StoryMakers:
Indigenous America 250
Summer Internship

Come join us and empower our stories.

Imagine yourself in Philadelphia, a central location in Colonial America and an important meeting site for Indigenous councils and settler colonists. 

You meander down cobblestone streets and visit various archival collections around the city. In the library, you engage directly with historical documents including transcripts, letters, speeches, and travel journals. You open a box and pore over maps, sketches, and treaties from over two hundred years ago.

You seek the records, presence, and stories within primary sources to create Indigenous-centered case studies and research related to the 250th Anniversary of the United States.

You are part of a collaborative, Indigenous-led, and community-driven team bringing the past to light.

Together, we are creating space for
Indigenous histories.

Introducing the 2025 StoryMakers
Summer Internship

This exciting, capacity-building research internship provides training for future scholars and professionals, bolstering representation of Indigenous people working in archives and special collections, and supporting the research goals of the larger Indigenous America 250 initiative.

With multiple research centers and archives that steward collections related to Indigenous history, the city of Philadelphia is an ideal place to learn and experience archival research.

Birch, William Russell. [Artist’s study of detail from New Lutheran Church, in Fourth Street Philadelphia]. 2020. The Library Company of Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia. 1799. Accessed 21 Oct. 2023.

Join us for an unforgettable summer research experience.

In 6 weeks you will:

  • Learn archival research techniques

  • Study NAIS theories, and research methods

  • Orient yourself to multiple archival collections and to Philadelphia as an Indigenous place and modern metropolis

  • Uncover historical records, stories, translations, and treaties related to Early American history

  • Reclaim Indigenous stories and understandings in colonial America

  • Research Native American History as a discipline

  • Conduct independent and collaborative research

  • Generate case studies to inform the Indigenous America 250 initiative

  • Collaborate with a highly engaged cohort both online and in-person

  • Connect with Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) academic experts, community knowledge holders, and National Park Service leaders

  • Expand your network and research skills

Who is this for?

  • Scholars

    Scholars of Native American and Indigenous Studies, History, American Studies, Museum Studies, Anthropology, Education, Political Science, Recreation and Park Management, etc.

  • Current Students & Recent Graduates

    Undergraduate and Graduate students welcome. Members or descendants of tribal nations are particularly encouraged to apply.

  • Young & Emerging Professionals

    18 - 30 years old, up to 35 years old with Veteran status interested in archival research

Meet Dr. Alyssa Mt Pleasant,
Lead Scholar for Indigenous America 250 and StoryMakers

Alyssa Mt. Pleasant (Tuscarora descendant) grew up in Syracuse, NY. She is the founder and managing member of ATW Research and Consulting LLC, which develops public-facing scholarship and projects that connect Indigenous peoples with archival collections.

Trained as a historian, Mt. Pleasant works at the intersection of early American history and Native American and Indigenous Studies. Prior to founding ATW, she worked in higher education for over 20 years; Mt. Pleasant was a faculty member at Yale University and the University at Buffalo (SUNY). She has served the History and Indigenous Studies professions as an elected member of the Council of the Omohundro Institute for Early America History and Culture and the Council of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association.

In 2018 she co-authored an award-winning state-of-the-field essay “Materials and Methods in Native American and Indigenous Studies: Completing the Turn,” published in both the William and Mary Quarterly and Early American Literature. Additionally, she has published articles and book chapters about Indigenous education, Indian-missionary relations, material culture, Indigenous biography, and the early American republic.

In 2024 Mt. Pleasant was elected to the membership of the American Antiquarian Society, a learned society whose members have distinctive achievements in academic or public life.

An Archival Research Experience Awaits…


During the six week paid internship, we meet virtually and also have the opportunity for two weeks of on-site archival research as a group in Philadelphia.

During our time in Philadelphia, you will have a robust schedule for on-site collaborative and independent research at multiple archival collections, informational tours, professional meetings, and networking opportunities. Of course, there will be time for fun and relaxation in the City of Brotherly Love as well.

This is a dedicated six week paid internship with a stipend of $4,300 and accommodations plus travel reimbursement.

A commitment of 35 hours/week is required.

Ready to Apply?

We will be welcoming eight StoryMakers Interns for the Summer 2025 Cohort.
Will you be one of them?

All applications due by April 30, 2025.

