"What Side Are You On: A Tohono O'odham Life Across Borders"

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Mark your Calendars / Native American Heritage Month

Public lecture, November 10, 2026

UTEP Campus / 6:00 – 8:00 pm, Tomas Rivera Conference Room, Union

Mike Wilson and Jose’ Antonio Lucero, What Side Are You On: A Tohono O’odham Life Across Borders (University of North Carolina Press, 2024) [Open source e-book]

This collaborative book follows the remarkable life of Mike Wilson, a citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation, which sits along the U.S. – Mexico Border. Wilson is a humanitarian activist who has spent years helping migrants survive in the Sonoran Desert, but he is also a veteran and a film documentarian. The book recounts is journey around the world, the struggles he faced as a child, and eventually his service in the military in Central America. It offers a sensitive portrayal of his human rights work over the past several decades in Southern Arizona.

Dr. José Antonio (Tony) Lucero grew up in El Paso, and he is presently the Chair of the Department of Comparative History of Ideas at the University of Washington, Seattle. A widely recognized scholar of Indigenous and Borderlands Studies, Dr. Lucero collaborated with Mike through numerous oral history interviews to help write this autobiography, but he also adds insightful theoretical and methodological analysis throughout the book.

The presentation will follow a conversational format in which Wilson and Lucero discuss the process of collaborating on a life history, while also addressing contemporary issues facing Indigenous Peoples along the border, such as militarization and border policing.

The talk will be followed by a reception, location TBD.

This event would not have been possible without the generous contributions of the following units on campus: History, Native American and Indigenous Studies Minor, English, Creative Writing, Political Science and Public Administration, CIBS, Anthropology/Sociology