Tag Archives: oneida

Mary Reflects on Convening Culture Keepers

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TLAM students and Omar pose

TLAM students and Omar pose for a picture. Left to right, back row: Dorothy Terry, Mary Wise, Peter Rudrud, Josh Roy. Front row: Phillip Yocham, Kelly Kraemer, Robin Amado, Omar Poler Photo courtesy Della Nohl

What did CCK mean for me?

I was so lucky to attend this past Convening Culture Keepers. I was able to experience

Social Dance at Parish Hall

Culture Keepers, members of SLIS, and Longhouse singers and dancers at the social dance Thursday night

things I never believed I would never have been able to do so otherwise and my definitions of outreach and advocacy were challenged.  From taking part in a traditional Oneida social dance to developing practical tribal library advocacy strategies while bonding with my fellow TLAM-ers, this was the best experience I have had all semester! I cannot speak highly enough of it!

I must confess I did not know what to expect at CCK! Between cataloging books at the American Indians Studies Program Library, I happened to glance over at my e-mail. As my eyes scanned Robin’s latest message, my heart began to race! I was so excited to be invited to attend Convening Culture Keepers—this conference which TLAM-ers spoke about, their descriptions always followed by a contented sigh. It was Tuesday and the conference was on Thursday!

Janice Kowemy shares her expertise in Parish Hall, a beautiful space full of windows and light

As I prepared for my trek to Green Bay on Wednesday night, it suddenly hit me: what was this conference going to be like? Would Convening Culture Keepers feature the boring reading of a paper in a windowless room followed by the occasional question from an audience member while other audience members rolled their barely glazed over eyes to follow this new line of dialogue?

This could not have been further from the truth! At Convening Culture Keepers, TLAM students assisted with the set up and running of the conference, interacted with our presenters, and exchanged development strategies! We also took part in social dances, ate traditional Longhouse cuisine and participated in and led workshops on exhibit design!

Culture Keepers at the Museum

Culture Keepers listen on a tour at the Oneida Museum by Josh Gerzetich

At Convening Culture Keepers, I was able to learn about the outreach projects being taken on by the Oneida Nation Museum, the Oneida Public Library and the Oneida Cultural Center. At each one of these institutions, I learned more and more about Oneida history, language, and culture.  After a fantastically fun three hour car ride up to Green Bay,  conference attendees rendezvoused at the Oneida Parish Hall to set up for the conference!

Culture Keepers tour the Library

Culture Keepers listen in on Kymberley Pelky's tour of the Oneida Library

After a flurry of activity, conference attendees filed in and I looked down at our schedule! We were going to tour the Oneida Nation Museum, the Oneida Public Library, and the Oneida Cultural Heritage Center. I could not contain my excitement and I knew that I

smiled like I had swallowed a hanger! At each one of these institutions, I learned more about outreach and community participation in addition to learning about the history and culture of the Oneida people!

CCK offered me the opportunity to learn more about tribal libraries, archives, and museums! I was also able to challenge my own definitions of outreach and advocacy and was privileged to learn more about Oneida culture! BEST.THURSDAY.OF.MY.LIFE! [I know what you’re thinking—didn’t you meet Sherman Alexie this semester? That was on a Tuesday!]

-Mary Wise

Photos by Della Nohl and Peter Rudrud

For more information about our fifth Convening Culture Keepers, including the agenda and presenter materials, follow this link.

 

Oneida Nation hosts Fifth Convening Culture Keepers

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CCK5 Group Photo
Attendees of the fifth Convening Culture Keepers at Oneida, Wisconsin

On November 8 and 9,  over thirty Wisconsin tribal librarians, archivists, and museum curators at the fifth gathering of Convening Culture Keepers (CCK) hosted by the Oneida Nation.  Eleven SLIS faculty, staff, and students helped organize and attended the event.

Louise asks a little community member a question

Louise asks a little community member a question at the library

The gathering began on Thursday afternoon, with tours of the Oneida Museum, the Oneida Community Library, and Cultural Heritage’s restored log homes.

That evening, the Longhouse provided a delicious traditional meal of squash, beans, corn, venison, and bison, with strawberry drink and dessert.  The dinner was followed by a social dance led by the Oneida Longhouse Singers.

Social Dance

Culture Keepers, LIS students, and Longhouse dancers enjoy the social.

On Friday, Culture Keepers sat in on four professional development sessions.  Shannon Martin (Ojibwe) spoke about the process of designing and maintaining the award-winning Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways, of which she is director.

Her talk, “Building a Community-Driven and Participatory Tribal Museum” was an inspiration to those in the process of building new institutions, like the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa with plans for their new community space.

Debbie Reese (Nambe), author of the blog American Indian’s in Children’s Literature, taught Culture Keepers how to evaluate children’s books in her presentation “The Role of Children’s Books in Native Nation Building”.

Culture Keepers at Parish Hall

Culture Keepers at Parish Hall

Culture Keepers learned about how to create traveling museum exhibits and tours from Mary Olson, a freelance exhibit developer.  She had previously worked with the Arvid E. Miller Library and Museum of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

Janice Kowemy (Laguna), president of the American Indian Library Association and director of Laguna Public Library in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico, spoke about tribal library advocacy.  Her expertise provided Culture Keepers with ideas on promoting their own institutions to their communities and beyond.

