Category Archives: TLAM Student Group

“The Thick Dark Fog”

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Last Saturday, February, 9th, the TLAM Student Group had an informal documentary viewing at Robin’s place.  We watched “The Thick Dark Fog” by Randy Vasquez,” which focuses on the trauma associated with boarding schools and the road to recovery of Walter Littlemoon, an Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Children Are the Core
I have always thought about children and their importance in society but after watching “The Thick Dark Fog,” I became more aware.  According to Lakota society, children are the core. They are the most important and are taken care of very dearly. The implementation of boarding schools weakened the core.

Intergenerational Trauma
Unlike other documentaries on boarding schools, “The Thick Dark Fog,” focuses on the healing and recovery of what Walter Littlemoon’s doctor calls intergenerational trauma. The children (the core) at boarding schools were subjugated to many traumatic events, which lead them to subjugate their own family.

Brainwashing By Film
For me, a surprising and upsetting part was how schools used old western films in their attempt to brainwash children. In scenes where American Indians were at war with the U.S. cavalry, the children were forced to cheer for the victorious cavalry. The were abused if they cheered for the wrong side.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the deeply scarring effects of (and subsequent healing from) boarding schools. If you’ve watched “The Thick Dark Fog,” and want to read more about Walter Littlemoon, I suggest reading his memoir:

Littlemoon, Walter, and Jane Ridgway. They called me uncivilized : the memoir of an everyday Lakota man from Wounded Knee. New York: iUniverse, 2009.

For other documentaries on boarding schools, I suggest these two titles:

  • Douglas, Ron. Unseen Tears. Documentary, Short, News, 2009.
  • Richie, Chip, and Dan Agent. Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School. Documentary, Family, 2008.

- Phillip Yocham

The TLAM Student Group Meets Sherman Alexie on Book Tour

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Donna Seaman, of Booklist, wrote, “…mischievously and mordantly funny, scathingly forthright, deeply and universally compassionate, and wholly magnetizing. This is a must-have collection.” regarding Sherman Alexie’s new book Blasphemy. I find the comment noteworthy as I would say the first sentence not only describes Alexie’s writings but also his personality.

TLAM members wait for Alexie to speak in Milwaukee

TLAM members wait for Alexie to speak. (From left to right: Casey, Katelyn, Mary, Dorothy, Phillip, Amanda, Chad, Jake)

Tuesday, November 13th, SLIS students and members of the TLAM student group traveled to Milwaukee to see Sherman Alexie speak at the Milwaukee Public Library. The event was free, open to the public, and well worth the visit. A Milwaukee librarian and local bookseller introduced Alexie to a full auditorium. Then he began speaking, first about his recent visit to Minneapolis, then about missing his flight to Milwaukee, and finally about getting a flight only to realize his baggage was routed elsewhere. Needless to say the story was filled with humor and the realities of everyday life, all the while using an array of colorful language.

After telling the audience about his last few days he read from one of the short stories in his new book, Blasphemy. Finally the audience was able to ask questions before his time came to a close. Several questions were responded to and Alexie even laughed at one of his own jokes, it was truly that funny. He ended things off with a poem. Then it was a waiting game as we stayed to get our books signed.

Robin meets Sherman Alexie

Robin is speechless as she meets her favorite author.

This was my first time seeing Sherman Alexie and I’d definitely see him again. I don’t believe I’ve ever laughed as much at an author event. His writings (those I’ve read) and his personality truly match and combine into a wonderful presentation of humor and truth. I was unaware he wrote as much poetry as he does however with his comment of poetry being his favorite thing to write I’ll be looking for more within the genre. When it comes to novels, he replied they are his marathons, something take him the longest to execute. I will definitely be increasing my poetry and fiction reading lists with a lot more from Alexie. After all, when he signed my book he wrote “Librarians are awesome”.

He is one of the great voices of our time and is worth your time and consideration. If you haven’t read anything by Sherman Alexie or are unfamiliar with him, check him out at http://www.fallsapart.com/index/. I personally would highly recommend The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.

Katelyn Martens

TLAM Student Group with Sherman Alexie

Here's a picture of some of the TLAM Student Group with Sherman Alexie!

New TLAM Students Help with Baraboo Book Processing

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TLAM members new and old work together to process books

Hello All! I wanted to give a shout out to all you new and returning TLAM-ers who helped out with the processing parties on August 30th and/or September 7th.

On August 30th, we saw quite a bit of new faces (this actually included myself!)!  We were able to de-sticker and re-label nearly all the boxes thanks to all the helpers.

Dorothy and Prairie patiently recatalog books with the correct category

On September 7th, we had about two boxes left and were able to finish processing everything.  The boxes of books are now ready to be taken to Baraboo (that was slightly Seussian!).

Robin and Megan remove extra stickers and labels from the books

For me, these processing parties were a great way to get to know people while helping out.  We talked, we laughed, we ate pizza, and we spent time doing something in the field we love that will bring joy to others.  If you couldn’t make it to the last meetings, you should definitely try and come next time.  We’d love to see you there!

