Elise Boxer

Dr. Elise Boxer is an enrolled citizen of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. She is Dakota from the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands. Boxer received her Ph.D. in history from Arizona State University.

Dr. Boxer has developed and taught over 15 courses in Native American Studies and History. She has taught a variety of courses in Native Studies from the "Introduction to the Native American Studies Discipline" to "Crime in Indian Country." Boxer is looking forward to bringing her expertise to the University of South Dakota and continue to develop and teach courses in Native Studies.

Dr. Boxer is currently working on her manuscript, To Become White and Delightsome: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and construction of a “Lamanite” Identity. Her manuscript explores the construction of race in the LDS church and the manner in which race and identity has been defined, constructed and maintained. Her primary focus is on Indigenous peoples in the United States and the creation of a religious identity or using Mormon terminology, a “Lamanite” identity. Boxer has a chapter, “This is the Place!” Disrupting Mormon settler colonialism,” that will appear in Decolonizing Mormonism, edited by Joanne Brooks and Gina Colvin that will be published by the University of Utah Press in 2015. She recently had an article, “The Lamanites Shall Blossom as the Rose:” The Indian Student Placement Program, Mormon whiteness and Indigenous identity accepted for a special issue on race for the Journal of Mormon History that will also be published in 2015.

Citations listed below are presented in a standardized, modified format for display purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the preferred style and conventions of the faculty member or discipline.

Boxer, Elise. The Book of Mormon as Mormon Settler Coloanlism. In Essays on American Indians and Mormon History , editors Brenden Rensick and P. Jane Hafen. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 2019.
Brooks, Joanna, Colvin, Gina , and Boxer, Elise. “This is the Place!” Disrupting Mormon settler colonialism,”. In Decolonizing Mormonism . Salt Lake City, Utah : University of Utah , 2018.
Boxer, Elise. Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Struggle for Whiteness. Vol. 86, Iss. 3 Pacific Historical Review , 2017. (DOI: 10.1525/phr.2017.86.3.552)
Boxer, Elise. “The Lamanites Shall Blossom as the Rose:” The Indian Student Placement Program, Mormon whiteness and Indigenous identity, 132-176. Vol. 41, Iss. 4 Salt Lake City, Utah : Journal of Mormon History , 2015.
Colvin , Gina , Boxer, Elise, Maffly-Kipp, Laurie , Inouye, Melissa , and Graham-Russell, Janaan. Roundtable Discussion: Challenging Mormon Race Scholarship., Editors Gina Colvin, 258-281. Vol. 41, Iss. 3 University of Illinois Press: Journal of Mormon History , 2015.
Boxer, Elise. Seeing Red: Hollywood's Pixeled Skins , 193. Vol. 45, Iss. 2 Logan, Utah: The Western Historical Quarterly, 2014.
Boxer, Elise. The Indianization of Lewis and Clark 2 vols., 81. Vol. 82, Iss. 1 Salt Lake City, Utah : Utah State Historical Quarterly , 2014.
Boxer, Elise. The Native American Mascot Controversy: A Handbook . Vol. 36, Iss. 4 Los Angeles, CA: American Indian Culture and Research Journal , 2013.
Boxer, Elise, and . Nation to Academy and Back Again: The Formation and Movement of Indigenous Theory and Praxis. . In From the Skin: Defending Indigenous Nations Using Theory and Praxis. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.
Boxer, Elise. To Become White and Colonialism: Mormon Settler Colonialism and Construction of Indigeneity. Norman, Oklahoma : University of Oklahoma Press.
Boxer, Elise. Real Native Genius: How an Ex-Slave and White Mormon became famous Indians. Journal of Mormon History .
Boxer, Elise. A Generation Removed: The Fostering and Adoption of Indigenous Children in Postwar World. South Dakota History .
Boxer, Elise. Company B and World War II: The Dakota and Assiniboine men of the Fort Peck Sioux and Assiniboine reservation . Helena, MT: Montana Magazine.

