Gabrielle A Tayac

Gabrielle A Tayac

Associate Professor

Dr. Gabrielle Tayac, a member of the Piscataway Indian Nation, is an activist scholar committed to empowering Indigenous perspectives. She earned her PhD and MA in sociology from Harvard University, and her BS in social work and American Indian studies from Cornell University. Her scholarly research focuses on hemispheric American Indian identity, multiracialism, indigenous religions, and social movements, maintaining a regional specialization in the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. Tayac served on the staff of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) for 18 years as an educator, historian, and curator. She engages deeply in community relationships and public discourse. She took a two-year journey to uplift the voices of indigenous elder women leaders, sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors prior to settling back at home. Drawing from her decades of experience as a curator, educator, and historian at NMAI and fieldwork supporting elders across the Americas, Dr. Tayac trains a new generation of public historians at George Mason in these methodologies. At Mason, with enthusiastic support in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and in her department, Dr. Tayac set up the Public History Lab to work with students to learn hands-on skills to create exhibits and put history into action – not only with indigenous topics.