It may be easy to confuse the abbreviation NASA for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. However, at the University of South Alabama, NASA has nothing to do with space! NASA is the abbreviation for the Native American Student Association, an organization with a history just as rich in Native American culture as the state of Alabama itself.

Prior to the Indian Removal Act, Alabama was home to many of the Southeastern Tribes such as the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees and Chickasaws. In 1830, members of these tribes were forced off their lands and endured a brutal journey to Oklahoma. This forced relocation would become known as the Trail of Tears. 

According to the Poarch Creek Indians official website, a few families in the Tensaw community were granted permission to stay due to their loyalty or work done with the government. These remaining families would eventually settle into the Poarch and Huxford areas of Alabama and become the Poarch Creek Indians as they are known today.

A few hundred years down the line, Robert McGhee, the grandson of Chief Calvin McGhee, worked with his peers to establish the original Native American Student Association of the University of South Alabama in the ‘80s. Soon after McGhee’s graduation, however, the club dissipated, along with much of its history.

Brief mentions of NASA can be found in “The Vanguard” and USA News archives, acting as the sole evidence of its existence. Even so, they provide little background on NASA’s origins and none of them offer any glimpse into the club’s heyday. 

Dr. Diedra Suwanee Dees, professor of Native American Studies at South, also works as the Director and Tribal Archivist for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Dees received her undergraduate degree from the University of South Alabama, and during her time as a student, she wrote for “The Vanguard.” She discussed how NASA was originally lost and forgotten. 

“I didn’t know about [NASA] when I was a student here,” Dees said. “[That] is the challenge when students graduate, leave, and then nobody [else] knows.”

When attending the university, Dees worked as a chairperson in the Minority Affairs Committee for the Student Government Association. When she asked campus leadership if there was a Native American organization, they told her there wasn’t. She and several other Native American students worked on the committee due to the absence of a Native American Student Association. Eventually, she discovered NASA through Robert McGhee, who was vice chair of the Poarch Creek tribe at the time.

Dr. Phillip Carr, the Chief Calvin McGhee Endowed Professor of Native American Studies and a professor of anthropology, explained that he also was unaware of any Native American student organization before NASA.

“I understand that there was some type of Native American Student Association long [before 2015, but when] I came in 1999, there wasn’t a Native American Student Association or any Native American Student Organization that I knew of,” Carr said. “When we received the endowment to start the Native American Studies Program, that also provided the impetus to [re-establish] the Native American Student Association.”

Now the faculty advisor for NASA, Carr attributes his fascination with Native American culture to his first read of a National Geographic book about Native Peoples that was published in the ‘70s.

“One of the main things that we had happening pre-COVID was a speaker series [where] we would have someone come in and talk about some aspect of Native American culture, Native American history [and] Native American art,” Carr said.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the club from continuing to have events, once again causing a decline in membership. Club leadership has worked diligently to recruit and retain members over the past couple of years, frequently tabling on campus and during new student orientations. According to Carr, the current student organization does not have a direct connection with the previous groups. 

“[Due to] proximity and generosity, we have a really deep connection with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians,” Carr said. “I think that will continue, but [I would like for students to recognize that just because they are the only federally recognized tribe in Alabama, this does not mean they are the only tribe in the Southeast or the United States.”

The story of the Poarch Creek Indians is a story of perseverance. Their resilience and ability to rebuild has contributed to the enrichment of Alabama’s history. NASA’s story is intertwined with theirs, both facing hardships which ultimately threatened to erase their stories altogether. NASA represents far more than the Native American Student Association—it represents grit in a time of adversity. Just as the Poarch Creek Indians enrich Alabama’s history, NASA continues to enrich the university’s history.