Boxer, Elise, Why We Write: The Intersection of Race and Religion in the Writing of Mormon History Roundtable. Presented at the Mormon History Association (June 15, 2024)
Boxer, Elise, Taborda, Madisyn, and Story, Amber, Developing Indigenous Theories and Methodologies: Formation of Research and Writing. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association Conference, Albuquerque, NM. (February 2024)
Boxer, Elise, Futuring our Worlds: Youth Care-work, Literature, and Poetry. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 2024)
Boxer, Elise, and Clark, Jerome J., Honoring of Elizabeth Cook-Lynn: A Remembrance. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association Conference, Albuquerque, NM. (February 2024)
Boxer, Elise, “Students should learn America’s true, honest history”. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 2024)
Boxer, Elise, Boxer, Majel, and Lee, Tiffany, Academic Track: Your Campus Interview. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association-Graduate Pre-Conference, Albuquerque, NM. (January 31, 2024)
Boxer, Elise, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe: Rapid City, South Dakota and the 1 972 Black Hills Flood. Presented at the Western History Association Conference, Los Angeles, CA. (October 2023)
Boxer, Elise, Resistance and Reckoning: Erasure, Violence, and Revitalization i n Indigenous Representation in Education. Presented at the Western History Association Conference, Los Angeles, CA. (October 2023)
Boxer, Elise, After the Massacre at Mountain Meadows: New Books, New Interpretations. Presented at the Mormon History Association Conference (June 10, 2023)
Boxer, Elise, “You shall go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them”:ùThe Northern Indian Mission and early Dakota converts on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Presented at the Mormon History Association Conference (June 10, 2023)
Boxer, Elise, Damakota (I am Dakota): Creating Kinship in Higher Education . Presented at the Faculty Development (April 06, 2023)
Boxer, Elise, “The Promised Land”: The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine of Discovery . Presented at the Juanita Brooks Conference, St. George. (March 24, 2023)
Boxer, Elise, Reconciling Research Through Community-Based Research. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Tempe, AZ. (February 03, 2023)
Boxer, Elise, Nation to Academy and Back Again: The Formation and Movement of Indigenous Theory and Praxis. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association Conference, Tempe, AZ. (February 02, 2023)
Boxer, Elise, Doris Duke Native American Oral History Project. Presented at the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums, Pechanga, California. (October 27, 2022)
Boxer, Elise, Being a Good Relative: Humanizing the Academy. Presented at the Western History Association, San Antonio. (October 15, 2022)
Boxer, Elise, Who Stole Lamanite Studies?. Presented at the Mormon History Association Conference, Logan, UT. (June 03, 2022)
Boxer, Elise, "WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, AND HOW?" RELIGION AND U.S. GLOBAL POWER. Presented at the Global Religion and American World-Making, Zoom. (April 08, 2022)
Boxer, Elise, Indigenous Theories and Methodologies. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Zoom. (March 03, 2022)
Boxer, Elise, Monuments, Colonial Violence, and Global Histories. Presented at the American History Association Conference, Zoom. (February 21, 2022)
Boxer, Elise, Trans Indigenous Knowledge Sharing . Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Zoom. (February 05, 2021)
Boxer, Elise, Indigenous Cradleboards as Material Culture and History. Presented at the Mormon History Association Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. (June 08, 2019)
Boxer, Elise, Comment on Panel: Mormon Encounters in Conflict and Settlement: Potawatomi, Ute, Shoshone, and Mexican Encounters in LDS Settler Colonialism". Presented at the Mormon History Association, Salt Lake City, Utah. (June 07, 2019)
Boxer, Elise, Boxer, Elise , Redhorse, Myah, Spoted Tail , Gavyn , and Drappeau, Tanner, Emerging Lakota and Dakota Scholars at the University of South Dakota. . Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 08, 2019)
Boxer, Elise, Book Review Panel: Our history is the Future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Traditions of Indigenous Resistance" . Presented at the American Indian Studies Association Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 07, 2019)
Boxer, Elise, CCWH Roundtable-Monuments, Memorials, and Memory: Marking the Intersections of Gender in the Monumental West". Presented at the Western History Association Conference, San Antonio, Texas. (October 17, 2018)
