Faculty Feature: CFA San José Member Organizes the World She Wants Through her Native Identity and The Joy of Sport

Ever determined CFA Tri-chair of the Native American and Indigenous Peoples Caucus Marty Behler moved from Oklahoma to California in the late 1970s to pursue better opportunities after a divorce: “I threw my mattress on top of my car, put my son and dog in their seats, and grabbed whatever else I thought I couldn’t live without.”

Behler, a member of the Osage/Oto-Missouria Tribes, would eventually attend San José State, graduating with double majors in Cultural Anthropology and History focused on Native Americans. At a time when Native identity was almost nonexistent at CSU campuses and well before the introduction of land acknowledgments, Behler, a San José State Kinesiology Lecturer and an accomplished Soccer Coach, worked with her professors to include native voices and content.

Working with archeology Professor Thomas Layton and long-time Lecturer Dr. Alan Leventhal, she wrote her senior thesis on the salmon fishing controversy on the Klamath River, eventually publishing her findings. She was overjoyed when the dams were finally successfully removed, and salmon, sacred to the Yurok Tribe, were allowed to swim freely again.

After graduating in the 1980s, Behler was asked to turn her program of study into a minor, the first of its kind at San José State. Her vision was for the minor to become a bachelor’s and eventually include a master’s degree. Instead, the minor was dissolved and a Native American Studies Department was created in its place. The minor and subsequent program has become a place where Native students can focus their studies and find classes relevant to their perspective and worldview, such as back burning, the practice of setting controlled fires to reduce fuel build up.

Behler would return to her alma mater in Fall 2015. In the interim period, Behler was a successful soccer coach. She also served as the Executive Director of a Federal Program Title IV-A American Indian Education K-12 for the Milpitas Unified School District.

Her son Chris was an assistant men’s coach at San José State and worked in the Kinesiology department. After being hired in Arizona, he was able to refer his mother for the newly vacant teaching position.

“So the first thing I did when I got back to San José State was I kind of looked around and I said, you know, I’m feeling the same thing the first time I came here. I can’t find my Native American people.”

The CSU’s data practices make connecting with and orienting Native students to the center difficult. For Native undergrads, if they put white and Native in their demographic profile, it will default to white. Many Native students also have Spanish sounding surnames which the CSU confuses and assumes that they are Latinx. From the outset, the CSU data bureaucracy erases Native students. 

Initially meeting with two other Native women, they began an ambitious plan to establish a Native American center. Their vision came to fruition in 2018 in a small room inside the Mosaic Cross Cultural Center.

An affinity group that Behler helped found and is the current vice president of, Gathering of Academic, Indigenous, and Native American (GAIN), had already been formed to advocate for a Native American Indigenous Student Success Center, which she also helped found and has been a member of. GAIN has been awarded two State Assembly Awards for “Excellence in Education” in 2021 and 2023.

When looking for a long-term space, they focused on the Spartan Memorial Chapel  because it is flat, making it more accessible for elders. Since they use sage and drums for the ceremonies, they “didn’t want it to be a student center where people would be talking and looking at us and or complaining.”

The center hosts events like movie nights featuring Native actors and perspectives. There are craft and beading classes. It’s also a place to seek support, fill out necessary financial aid forms, and learn about their rights as tribal citizens, such as accessing the Indian Health Center.

Elsewhere on campus, Behler has been on the advisory board of the King Library, the Africana, Asian American, Chicano, & Native American Studies Center. She has curated two Native American Heritage Month Exhibits, with her current exhibit, “Running in Prayer,” available for viewing through January 5.

Behler’s advocacy extends to CFA as she is a tri-chair of the Native American and Indigenous Peoples Caucus (NAIPC).

Meeting monthly, NAIPC members are building campaigns to fight for free tuition for Native students. The group tracks developments on other campuses to further pressure the CSU to support native students. One of the biggest topics in NAIPC over the last year is the failed efforts of the CSU to return ancestral remains and cultural items from campus collections back into the hands of tribal authorities.

While the CSU insists that returning items is their priority, members of NAIPC experience the CSU’s ongoing lack of responsibility. Behler would like to support the repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural items but has been denied. Behler was told that she didn’t meet the criteria of being a tenure or tenure-track professor. 

California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA) also requires consultation from Native tribes, but Behler and others observe that if there is no funding to support tribal authorities to be on campus for meetings, there really isn’t consultation. For Native faculty servicing on these committees, getting enough release time is an issue. For Native faculty, repatriating ancestral remains and cultural items is a full-time job.

Like the community she has supported for Native students on campus, her classes are also a place where people find each other.

Michael Lara, a transfer student from Foothill College to San José State , earned a bachelor’s of arts in History, 2018. He would also earn a Master of Library Science in 2022.

Lara took interest in soccer as a fan but not yet as a player while at Foothill College.  At San José State, he took the opportunity to enroll a in beginning soccer course coached by Behler.  Playing for Behler was the beginning of an ongoing interest and appreciation for the sport.

The courses made up a diverse cross-section of undergraduates along with being a hub for international students to find their place on campus.  Being exposed to and connected to people across the planet informed him about how soccer is played globally. Lara started paying attention to, “How does one person want to play? What style are they asking of their teammates?”

As a transfer student, he didn’t take General Education courses, so it was hard to connect with people. Building relationships on the pitch helped him transition and build connections that would form a large part of his experience.

While playing soccer helped Lara find comfort on campus and succeed, it wasn’t the only benefit. “It didn’t just help me. It helped me help other friends.” Years later, a friend told him that their mutual support really helped him get through San José State. Playing together elevated their friendship at a time when the friend needed it. Playing soccer taught them to be there for each other.

Behler encourages playing outside of school. Enjoying their time together, her students would find fields to play in, piling into one another’s cars. Behler even suggested fields outside of campus for students to play pickup together after the semester. 

Behler never thought of sports as an outlet, “for me sports weren’t exercises like they are right now because sports were walking to and from school.”

“Playing soccer for me created my sanctuary where I was not a mother, daughter, sister, sufficient other, student, employee, but just me in the moment. This created a safe place that for at least a short where I felt safe,” said Behler. “I create that sanctuary for my students to help them succeed in the tough climate of working, attending school and dealing with their everyday issues.”

For Behler, the soccer pitch is a place of bonding and community.