Adrian V. Chavana

Adrian V. Chavana (Ph.D., University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2023) specializes in American Indian and Chicana/o/x history and is currently working on his first book, tentatively titled Becoming Gente de Razón: The San Antonio Mission Indians and Their Descendants. Pushing back on narratives of Indian extinction by critically unpacking issues of Indian survivance, mestizaje, and the politics of recognition, the book explores how the San Antonio Mission Indians—and their descendants—not only survived through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but are in the midst of a cultural and political resurgence, including the fight for state recognition as an Indian tribe in Texas. Adrian worked closely with the tribal community at the center of the study to research and write the forthcoming book, and maintains a close working relationship.

Adrian is the 2025-26 Bill and Rita Clements Fellow at the Southern Methodist University Clements Center for Southwest Studies, where he will be in residence for AY ’25-’26 to complete the manuscript. He is also a member of the Alamo Museum Planning Committee, advising museum planners about the Indigenous people of San Antonio for the new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum scheduled to open in Alamo Plaza in 2027.