Metropolitan State University of Denver

Helen Giron-Mushfiq

Personal Biography Statement

I am a Chiricahua Apache and a native to Colorado, born in Trinidad, Colorado. I received my Master’s in History from the University of Colorado at Boulder in August of 2005. I received my Bachelor of Arts in History, along with three minors: Native American History, Chicana/o Studies, and Political Science, from the Metropolitan State College in Denver in the Spring of 2000. I plan to continue my education in the PhD program at the University of Colorado at Denver, in the Ethnic Studies Department in the Fall of 2009.

Research Areas/Interests

As a historian I want to tell the story of the indigenous peoples of the Southwest. My current research interests surround Apache’s resistance to slavery and the destruction of their ways-of-life during the early periods of colonization by the Spanish and the Americans. I am particularly interested in the connection between China’s need for silver in the 14th - 19th centuries and the enslavement of many indigenous populations in both Mexico and the Southwest in the silver mines by the Spanish during the 15th – 19th centuries; therefore, creating the foundation of the modern world. Social Interest: My areas of social interests are: equity in education, activism and social movements, and indigenous history/culture. I have been involved in social issues since the early 1960s. I have been teaching Metropolitan State College of Denver since the Fall of 2005. I have found the experience very rewarding. I also have been in the department of Chicana/o Studies Department since that time. Furthermore, I have been the Program Coordinator for the Journey Through Our Heritage/Jornada de Nuestra Herencia for five (5) years, from 1998-2003 and two (2) years, from 2007-2009. Participating in this program has given me hope and understanding that indigenous people WILL OVERCOME! QUE VIVA LA RAZA!

Courses Taught

CHS-1000,CHS-1010,CHS-1020,HIS-1910,HIS-1920