Native American Studies welcomes two new postdoctoral fellows

The University of New Mexico's department of Native American Studies welcomed two new postdoctoral fellows as the 2026-27 school year kicks off. Madeline Rose Mendoza (Laguna Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh, Chicana) and Shayla Chatto, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and descendant of the White Mountain Apache tribe, will join the department.

Mendoza earned her doctorate in rhetoric and writing from UNM.

"My scholarly trajectory has really become a braiding of literary studies, rhetoric and writing, and Native American Studies," she said. "I think that interdisciplinary approach provides a strong foundation for the work I hope to continue as an NAS postdoctoral fellow.

Chatto completed her PhD in Culturally Sustaining Education, with a certificate in American Indian and Indigenous Studies from the University of Washington.

Mendoza, who is from Rio Rancho, is an associate editor for the Native Studies journal Wicazo Sa Review, which is edited by NAS department chair Lloyd L. Lee and published by the University of Minnesota Press. The journal provided Mendoza with her introduction to NAS.

"I learned so much about academic publishing, editorial processes, and the behind-the-scenes labor that goes into sustaining an academic journal.

As a fellow, I hope to bring that experience into the department. I think there are opportunities to help students better understand the publication process and make publishing feel more accessible. One idea I've thought about is developing a course connected to WSR, where students could gain firsthand experience with the journal."

While Chatto completed her education in Washington, she felt a calling to come home to New Mexico, and this was the right opportunity for her to do so. She has spent her time in Washington focused on working on curriculum for native education and preparing indigenous educators to teach teacher candidates how to best approach tribal history courses.

"I pursued a post doc because I felt like I needed additional support with writing and the rigor of writing itself. I had a lot of experience here at Washington teaching courses, so I felt I was maxed out on teaching courses," Chatto said. "A postdoc seemed like a really great transition to getting my feet back into academia. I'm really excited to be partnered with Lloyd Lee; my goals are to write as much as I can and publish some of that work as I immerse myself in the community."

Like Chatto, Mendoza plans to focus on her writing as part of the fellowship, with a goal of transforming her dissertation into a manuscript.

"I'm looking forward to thinking through what the project can become and how it can create more interactive and public-facing contribution to conversations on Indigenous Futurisms, writing pedagogy and Native studies more broadly."

Chatto spent the last year on the Bonderman Fellowship, which allowed her to travel the globe, exploring new cultures in South America, South Africa and Southeast Asia.

Both Mendoza and Chatto will teach a course in the spring 2027 semester while having time to focus on other scholarship.