John Little, PhD (Standing Rock Dakota), is a scholar, historian, filmmaker, and mentor. His presentations and research focus on Native student retention and success in higher education, decolonizing work in the university, cultural appropriation and Native American-themed mascots, Lakota and Dakota music, and Native American Vietnam veterans, looking at the fact that Native Americans serve in the military at a higher per-capita rate than any other ethnic group in the United States.

Dr. Little received his PhD in History from the University of Minnesota and is passionate about changing the way history is written about Native peoples. He is currently the Director of Native Recruitment and Alumni Engagement at the University of South Dakota. Previously, he was the Director of the 7th Gen Summer Program, a Native American college readiness program for high school graduates in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

He is the co-director, alongside his brother Kenn, of the 2017 award-winning film, “More Than A Word.” The documentary goes inside the movement to change the name of the Washington R*dskins football team as well as what’s at stake in contemporary debates about cultural appropriation and Native American-themed mascots.

You can reach him at: [email protected]

More Than A Word film: http://morethanawordfilm.com/

Watch the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A86QFzzp7s8