Dr. Gabrielle Tayac, Activist Scholar and Elder

Dr. Gabrielle Tayac is a member of the Piscataway Indian Nation and an activist scholar committed to empowering Indigenous perspectives. She is also a cultural practitioner holding a medicine lineage, now based at Nekamaco, which is Piscataway for House of the Mother, a tributary of the lower Potomac. Gabi earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Harvard University, and her B.S. in Social Work and American Indian Studies from Cornell University. Her scholarly research focuses on hemispheric American Indian identity, multiracialism, indigenous religions, and social movements, maintaining a regional specialization in the Chesapeake Bay. Gabi served on NMAI's staff for 18 years as an educator, historian, and curator. She engages deeply in community relationships and public discourse. Gabi took a two year journey to uplift the voices of indigenous elder women leaders, sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors prior to settling back at home. She is now an Associate Professor of Public History at George Mason University.