Omar, our Presenters, and Rita pose for a picture

The conference planner, host, and speakers pose for a picture: Omar Poler, Shannon Martin, Rita Lara, Debbie Reese, Janice Kowemy, and Mary Olson

Many participants noted that they are excited about future gatherings.  The sixth gathering will be hosted by Lac Du Flambeau in Spring 2012.

Tune in next week for a reflection by SLIS student Mary Wise on her experience at Convening Culture Keepers!

For more information about our fifth Convening Culture Keepers, including the agenda and presenter materials, follow this link.

Enduring Partnerships: TLAM Returns to the Oneida Nation

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On an early morning in March the students currently taking the TLAM course and their instructor piled into two vans and headed north to visit the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, located along the Fox River near Green Bay.  One of the continuing goals of the TLAM group is to foster enduring relationships with the native communities of Wisconsin and our trip was another opportunity for our TLAM class to put this goal into practice.

 

Our first visit was with Louis J. Williams, Library Director of the Oneida Community Library (http://www.oneidanation.org/library).  Lou welcomed us and gave us a tour of the library.  His tour included the library’s extensive collection of community archives, genealogical records, photographs, and shelves of native literature and artwork.  He highlighted the expanded computer internet access, youth language immersion programs, and the brightly decorated children and teen areas.   He also discussed the value of inter-library loan through the Outagamie Waupaca Library System  or OWLS consortium (http://www.owlsweb.info).  We left impressed with the vitality of the library, both its collections and programs and the commitment of Lou and his staff to serving their community.

Next we met Oneida Cultural Heritage Historical Researcher Nic Reynolds, who led us on a visit of relocated Log Homes that are part of a nearby historical site.  We toured through each of the five log homes and heard stories of the previous occupants, while Nic connected us to the lives and times they had lived within.  The homes were furnished perfectly with period furniture and displays that enlivened Nic’s presentation.  Of particular interest were the examples of Black Ash basket making and Oneida lace making and the stories Nic shared of boarding schools, land allotments, and the transcribing of 12,000 pages of WPA era interviews with Oneida tribal members.  As we were leaving Nic also pointed out where a proposed visitor’s center would be constructed and showed us where a 65 foot Long House construction project was underway.

We caravanned a short distance and arrived at the Cultural Heritage Center and Archives (http://www.oneidanation.org/culture).   As we entered the center, we were greeted warmly by some of the staff passing on their way to other appointments.  We were shown the archival holdings and were introduced to Eliza Skenadore, the Multi-Media Specialist responsible for many the displays, signs and print materials seen throughout our tour.

After lunch, we headed to the Language House, where the Language Revitalization Program is located.   We settled into the warm and spacious Language House’s main room and were given a lecture on Oneida language revitalization by program director, Leander Danforth and many of the adult learners and staff present.  Leander began by stressing the importance of continuing the tradition of spoken Oneida as the tribe had only one living “first language” speaker.  “Language loss can lead to a loss of identity”, Leander said, “and learning one’s native language was an important aid in the tribe’s young people holding onto that identity and developing pride in themselves”.  We discussed some of the challenges in studying the Oneida language, in particular the following example.  In Oneida there are 75 basic words to express the concept of “eating” and potentially there are a total of 135!  Leander said the intricacies of this highly structured language must be learned first and then vocabulary would follow.  He was excited about a new course of learning that he was already having success teaching to some of his younger language students.

Our next stop was with Stephen Webster of the Oneida Records Management Department.  Stephen gave us on overview of the scale and best practices he uses in the management of the Oneida records he oversees.  He was understandably enthusiastic about the control he had brought to a previously overwhelming and scattered collection and shared with us measures to insure his collection was accessible, searchable, and protected from fire and water damage.  He led us to a room containing a large portion of the Oneida Nation’s archival collection and discussed the boxed contents of oral transcriptions, photographs, maps, film footage, and audiotapes.

Our day concluded with a tour of the Oneida Nation Museum (http://www.oneidanation.org/museum/page.aspx?id=36) led by Assistant Director/Collections Manager Sara Summers.  We began with Nic Reynolds sharing again with us, this time a retelling of the Oneida Creation Story as we considered a painting showing of the fall of the Sky Woman.  We were then led through the exhibits and given background on each exhibit’s contents and curatorial approach by Sara.  A certain highlight was the Longhouse hands on display where we were encouraged to interact with the material culture of the Oneida people.  The Museum overwhelmed with the diversity of its exhibitions and certainly warrants another visit.

Thanks to everyone we visited with on our tour of the Oneida Nation who gave so freely of their time and made our trip so worthwhile.   TLAM looks forward to our next visit!