Also, word is that we’re hoping to make a trip up to Baraboo soon to return our newly processed and cataloged books, so stay on the lookout for emails from Phillip.

–Megan Marvel

TLAM Student Group Meeting on June 28, 2012

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The TLAM Student Group met on Thursday, June 28, 2012 in the Memorial Union at 4pm.  We discussed project updates on the Red Cliff Capital Campaign and the Baraboo Learning Center.  TLAM was present at both the ATALM and ALA conferences, so participants shared their reflections and the positive responses we received about our network.  We also discussed funding opportunities for the student group to continue travel to work with our tribal partners.

Any questions, comments, or suggestions should be sent to the group’s email address, tlam.studentgroup@gmail.com.

Baraboo Group Labeling Party

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Purpose: To label books previously brought back from trips to Baraboo.

Date: April 15, 2012

Participants: Kelly Kraemer, Travis Mueller, Rachael Page, Peter Rudrud, Dorothy Terry, and Phillip Yocham

From our previous visits to Baraboo, we’d brought back five or six boxes of books. The majority of the books were fiction. This was a chance to label the books so they could be returned to the center.

Over spring break, Phillip and Travis had prepared labels for the fiction. These labels have the first three letters of the author’s name, and provide a way to organize the substantial fiction collection. Fiction books also receive a colored sticker designating them as children’s fiction (for grades K-5 generally) or teen fiction (6-12).

With six people we were able to divide up the work. Jobs included: applying the author label; checking the book against our lists to make sure it was properly classed and recorded; applying the colored sticker and label cover; troubleshooting, checking LibraryThing for items not on the list, or adjusting tags for items that were improperly cataloged.

The work went well and we are happy to have this taken care of. Unfortunately, because of end of semester busyness, we are unlikely to do more labeling until sometime in May, after classes are finished. Our next scheduled visits are May 14th and 17th, when we will give a presentation to the students about our organization scheme for the library.

- Travis

Event – TLAM Gallery Talk with Ho-Chunk Artist Tom Jones

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Encountering Cultures: Tom Jones, Solo Exhibit
What: TLAM gallery talk with Ho-Chunk artist Tom Jones
When: Friday, April 27th, 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Where: Overture Center for the Arts
201 State Street, 3rd Floor
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608/265-2500

Tom Jones will be speaking with our group about his new photography exhibit, up at the James Watrous Gallery in the Overture Center for the Arts. His exhibit closes on Sunday, April 29th, so we are just in time to hear about his influences and speak to him about his work! We will be able to tour the exhibit with the artist and speak to him about his work. We will meet at the Jame Watrous gallery, which is on the third floor of the Overture Center on State Street at 5:30pm to speak with Tom. Feel free to invite friends and family or anyone you think would be interested in this unique event.

Exhibit information can be found here: http://www.wisconsinacademy.org/gallery/current-exhibition

We hope you can join us for this TLAM Madison gallery excursion!! Please contact us if you have any questions or comments.

Third Baraboo Trip – Making Progress!

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Purpose of Trip:  To transport a book cart for the center, to start labeling the books, and to bring back some of the fiction books for processing.

Date:  March 28th , 2012

TLAM Members:  Irene Hansen, Travis Mueller, Rachael Page, Peter Rudrud, Dorothy Terry, and Phillip Yocham

After hours of discussion, coordination, selecting and ordering, the Baraboo Group reached an important stage in our project with today’s visit. The labeling has begun!

We were able to get started on labeling books in the collection and enjoyed the camaraderie and successful feelings of being underway.

Rachel, Irene and Phillip were also able pick up a donated library cart from DPI and we brought it with us and delivered it to the Learning Center. We brought three boxes of mostly fiction books back with us to Madison and will discuss a time to get together and label those. This may prove to be an opportunity for other TLAM group members to get involved with our project without having to travel to Baraboo.

Our next trip to is scheduled for April 13th after Spring Break.

- Peter Rudrud

Red Cliff Awarded Start-up Grant

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Great news! The Shokapee Mdewakanton Dakota community (headquartered in Prior Lake, MN) has awarded a $300,000 grant to kick-start the Ginanda Gikendaamin Community Center capital campaign. The seed money is intended to pay for a site appraisal, a development budget, and architectural fees.

Congratulations to our partners at Red Cliff and our TLAM students who have been working so hard on this project!

Ho-Chunk Trip Number Two: A Van and a Plan

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Purpose of Trip:  To get a sense of the communities and children served by the Wellness Center; to complete the background checks; to meet with Beth and Mandy to finalize some details

Date:  March 21st, 2012

TLAM Members:  Irene Hansen, Travis Mueller, Rachael Page, Janice Rice, Peter Rudrud, Dorothy Terry, and Phillip Yocham

On March 21st, the Ho Chunk project group made their second trip to Baraboo with several goals in mind.  With all seven of us squeezed into a van driven by the fearless Peter Rudrud, we had a productive and educational afternoon.

