Matthew Martinez, a doctoral student in the University of Minnesota's American studies department, is one of four students in the country selected by the American Indian College Fund to its prestigious Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Faculty Career Enhancement Fellowship Program for 2007-08.

Martinez, a member of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in Northern New Mexico, will receive a $32,000 fellowship geared to assist tribal-college faculty members who are in the final stages of completing a doctorate. Launched in 2004, it is designed to provide each fellow with financial assistance to complete the dissertation writing process free of financial and professional demands. The fellowship program's goal is to increase the number of faculty at the nation's more than 30 tribal colleges and universities. Martinez teaches in the Indigenous Liberal Studies Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

"Being awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellowship is a great honor and opportunity," Martinez said. "I've been blessed in working with strong faculty mentors in American studies and American Indian studies departments at the University of Minnesota. Funding from the Mellon Foundation allows me valuable time to focus on my writing by not having to carry a full teaching load. I love working with students and I'm anxious to get back in the classroom full time."

With its credo "Educating the Mind and Spirit," the Denver-based American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest provider of private scholarships for American Indian students, providing more than 6,000 scholarships annually for students seeking to better their lives and communities through education.

Martinez's dissertation examines the fields of photography, tourism and pueblo historiography. His research details how tourism helps construct indigenous identities and representations.

"Growing up in Ohkay Owingeh, the home of the largest of the Tewa speaking pueblos, the logical research project to study for me was the impact of tourism and travel on indigenous identities and representations," Martinez said. "This research draws upon a content analysis of postcards, travel brochures, guidebooks and interviews with laborers who work within the tourism industry, to present a picture of how pueblo people are departing from conventionalized forms of tourism. I explore how tourism has changed since the 1980s as pueblo tribes exerted greater participation and control in the industry, producing and circulating photographic images that better represent themselves and their communities."

Martinez's academic goals are to continue teaching and researching on American Indian cultures and histories — and more specifically, contemporary histories from Pueblo Country. He has already begun a preliminary project aimed at documenting and editing a collection of essays from current pueblo leaders that discusses aspects of sovereignty in the 21st century.

"Today, pueblo leaders and communities are constantly navigating local, state and federal policies with the task of protecting Pueblo values," he said. "My goal, as a tribal member and educator, is to share these stories and struggles with students and the public."

Martinez, who is serving a one-year appointment on the Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Council, credited his family, especially his grandmother, for his success.

"My grandmother, Esther Martinez, was a linguist, author and storyteller," he said. "She was, and still is, my intellectual and moral compass. I'm very blessed and fortunate to have a tremendous amount of family and community support."

For more information about the American Indian College Fund or to make a donation, visit www.collegefund.org.