History 101:
Introduction to
John Truden
I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and Charlotte, North Carolina. Those two places had the suburbs in common, so I often say I am a suburbanite more than anything else. My academic journey began at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where in 2016 I received a BA in History with a minor in Native American Studies. I attended graduate school at the University of Oklahoma, where I earned an MA in US History (2018) and a PhD in US History (2023). I also married my wonderful wife Emily and we adopted our dog, Ruffles. Currently, I am completing a two year Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Native American and Indigenous Studies at Dickinson College's newly created Center for the Futures of Native Peoples. An avid researcher, writer, thinker, and traveler, I value personal connection, collegiality, integrity, community service, generosity, curiosity, compassion and academic discourse.
Are You Native American?
No, I am not. I am not a tribal citizen, I have no Indigenous heritage and my Welsh, Irish, German and Slovenian ancestors came to the United States from Europe between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
Native American History is relevant to and should be better understood by all Americans. However, I recognize that some stories are not mine to tell, particularly sacred stories and histories of individual peoples. My scholarship focuses on how Indigenous people navigated their relationships across Native America and with non-Native communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. My mission as a scholar is to produce scholarship that amplifies Indigenous voices in those historical relationships and to support tribal sovereignty.
So Why Native American History?
In college, a great professor (in the fourth picture) inspired me to be curious about Native American History. Writing and research come naturally to me, so I decided to go to graduate school. In summer 2019, I stayed with some friends of mine (they are pictured in the third picture, taken when they drove down for my graduation!) on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana and took a Cheyenne language class at Chief Dull Knife College. During that time, I realized my skillset and expertise in Native American History have powerful applications in Native America - a space traditionally excluded from higher education - rather than just the academy. After I got back to Oklahoma that fall, I began volunteering with tribal government officials and their allies while also finishing my PhD in US History at the University of Oklahoma. These experiences changed how I think about my work. Today, I believe that both my scholarship and my collaborations with Indigenous communities are important.
Neurodivergent and Proud
I am neurodivergent and I was raised in household where everyone else was neurodivergent too. What this means is that I process and respond to the world differently than most people. Rather than thinking of my neurodivergence as solely a disability, I like to think of it as a tradeoff - I am different, not less. Although I'm not the most socially adept individual, my neurodivergence gives me an unusual ability to focus intensively on a topic for an extended period of time. I call this hyperfocus and it is the reason that since 2018 I've published five peer reviewed articles, authored and defended a dissertation, revised that text and sent it to the University of Nebraska Press, and conducted research in over sixty archives for a second book project during the same period.
Being neurodivergent comes with real challenges too - it is easy to misread my enthusiasm or sincerity as disingenuousness. It takes me slightly longer to process the world. Due to a medical injury, I blink far more than most people. It is generally more difficult for me to read facial expressions, so I tend to compensate by being overly polite. Although I love building relationships with colleagues, students and tribal governments, I sometimes struggle to figure out social situations.
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With all that being said, I am happy that I am who I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't be me! When you meet me in person, please give me some grace. Before you make any conclusions, give me some time to show you how much I care and what I can do. I promise I will exceed your expectations.