Tribally enrolled at Nambé Owingeh, a sovereign native nation in the state currently known as New Mexico, Debbie’s book chapters, and her academic and professional articles are used in Library Science, Education, and English courses across the continent. A former schoolteacher and assistant professor, she is well known for her blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature. An activist scholar, her writings and work on social media were important in a significant change in children’s literature: the renaming of the Laura Ingalls Award to the Children’s Literature Legacy Award.