My research examines Indigenous politics, Native American identity, political participation, and sovereignty. I am particularly interested in how Native people navigate tribal, state, and federal political systems, and how identity shapes political engagement across these overlapping political arenas. Drawing on mixed-methods approaches, including surveys, interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and quantitative analysis, my work seeks to better understand the relationship between Indigenous nationhood, citizenship, and democratic participation.

My scholarship contributes to broader conversations in American politics, race and ethnic politics, political behavior, political psychology, democratic representation, and Indigenous studies. I am especially interested in questions of Indigenous self-determination, political incorporation, civic engagement, and Indigenous data sovereignty.

Dissertation Project: 

Citizens of Two Sovereigns: Native American Identity and Political Participation. 

My dissertation investigates how multidimensional forms of Native identity shape political participation across tribal, state, and federal political systems. While existing political behavior research often treats Native Americans as a single political category, Indigenous peoples possess distinct political relationships to Tribal Nations, states, and the federal government. These overlapping forms of citizenship and belonging create unique opportunities and constraints for political engagement.

Drawing on original qualitative interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and survey research, I develop a multidimensional framework of Native identity that includes legal status, identity centrality, national belonging, cultural engagement, and community definitions of Native identity. I examine how these dimensions shape participation in electoral politics, nonelectoral political action, organizational involvement, and Indigenous community engagement.

The project demonstrates that political participation among Native Americans cannot be fully understood without considering sovereignty, nationhood, and the multiple political communities in which Indigenous people are embedded.