Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Writing Fellow, Yale University,
Boozhoo (hello)! My name is Natalie Jones-Kerwin (she/her), and I am a citizen of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Writing Fellow at Yale University, and a Scholar in Residence with Advance Native Political Leadership. My research examines Indigenous politics, Native American identity, political participation, and sovereignty, with a particular focus on how Native people navigate tribal, state, and federal political systems. I draw on mixed-methods approaches, including surveys, interviews, and community-engaged research, to better understand the relationship between Indigenous nationhood, citizenship, and democratic participation.
My dissertation, Citizens of Two Sovereigns: Native American Identity and Political Participation, develops a multidimensional framework of Native identity and investigates how identity shapes political engagement across multiple sovereign governments and political arenas. The project combines qualitative interviews, survey research, and large-scale quantitative analysis to examine the political experiences of Native communities in Wisconsin and across the United States.
I am an Ojibwe woman I am committed to research that is both academically rigorous and accountable to Indigenous communities. My work engages questions of Indigenous data sovereignty, political representation, civic engagement, and nationhood while emphasizing collaborative and community-centered research practices.
My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the APSA Dissertation Improvement Award, the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment, Native Forward Scholars Fund, the Cobell Scholarship Program, and numerous other national and university fellowships and grants. During the 2026–2027 academic year, I will serve as a Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Writing Fellow at Yale University.
In addition to my research, I am active in Indigenous community leadership and mentorship. I serve as a Graduate Assistant with the Network for Development and Growth of Native Solidarity (NDGNS), co-founded the Indigenous Graduate Student Organization at UW–Madison, have served on the Board of Directors for Indian Summer Festival, and Roots for Resiliance, and participate in initiatives that support Indigenous student success, cultural revitalization, and community-engaged scholarship.
Thank you for visiting my website. Please feel free to explore my research, publications, teaching, and community engagement activities, or contact me directly with questions about my work.