Founder & Lead Educator
Dr. Eugena Stacona, EdD
Indigenous Educator. Author. Advocate for Sovereign Education.
Dr. Eugena Stacona, EdD is a Native American educator, researcher, and author whose life's work centers on dismantling educational inequity for Indigenous students and communities. Drawing from her own lived experience growing up in the projects as a young Native woman, she has dedicated her career to building culturally responsive systems that honor Indigenous ways of knowing, language, and sovereignty.
The Work Behind the Institute
Dr. Stacona's research focuses on the intersection of Indigenous cultural competency, decolonial pedagogy, and educational disparity. Her action research on American Indian cultural competency and education disparity has informed professional development programs across school districts and tribal education departments.
The Stacona Indigenous Institute was founded to bring that research directly to educators — offering professional learning that moves beyond surface-level diversity work into genuine, land-based, sovereignty-centered practice.
Every course, every assessment, and every resource produced by the Institute is grounded in the belief that Indigenous students deserve educators who understand not just their history, but their present — and who are willing to do the deep personal work required to show up fully in that relationship.
Credentials & Background
Doctorate of Education (EdD)
Educational leadership with a focus on Indigenous education and cultural competency
Action Researcher
Published research on American Indian cultural competency and education disparity
Published Author
10+ books spanning academic compendiums, children's literature, and memoir
Curriculum Developer
Creator of the Cultural Competency Questionnaire (CCQ); uses the MAKSS assessment with permission from its author, Michael D'Andrea
Tribal Education Advocate
Decades of work supporting Indigenous students, families, and tribal education departments
What We Stand For
Land as Teacher
Indigenous knowledge is inseparable from the land. Our curriculum centers place-based, land-based ways of knowing as foundational — not supplemental.
Sovereign Education
Tribal nations have the inherent right to define, design, and deliver education for their communities. We support that sovereignty at every level.
Honest History
Decolonizing education requires naming what happened — intergenerational trauma, historical erasure, and systemic disparity — without flinching.
Lifelong Growth
Cultural competency is not a destination. It is a practice. We build educators who commit to ongoing reflection, learning, and accountability.
Selected Works
Dr. Stacona is the author of more than ten books spanning academic research, Indigenous children's literature, and memoir.
Essential ReadingAcademic Compendium2026
The Unbroken Thread: A Decolonial History of Turtle Island
A Comprehensive Exploration and Instructional Compendium — Feb 2026
A sweeping decolonial history of Turtle Island designed as both a scholarly resource and an instructional compendium for educators. This work provides the historical, cultural, and political context that every educator working with Indigenous students needs — from pre-contact civilizations through the present-day sovereignty movement.
Ages 2–9Children's Literature2026
A First Foods Book Series
A celebration of Plateau First Foods through Indigenous eyes
A growing series celebrating the First Foods of the Plateau — salmon, deer, camas, and huckleberry — through the eyes of young Indigenous characters. Written in English with Umatilla/Sahaptin language woven throughout, each book brings Indigenous ecological knowledge and cultural identity into early childhood education for ages 2–9.
- Sami the Salmon: Núsux Finding Her Way HomeMarch 2026
- Little Yáya the Deer: A First Foods Story of YámasApril 2026
- Xmáaš Lady and the Sweet EarthJune 2026
- Tiyapo the Happy Huckleberry: Wiwnu Blooms into Her Perfect Purple CoatAugust 2026
- Book 5 — Coming SoonComing Soon
Ready to begin the work?
Explore the Cultural Competency course and build the awareness, knowledge, and skills your students deserve.