Boxer, Elise, Dakota History. Presented at the Northern Great Plains History Conference, Mankato. (September 21, 2018)
Boxer, Elise, Decolonizing Donald Trump. Presented at the American Indian Studies 2018, Tempe, AZ. (February 01, 2018)
Boxer, Elise, More Than Just a theory: Emerging Scholars and Community Based Scholarship . Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Tempe, AZ. (February 01, 2018)
Boxer, Elise, Orrona, Britni , and Hansen , Charlotte, "Choose Above all Other Lands:" Mormon colonialism and the making of Zion. Presented at the Western History Association, San Diego, CA. (November 03, 2017)
Boxer, Elise, Deloria, Philip, Lomawaima, Tsianina , O'Brien, Jean, Gilbert, Matthew S., Cahill , Cathleen , Warren, Louis, and Blansett, Kent, State of the Field: American Indian History . Presented at the Western History Associaton, San Diego, CA. (November 03, 2017)
Boxer, Elise, Revitalizing and Rebuilding the Native American Studies Program at the University of South Dakota and South Dakota . Presented at the Consider the Century, Brookings, SD. (October 27, 2017)
Boxer, Elise, and Meyers, Richard , American Indian Studies-Great Plains Consortium Presents: The Challenge of Creating American Indian/Native American Studies Programs. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 03, 2017)
Boxer, Elise, Bowman , Collette , Littlebird , Dalen , and Picklesimer , Melanie , Native American Studies Students Reflect: Indigenous People's Day and Healing Strategies . Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 03, 2017)
Boxer, Elise, Advocacy and Indigenous Resistance: The Ongoing Assault Against Indigenous Sovereignty, Community and Land. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 02, 2017)
Boxer, Elise, "Author Meets Critics: A Panel Discussion of Hokulani Aikau's A Chosen People, A Promised Land: Mormonism and Race in Hawaii . Presented at the Mormon History Association, Snowbird, Utah. (June 10, 2016)
Boxer, Elise, and Boxer, Elise , Revitalizing and Rebuilding Native Studies at the University of South Dakota. Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico. (February 05, 2016)
Boxer, Elise, Decolonizing Mormonism . Presented at the Sunstone: Salt Lake Symposium, Salt Lake City, Utah. (July 30, 2015)
Boxer, Elise, and Boxer, Elise , “I am an Indian:” Dakota Mormon syncretism or Mormon colonialism? . Presented at the Mormon History Association Conference, Provo, Utah. (June 05, 2015)
Boxer, Elise, Damakota Winyan: On being Dakota and LDS. Presented at the Theology on the Margins, Salt Lake City, Utah. (March 15, 2015)
Boxer, Elise, “Mormon Missionaries and the Indian Student Placement Program”. Presented at the Northern Great Plains History Conference, Sioux Falls, SD. (October 10, 2014)
Boxer, Elise, “The ‘Mormon Exemption:’ The Indian Child Welfare Act and the Indian Student Placement Program.” . Presented at the Western History Association Conference, Newport Beach, CA. (October 10, 2014)
Boxer, Elise, “This is the Place!”: the Politics of Geography, Identity and Memory” . Presented at the Critical Ethnic Studies Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois. (September 20, 2014)
Boxer, Elise, “Author Meets Critics: A Frontier Life: Jacob Hamblin, Explorer and Indian Missionary” . Presented at the Sunstone: Salt Lake Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT. (July 31, 2014)
Boxer, Elise, “New Directions in Indigenous Mormon and Mormon-Indigenous Studies.” . Presented at the Mormon History Association Conference, San Antonio, TX. (June 06, 2014)
Boxer, Elise, “Disrupting and Considering New Directions for Indigenous Mormon and Mormon-Indigenous Studies.”. Presented at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, Austin, Texas. (May 30, 2014)
Boxer, Elise, “This is the Place” Heritage Park: Historical Memory and the creation of a ‘Pioneer” Identity” . Presented at the Mujeres, Activas, en Letras y Cambio, Columbus, OH. (July 18, 2013)
Boxer, Elise, “[A[n Indian, a Lamanite:” Mormon Native student identity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Presented at the NativeA merican and Indigenous Studies Conference, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. (June 2013)
Boxer, Elise, “Lamanites Shall Blossom as a Rose: Racial Formations and Mormon Colonialism”. Presented at the Native American Literature Symposium, Mystic Lake Casino, Minnesota. (March 2013)
Boxer, Elise, “Go my Son:’” The construction and negotiation of Mormon Native identity in the Indian Student Placement Program” . Presented at the American Indian Studies Association, Tempe, AZ. (February 08, 2013)

Contact Us