-Peter Rudrud

Suggested Oneida Nation Links:

Oneida (Native Sovereign Nation) Website: https://oneida-nsn.gov
Oneida Community Library: http://www.oneidanation.org/library
Oneida Nation Cultural Heritage: http://www.oneidanation.org/culture
Oneida Nation Museum: http://www.oneidanation.org/museum/page.aspx?id=36
Weekly Historical Notes Archives: http://www.oneidanation.org/culture/page.aspx?id=10622

Students Spending Their Spring Break in Louisiana Helping the Houma Nation

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Students at UW-Oshkosh from the Menominee, Stockbridge-Munsee, and Oneida spent their spring break helping the Houma Nation recover from the lingering damage from Gulf Coast hurricanes in recent years, including bringing donated children’s books.  They went to Louisiana as representatives of the Inter-Tribal Student Organization (ITSO) with donations from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, the North Star Casino, and Oneida Bingo and Casino.

Read more about it in News From Indian Country or UW Oshkosh Today.

Oneida Part II

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Brandon Stevens, Oneida Tribal Council member.

Brandon Stevens, Oneida Tribal Council member.

 

Eric Harding (partly hidden) Tyler Kennedy, Cecila Hutte and Alissa Pruess make corn husk dolls at Oneida Community Library.

Eric Harding (partly hidden) Tyler Kennedy, Cecelia Hutte and Alissa Pruess make corn husk dolls at Oneida Community Library.

 

Kirby Metoxen, UW student Rae Funmaker and SLIS student Christina Johnson at Oneida Community Library.

Kirby Metoxen, UW student Rae Funmaker and SLIS student Christina Johnson at Oneida Community Library.

First off, Oneida I is a great post. Thanks to Eric (?) I’m guessing, and yes, that time with Tom was very special. I do have more than these few photos, but I don’t want to bog down the blog. I’ll post or email a link shortly to ones with updated captions, etc. Still figuring out this blog’s software. – cbj (the other christina)

Oneida Part I (February 27, 2009)

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Oneida wasn’t a trip so much as an experience. An experience that presented engaging tours galore, fascinating community members and consummate professionals–librarians, archivists, curators, bus-drivers, tour guides–that ran the gamut of the Oneida nation of Green Bay.  In short, there wasn’t one among us who didn’t come away feeling they had been given something–what that was was different for all of us. More important, I think, the trip imbued us with a sense of WHO the Oneida were and continue to be: gracious, warm, and utterly dedicated to preserving and adapting their culture and community in the 21st century.

The day was a whirlwind. So, in an attempt to save some digital space, I will recount some highlights.

Kirby Metoxin acted as guide, entertainer, and all-around “Mr. Oneida” for the duration of our day. His insights into the history, geography, genealogy, and pulse of the community were invaluable as we went from the Library, the Norbert Hill Community Center, the Cultural Heritage Division, the Museum, and lunch at Jimmy Seas. It struck me that Kirby has a particular talent for tying community matters at-large (ancestry) to informative, entertaining stories people (including, thankfully, outsiders like myself) can relate to. For instance, Kirby told us that the young man along for our tour (from Milwaukee), who had never met his father, was Oneida. In Kirby’s estimation, the young man’s father was most likely a cousin of his. (Keith’s light eyes, like Kirby’s, was a pretty strong substantiation of this, too.) I enjoyed the telling, but it wasn’t until later that I realized I cared about the story because who can’t identify with issues of identity and family–they’re universal. And Kirby tapped into this all day and should be commended for it.

The community library was a treat for librarians and would-be’s alike. They run their library efficiently–from their use of shelf space to their community programs. The best compliment I can give it is that if I were kid in that community, I would want to go there. The director, Ron Williams (?), emphasized it was the quality of the people working there that made the library what it is. Indeed.

Brandon Stevens, the young counsel member, impressed on me that Oneida looks to be in good hands down the road. I thought it remarkable that Obama inspired him not to wait for change or improvement in his community–but to challenge himself to make that change come from within himself and channel it into Oneida. (Stevens’ talk was made all the more impressive by his backdrop– the 30′ turtle mural.)

Tom Webster, our bus-driver for the day, was the unexpected but awesome X-factor of the day–to the extent that he was easily my favorite person at Oneida. Tom recently represented the Oneida Nation as an elder dancer at President Obama’s Inauguration. With prideful, welled-up eyes Tom spoke about what a prestigious honorit was for his family and the Nation to have the privilege to pay their respects and get the recognition to do so. Also, as an elder dancer, it is often his duty to ensure that if an eagle feather–considered sacred– falls off a dancer in competition (this is also considered an embarrassment to the dancer and his/her family), he makes the decision to send it back with the dancer to ensure it is used to honor a fallen soldier from the dancer’s community (Tom checks to make sure); or, if the dancer is disrespectful, keep the feather to honor someone of his choice.

As a vet, he also spoke about the amount of enthusiasm he now receives going to do 1/2 times at sporting events from fellow vets and community members. This wasn’t always the case, as Tom pointed out that he and some others were booed years ago  by crowd-members at certain events in the Green Bay area. Tom followed this with the statement that, “We’ve come along away.” I took this to mean that while Oneida’s relations with other communities are far from perfect, they’re better than in year’s past. On a final note, I was just struck by the sheer honesty and pride of this man and was left wanting to talk more life with him over a cold one at his local dive, Beaver’s.