementing a method to document and amplify the voices of gardeners, which we call “Sovereign Storytelling.” As a graduate student in Kinesiology & Health at the University of Wyoming I researched the food systems of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. In addition to my full time work on the Growing Resilience project, I am completing my thesis research about community health promotion in Indian Country to complete an MSW at University of Wyoming. My experience and background in the Wind River Reservation makes my inclusion in the E-Nets a good fit.
This was the first meeting for the Native Employees, we started the meeting at about
6:40. I introduced myself, and the Employee Network by letting the employees that
the purpose of E-Networks is to create a community here in Laramie for employees who
identify as Native American.
Dinner was served. We continued the meeting through dinner and employees introduced
themselves and their families.
In response to the questions asked: employees said that they like being part of the
university, and having a position that promotes betterment for all Indigenous people.
They also feel Native American people can relate to the problems of people who identify
as Native.
We also looked at the Land Acknowledgement that I drafted for the Arapaho people,
and the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Liaison was present at this meeting, and he said that
he would like to work on a Land Acknowledgment for his tribe. This is an item that
we put on the shelf and agreed that we would continue to talk about this at the next
meeting when we have more people committed to the E-Networks.
For our mission statement: I will be drafting a mission statement that includes professional
development, community, and our commitment to all Indigenous people at UW.
When the floor was opened up for suggestions the Native Employees suggested family
stuff for future events, and using the E-Network to help facilitate aspect of our
jobs here at UW that require networking on the Wind River Indian Reservation and other
Native American communities. They also suggested that we have something for the kids
to do at the meetings.
Native American and Indigenous Employee Social
October 21, 2020
4:00 p.m.
Wind River Reservation Film and Discussion
February 28, 2020
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action - Human Resources
Campus: Hill Hall 303
Mail: Dept. 3422
1000 E University Ave
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: 307.766.1603
Fax: 307.766.5607
Email: HR@uwyo.edu