Sonya Atalay is Provost Professor in the Anthropology Department at UMass Amherst, Visiting Professor at MIT Anthropology, and the Director of the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS), a newly funded National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. Dr. Atalay is an Indigenous archaeologist specializing in Indigenous research methods and science carried out with and for Indigenous communities. She has expertise in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and served two terms on the National NAGPRA Review Committee, first appointed by the Bush administration and then for a second term by the Obama administration. Dr. Atalay is the author of several books, including Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by and for Indigenous and Local Communities and “The Community-Based Phd” providing guidance for graduate students in conducting ethical research with Indigenous communities. She is currently completing a book called, “Braiding Knowledges: How Indigenous Knowledge is Challenging and Changing Institutions.”

As Sunksq (female leader) of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, Cheryll Toney Holley advocates for economic and social justice in all aspects of her community including producing and distributing healthy foods, creating, and encouraging connections for Nipmuc artists, pursuing land back opportunities, and promoting cultural education for Nipmucs of all ages including language reclamation. Holley co-founded and currently serves on the board of the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation (NIDC) – an Indigenous non-profit dedicated to the well-being of all Nipmuc people and the stewardship of Nipmuc homelands. Holley served for ten years on the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs and is the former director of the Hassanamisco Indian Museum located on the tribe’s Hassanamesit Reservation. She serves as a member of the Commonwealth’s Environmental justice Council advocating for equal voice and fair treatment of all peoples with respect to the environment. A member of the Worcester Black History Project, Holley is also a professional researcher, writer, and speaker specializing in African American and Indigenous peoples of New England, a passion she shares by compiling genealogies and written family histories for descendants of New England’s communities of color. A mom of four and grandmother of eight, she currently lives in Worcester where generations of her family lived before her.