I will attempt to document briefly the progress of the class.
The first speakers that we had were Larry Nesper, Doug Kiel and Skott Vigil.
Larry spoke to us about treaty history in Wisconsin. We discussed the nuances of several treaties and what they mean to tribes today. Also there was discussion concerning spear fishing and treaty rights that was a hot-bed issue in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Larry wrote, THE WALLEYE WAR: THE STRUGGLE FOR OJIBWE SPEARFISHING AND TREATY RIGHTS, so we were lucky to get his expertise.
The next speakers: Skott and Doug, gave us a basic history and lead a lively discussion that went from tribal politics, to heritage, to corruption, to libraries and beyond.
The next class we were joined by Patty Loew and J.P. Leary. Patty spoke mostly of a project that she works on promoting science to tribal kids that focuses on the learning strengths identified in Native students- this was beautifully put together and I wish I could speak more of it, but I was out of the room most of the time looking for speakers. FYI if you need speakers they are in the IT room in the library. Anyways, our next speaker was J.P Leary who spoke on Indian education. He covered treaties, curriculum and basically what the environment is like in Indian education today. We were provided with many handouts: useful resources for discovering what is being provided in libraries and schools, what is lacking, what might be done.
This of course is a barebones outline of what has transpired in class so far. I hope people will add their thoughts and ideas to this. Because this is the foundational post to document what is going on- I could use some feedback. I would like to include some discussion of the readings in another post, as it is rich material for discussion that we have precious little time for. Also if someone would care to write about the very, very beginning of the class; logistics, organization and what not, that might be helpful. I apologize for not being more specific or including anyone’s title- I am supposing that this is a pretty informal blog. More later…
I can add a quick note on my own involvement in the class and the development I have seen. I attended the presentation that Louise, Cat, Omar and Christina gave at the WLA conference in November about the work at Red Cliff and grant they had gotten. At the end of the presentation someone (not sure who) said something about if you’re interested in a class like this in the spring, there will be a meeting. I went and kept going. We kept meeting through the break to apply for another grant and to develop the class. Cat, Omar, Christina, Roy, Gabe, Tyler (am I leaving anyone out?) can address these details better.