About

Cass Lynch

Pronouns: None/My Name (They is fine)

I am a Two-Spirit, non-government enrolled* Mvskoke and Tsalagi person with Port of New Orleans Irish, Alabama/Florida (CheroCreek), West Virginia Appalachia, and Missouri Ozarks roots. I am also disabled, AuDHD, and a Service Dog Handler.

*-Click to Expand

Besides the fact that MNF closed enrollment, I made the decision to forego any tribal government enrollment until the Freedmen and mixed Afro-Indigenous descendants of the so-called “5 Civilized Tribes,” the Lumbee, and Gullah Geechee receive full enrollment rights or treaty obligations.

One of my earliest paternal ancestors is Hendrick Theyanoguin, a Mohawk from the Bear Clan who served as hoyaneh until he was killed in battle against the French. Prior to his death, the family moved South and split between the Carolinas and Louisiana.

The Lynch line later married into the family and moved to Alabama where my great-grandfather met my CheroCreek great-grandmother. They were later forced to abandon their farm in Alabama for a small allotment in Florida. They have grown tobacco and straw hay for the state of Florida since approx. 1840 and the 1950s respectively. Mvto.

See: The “Treaty of New Echota,” or, Agreement with the Cherokee (1835), Article 14

See: Muscogee Nation of Florida History

See: The Two Hendricks: A Mohawk Indian Mystery

I currently lecture for San Diego State University’s American Indian Studies department. I have undergraduate degrees in English, Creative Writing, Fine Arts & Humanities, and American Indian Studies. I also have an M.A. in Rhetoric & Writing Studies with an emphasis in the Teaching of Writing.

I taught U.S. History from An Indigenous Perspective for the Educational Opportunity Program’s Summer Bridge for several summers. During the pandemic, I created the California State University system’s first undergraduate, or lower-division, Critical Race Theory course for Weber Honors College.

I’ve worked extensively with local tribal and urban Indian education or support programs including American Indian Recruitment Programs, Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, Elymash Yuuchaap, and Puente Project.

Due to post-partum health complications, I took a hiatus from research publishing and conferences to devote energy to healing, raising my child, and teaching.

I prioritize student wellbeing above all, especially for Kumeyaay youth. So long as I remain on their lands, I offer my services to their peoples.

Fields of Research

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• Anti-Colonialism Studies
• (Intersectional)(Tribal) Critical Race Theory
• Indigenous Studies & Rhetorics
• Sociocultural & Racial Identity Development
• The History of Race
• White Nationalism & Recruitment Tactics
• Militias & Extremist Movements
• Visual & Constitutive Rhetoric
• Pop Culture Criticism