Our first stop was at Ho Chunk Casino, where we visited the Compliance Department to be fingerprinted.  This was the final step of our background checks, which we chose to complete so that we would be able to read books with the children at the Center.

Next, Janice led us on a tour of several Ho Chunk communities, including Indian Heights, Timber Run, and Christmas Mountain.  These communities are all home to the children served by the Center.

We then traveled to the Wellness Center, where we met briefly with Beth and Mandy.  We showed them the labels we had ordered and described the labeling system.  We clarified a few details, discussed future trips (including a presentation to the children/families of the center to explain our project), and left with their approval.

If you have any questions or comments, please use the space below to let us know what you’re thinking!

–Rachael Page

TLAM Student Group – Meeting Minutes (3/14)

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Where: American Indian Studies Program conference room (3rd floor of Ingraham Hall)

When: 12-1:00pm, March 14, 2012

Members attending: Kelly Kraemer, Troy Espe, Dawn Wing, Robin Amado, Jacob Ineichen and Jessica Miesner

Topics:

  1. Revision of the Constitution
  2. Red Cliff Update
  3. Project management: Designation of group liaison
  4. Get ready for TLAM Student Group elections!
  5. Events!

1)  First order of business: Revision of the constitution.

  • TLAM Student Group officially ratified the revisions to the constitution.
  • Next year’s TLAM Group will make the decisions to add or change anything else.
  • The revised constitution may be viewed here.

2)  Red Cliff Update:
Red Cliff group members present are Robin Amado, Dawn Wing, Troy Espe and Jacob Ineichen

  • Robin Amado will send out an email to Red Cliff group members, both inside the TLAM Spring 2012 class and in the TLAM student group.
  • Red Cliff believes, as does all of the TLAM student group members, that distance contributions can and should be made to the Red Cliff project. In other words, you don’t have to visit Red Cliff to contribute to the project in some way.

3)  Project Management

We’ve been facing challenges with communicating among the different TLAM projects, and the members involved in each group. Since the TLAM Student Group was founded in part for the purpose of enabling the different projects to share their work with others outside of the classroom, year-round, we want to make communication among our members easier. In discussing this, Kelly proposed that every TLAM project assign one member with the responsibility of communicating their project’s activities and tasks between class members and non-class members, and the TLAM Student Group (the latter of which can help relay messages). The proposal is as follows:

  • Each group should have a designated project liaison.
  • The liaison would serve as the contact person for others who are interested in contributing to the projects.
  • The liaison would also be in charge of providing or assigning work that needs to be done for non-class volunteers. This would be work that could be done at a distance and in the volunteers’ own time. The liaison, in consultation with their project group, would make sure that all project members have adequate work to contribute to.
  • This person would be in charge of making sure that project news and updates are communicated to the TLAM Student Group and TLAM class in a timely manner. This should be done in collaboration with other project members, but the liaison would be responsible for making sure that things are moving forward.
  • In the Spring, Summer and Fall, this new liaison position may be passed along to any group members willing to serve in this capacity, or may continue with current contact person.

All three projects had at least one member present at this meeting, and they will talk with their group about this proposal and make a decision. (Jessica for the Kingsbury project, Kelly for the Ho-Chunk project, others for Red Cliff). Each project group will report back on who their liaison will be at the next TLAM meeting, and then we’ll go forward from there.

4)  TLAM student Group Elections!

We need to start thinking seriously about TLAM organization member elections for our 4 leadership positions. Your current leadership includes:
⁃    President: Kelly Kraemer
⁃    Vice President: Jessica Miesner
⁃    Treasurer: Troy Espe
⁃    Secretary: Dawn Wing
All four will be up for election. Our current leaders entered their positions voluntarily when the group was formed last fall, so this will be our first official election and we want to be as transparent and egalitarian as possible about this. Plans right now:

  • Kelly will look at our WIN student organization site for ideas. We can possibly vote using WIN. Possible Survey Monkey sent out to group members is another option.
  • Kelly will also talk to Omar Poler, the TLAM Student Group adviser, about how the project liaison and student organization nominations and elections should be documented.
  • Aim for holding elections in late April.

5)  Keep your eyes open for some events coming soon!

  • Friday, March 16 at 5:00pm – TLAM and SLIS Diversity are co-hosting a viewing and discussion of an excellent documentary on Native American boarding schools, “Our Spirits Don’t Speak English,” in the SLIS Commons.
  • Wednesday, March 21 at 12:00 noon – TLAM and Reforma are co-sponsoring a grant writing workshop in the SLIS Commons.
  • Possible group outing to James Watrous Gallery at the Overture Center for a tour and discussion with Ho-Chunk photographer Tom Jones. More info coming soon!

Questions, suggestions, or comments are welcome!