All about @theAcademicAsdzáá
Yá’át’ééh shí éí Zonnie Bah Olivas yinishyé. Hashk'ąą Hadzohí nishłi Naakai báshíshchíín Naakai ei dashinalí dóó Tsénjikíní ei daschicheii.
My name is Zonnie Bah Olivas. I am "yucca fruit strung out in a line" clan born for the “Mexican” clan. My paternal grandmother's clan is the “Mexican” clan and my maternal grandfather's clan is the "cliff dwellers" people clan. This is my introduction in my Navajo language, an important part of my cultural identity as both a Navajo and Hispanic woman.
The word "Asdzáá" in Navajo means woman. The Academic Asdzáá is the chosen name for this shop because it's a reflection of myself a Navajo woman navigating academia. I currently attend the University of Arizona and have earned my B.S. degree in Public Health. Currently, I am working on finishing my Honors College research thesis and taking grad school classes to prepare myself for a PhD program.
Myself and my mom, Laura-Shurley Olivas, want to inspire others with our work & encourage Native people to continue to decolonize these academic spaces. @theAcademicAsdzaa is comprised of a mother-daughter team. My mom is a talented traditional artist who has years of experience creating and teaching art, and I am skilled at navigating social media and learning graphic design. I take my mom's drawings/sketches from paper and transform them to a digital format that can be shared with others.