News From Native California - Spring 2016 Volume 29 Issue 3 | Page 8

OLIVIA CHILCOTE (LUISEÑO) &
PETER NELSON (COAST MIWOK)
In 2011, I began a Ph.D. program in Ethnic Studies at UC
Berkeley. During my first semester at Cal, the American
Indian Graduate Student Association (AIGSA) emailed an
announcement that it was going to host its first ever “mixer”
for Native grad students to meet each other and talk about
their research (free pizza included). I was so nervous to attend!
There were very few Native students where I went to undergrad,
and I was afraid Natives at Cal would not accept me. I will
never forget walking into the room and awkwardly sitting
down at the large oval table, not knowing what to expect. Then,
Peter started speaking and introduced himself as co-chair of
AIGSA. I immediately relaxed, and my entire mood changed.
He made me feel at ease, and he made everyone at the table
feel they had important contributions to make as Native
scholars in the academy. Was it love at first sight? Perhaps.
But we actually didn’t start dating immediately after the
AIGSA mixer. It wasn’t until about a year and a half later of
fleeting glances, flirtatious laughter, and “meeting” at AIGSA
events that we started dating exclusively. Since then, we have
shared so much together and have continually learned from
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▼ N E WS F ROM N AT IVE C AL IFO RNIA

one another. We even led the planning efforts for the 2015
California Indian Conference—the first students ever to do
so—and we proved skeptics wrong who told us the pressure
of planning the conference would drive us apart. I think it’s
safe to say, together we can do anything! —Olivia
I met Olivia through AIGSA when we were both in our
first few years at UC Berkeley. We could only catch brief
moments to talk at first, but I remember that she giggled
at my jokes and sarcasms pretty regularly (and still does).
I, somewhat presumptuously and a little too prematurely,
thought we had a connection. So, I asked her to go to an art
show with me. She agreed but at the last minute cancelled.
After that, I was a little bit down about the whole thing, and
it took some time and strong encouragement from her to
start up again. Pretty soon, voilà. We were dating. We went
everywhere together, shared hikes through pigmy forests
near Mendocino and history walks in Monterey, eventually
moved in together. I did not just gain a girlfriend; I gained a
true life partner and best friend. —Peter