Jonathan Malindine

Consulting Researcher / Organizer / Anthropologist Remapping California Project

Jonathan joined California I CAN in 2021 as an anthropologist with an abiding passion for preserving and strengthening Native American culture, sovereignty, and self-determination. As a NOAA Scholar, Graduate Research Fellow of the National Science Foundation, and federal Tribal Affairs intern, he has developed meaningful and collaborative relationships with many Native American Tribes from Alaska to California, and throughout the American Southwest.  Jonathan holds both a BA and MA in Sociocultural Anthropology from UC Santa Barbara. Currently a PhD candidate, his dissertation project has focused on the development and function of Tribally-owned museums and cultural centers in Native communities, and the advancement of decolonizing research methods. An admirer of Native American material culture, Jonathan was trained through the Smithsonian’s Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology, studying collections of the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of the American Indian. He has published articles on Northwest Coast halibut fishing technologies (link: , (PDF) Northwest Coast Halibut Hooks: an Evolving Tradition of Form, Function, and Fishing | Jonathan Malindine – Academia.edu) prehistoric aquaculture (link: (PDF) Prehistoric Aquaculture: Origins, Implications, and an Argument for Inclusion | Jonathan Malindine – Academia.edu), and has an upcoming Smithsonian book chapter on the importance of museum objects to Native source communities. In his natural environment he is often found with an ukulele in his hands, and enjoys singing and playing piano.