Biography
Wanda Hopkins is a citizen of the Narragansett Indian Tribal Nation.
She has served in Tribal Government and ministers at the Narragansett
Indian Church. She is an Indigenous cultural arts education volunteer
at Tomaquag Museum and is a member of their Native American Advisory Committee. Wanda has offered her voice a culture bearer at churches, schools, and civic organizations.
Wanda holds a BA in English from University of Rhode Island where she is currently pursuing a MA. Her research interests include the regional Indigenous literature and its connections to national Indigenous movements, acts, laws, and agendas. Wanda is active in promoting Eastern Woodland Indigenous knowledge and history as a community partner for both the Rhode Island Department of Humanities and Rhode Island Environmental Education Association. She participated in a Pageant for Providence, a COVID Community Outreach Project during PVDFest
2021. Wanda also manages a book group at the Gloria D. McDonald Women’s Facility.
Wanda has been employed at URI for seven years and serves on the Native American Advisory Council (NAAC). The NAAC has been successful in obtaining URI tuition waivers for the Narragansett Nation.
Selected Publications
- “Land Acknowledgement: An Indigenous Woman’s Observance,” Historic New England, Winter, 2021.
- “ Tomaquag Indigenous Gardens ,” edible Rhody, Fall 2022.
- “Willie’s Place in Wakefield,” edible Rhody, Fall 2022.
- “Chef Sherry Pocknett of Sly Fox Den Too,” edible Rhody, Spring 2022.