Chavana, Adrian ACES Assistant Professor

Adrian Chavana, a native of Houston, TX, completed a Ph.D. in U.S. history at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2023. His dissertation, "Reclaiming Tribal Identity in the Land of the Spirit Waters: The Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation," lies at the intersection of American Indian history, Chicana/o/x history, and U.S./Mexico borderlands history. A case study of a resurgent tribal nation in San Antonio, Texas, whose members include descendants of San Antonio's eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Mission Indians, Adrian worked closely with the tribal community to research and write his dissertation. He is currently turning his dissertation into a manuscript for publication for his first book. Adrian also sits on the Alamo Museum Planning Committee, serving as an advisor to museum planners about the Indigenous people of San Antonio for a new state-of-the museum that will soon open directly across from the Alamo.