2024-2025 Annual Theme

Celebrating Indigenous Resilience: Commemorating the Red River War and Honoring the Vibrancy of Native American History and Culture on the Southern Plains 

Historical commemorations direct our gaze to the past, but they also allow us to connect that history with the present and the future. Through this year’s sesquicentennial of the Red River War, we will focus on the past, present, and future of Indigenous cultures on the Southern Plains. The Red River War of 1874 brought about the violent conquest of the region by U.S. forces and ushered in the dispossession of thousands of Native people. This year’s theme will acknowledge the devastation brought about by that conflict without losing sight of the resilience of Indigenous people before, during, and after war’s end.  

For 2024-2025, the Humanities Center at Texas Tech will program events around the theme of Indigenous cultures and their histories in our region. We will explore the vibrancy of Native American life on the Southern Plains, the historical roots of dispossession, and the resilience of Native peoples such as the Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Arapaho in the twenty-first century.
 
Throughout the year, through invited lectures, artistic presentations, public programming, community engagement, and a culminating academic conference, the Texas Tech community will grapple with how to commemorate the history of our region, celebrate a Native present, and support an ongoing future of Indigenous culture on the Southern Plains. While doing so, scholars, students, and campus partners will also work to foster and strengthen ties with Indigenous communities for sustainable engagement and collaboration going forward.