Haury Program Awards 2026 Indigenous Resilience Leadership Award
Guest Article: Agnese Nelms Haury Program
The Agnese Nelms Haury Program at the University of Arizona has named the team behind the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources Library Preservation Project as recipients of the 2026 Indigenous Resilience Leadership Award. The work of awardees — Maurice Upshaw, Jessica Ugstad, and Teresa Miguel-Stearns — has safeguarded a critical and irreplaceable water resources collection. The awardees were celebrated on April 8 at the James E. Rogers College of Law and Daniel Cracchiolo Law Library.
The event included a land acknowledgment by Daelyn Nez, Miss Native UA, and welcome remarks from College of Law Interim Dean Jason Kreag. The program was conducted by Toni Massaro, Executive Director of the Haury Program, Regents Professor, and Dean Emerita of the College of Law, who highlighted how relationships were the foundation for saving this invaluable collection. The project became a reality thanks to the dedication and hard work by both the University of Arizona and the Navajo Nation. Massaro thanked, in particular, Dr. Crystal Tulley-Cordova of the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources for alerting Haury to this need.
The Haury Program is a University of Arizona-embedded philanthropic program established in 2014 with what was at that time the largest bequest ever received by the University and is governed by an external Donor Advised Fund Board. Since 2020, the program has been focusing on advancing Indigenous resilience, especially environmental resilience, and water work. It seeks to model and share best practices in “university-embedded” and respectful “trust-based” philanthropy with Indigenous peoples, programs, and Native Nations. Its activities include recognizing grantees and partners as knowledge-holders and listening to their priorities and values. The Haury Program builds long-term relationships and trust. In all their funding, they encourage, expect, and model respectful engagement with tribal communities in research and projects, prioritize community-up solutions and co-creation, and request practicing reciprocity with Indigenous peoples and communities.
The Haury Indigenous Resilience Leadership Awards were conceived in 2020 and honor those who make exceptional contributions to Indigenous environmental resilience and respectful tribal engagement. The awards celebrate Indigenous resilience leaders — their stories, their wisdom, and their exceptional work.
Recognizing Leadership in Preservation and Access
The Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources Library collection includes maps, technical studies, legal documents, and thousands of pages of research related to water location, quality, and governance. These materials are essential not only for their cultural significance, but also for ongoing and future work related to tribal water rights, infrastructure development, and community well-being.
Facing significant risk at its original location, the collection was relocated through a formal agreement between the Navajo Nation and the University of Arizona. It is now housed at the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library at the James E. Rogers College of Law, where it is being preserved and gradually digitized in accordance with Navajo Nation authorization. Sensitive materials remain protected under agreements with the Nation.
“This is one of the most important projects we have been honored to support,” said Massaro. “The preservation of this collection ensures that invaluable knowledge will remain accessible to the Navajo Nation and future generations.”
In collaboration with the University of Arizona BioCommunications, the Haury Program produced and showed a video documenting the project, which can be accessed here.
Accessing the Collection
After the awards ceremony, participants toured the collection and learned more about the documents it contains and how to access them. To access the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources Library Preservation Project Digital Collection, visit the LLMC collections website, and then filter by item, or select from the list of items. Please note that this online collection is only a small fraction of the total library, and more documents are being added as they are digitized. Paper documents can also be accessed upon approval. All inquiries can be sent to Jessica Ugstad: jugstad@arizona.edu.
For more information on the Haury Indigenous Resilience Leadership awards, please visit Haury Program's website.
About the Awardees
Maurice Upshaw serves as project manager and GIS supervisor for the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources. With more than three decades of service to the Navajo Nation, he has played a central role in guiding the preservation effort, ensuring that the collection is handled and maintained according to appropriate cultural and technical standards.
Teresa Miguel-Stearns is Associate Dean of Legal Information Innovation, Director of the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library, and Professor of Law at the University of Arizona. She quickly recognized the urgency of the project and mobilized institutional resources, professional networks, and expert staff to support the preservation and long-term stewardship of the collection.
Jessica Ugstad, head of collections at the Cracchiolo Law Library, serves as the University of Arizona project manager for the project. She has overseen the physical preservation, cataloging, and ongoing digitization efforts, working closely with Upshaw and coordinating funding and project development.