Meet the 2024 StoryMaker Interns

Kianna Pete

Kianna Pete is a Diné (Navajo) scholar, climate justice advocate, and education and policy researcher from New Mexico. She collaborates with Indigenous public health and environmental organizations, scientists, educators, organizers, legal professionals, and other researchers across Turtle Island to promote Indigenous self-determination and educational equity. Kianna's work is guided by Diné teachings to respectfully bridge collective knowledge and autonomy to address socio-political issues affecting Indigenous communities through her digital content writing, social justice curriculum development at Start:Empowerment, Rights of Nature advocacy at Grand Canyon Trust, and research at the American Institutes for Research and Teachers College, Columbia University.

Kianna is a graduate student at Teachers College, Columbia University studying politics and education. At Columbia, she is an Arthur Zankel Fellow where she assists in teaching civil rights history in Harlem, NY, and is a research assistant for the Center for Educational Equity advocating for children’s education rights. She has previously worked with the Newcomb Navajo Nation Chapter, Ben Ray Luján’s Congressional Office, Research for Indigenous Social Action & Equity at the University of Michigan, and the Association for American Indian Affairs. She earned her BA in Political Science and Ethnicity & Race Studies specializing in Indigenous/Native Studies at Columbia University.

Owen Fleet

Owen Fleet is from LaFayette, New York. He is a descendant of theAkwesasne (Saint Regis) Mohawk Nation, and has been working hard to learn and preserve the traditional knowledge and history of the people from whom he descends. Owen is now a fourth year student at Syracuse University pursuing an undergraduate degree in anthropology, with a minor in Native American and Indigenous studies. He is an advisory council member for SU’s Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice, the goals of which include expanding the Native American and Indigenous studies program on campus, and hopefully creating an undergraduate major in Native American and Indigenous studies.

It is Owen’s goal to pursue a master’s degree and potentially a PhD related to his current research and studies. After university he plans to facilitate the repatriation of stolen or “illegitimately acquired” Indigenous artifacts back to their home nations and communities, and to help decolonize the field of anthropology and the museum system.

Mary Smith

Mary Smith is Diné (enrolled member), Hopi, and Kawaika (Laguna Pueblo). Her clans are Ta’neezahnii, Tolaní Dine’é, Tl’aashchi’i, and Kiis’aanii and she comes from Tségizh, a small community on the Navajo Nation. As a first-generation student, Mary graduated from the University of Utah in 2023 with bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Ethnic Studies. She is currently a second-year master’s student at University of Utah in the Department of Education, Culture, and Society.

Mary’s research interests focus on Indigenous education and its histories, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and storytelling. My current work highlights a new facet of Indian Boarding School history between 1879-1932 by connecting land, policy, and mathematics education. This project has unveiled how mathematics curricula was used to transform Native students’ relationships to and ancestral knowledges of land.

Elaina Berlin

Elaina Berlin is a current Ph.D. student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the History department at UAlbany. She has spent her entire higher education in the pursuit of the proper tools to investigate the history of the Haudenosaunee people and how to see and reproduce history while centering the living descendants. She actively engages learning opportunities with community members and incorporates it into her research endeavors. Elaina’s dissertation will highlight the original inhabitants of the land which continues to shape her personal, professional, and pedagogical relationships of exchange. 

Elias Treuer

Elias Treuer is a current undergraduate student in his fourth year at Dartmouth College majoring in Native American Indigenous Studies and minoring in Linguistics. He is an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota. He founded his first business in fourth grade called Real Nish to promote indigenous pride and cultural awareness through custom apparel design and production and is currently looking to make it into a valuable resource hub for young Ojibwe individuals to bridge educational gaps within his community.

During his time at Dartmouth College, Elias worked with the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe on an expert testimony report for an upcoming treaty case and plans to pursue a Law degree post-graduation specializing in Federal Indian Law. During his free time, he works on app development for a future startup to revolutionize Indigenous language learning with AI. Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits and legal interest, he is deeply passionate about combining education and innovation.

 

Applications for the Summer 2025 Internship Cohort now open through April 30.

This immersive archival research internship is ideal for:

  • People who are 18 to 30 years old (35 with veteran status)

  • Members or descendants of tribal nations who are interested in archival research

  • Current undergraduate or graduate students

  • Students and scholars of Native American and Indigenous Studies, History, American Studies, Museum Studies, Anthropology, Education, Political Science, Recreation and Park Management, etc.

Applications are due by April 30th so gather your materials and apply today!

The Indigenous America 250 StoryMakers Summer Internship is supported with funding assistance from the National Park Service, Interior Region 1.

The StoryMakers Internship is an extension of the Indigenous America 250 project that revisits the experiences of tribal nations during and beyond the Revolutionary War period.

This community-engaged and collaborative effort draws on best practices from Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) to expand understanding of the experiences and perspectives of tribal nations on their own terms.