Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month explores Native American cultures, history and current events

Luther College is celebrating Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month in November with a series of events. Guest speakers will highlight Indigenous perspectives on educational leadership, regional history, and current events. Film screenings and an extraordinary planetarium experience will reveal more about Native American cultures. 

This heritage month’s activities build on a fall semester of guest speakers from Native American communities. In September, Oscar Hokeah discussed the Paideia Summer Read, his novel “Calling for a Blanket Dance.” Hokeah is a regionalist Native American writer of literary fiction, a citizen of Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, with Mexican heritage from Chihuahua as well. In addition, Rebecca Nagle spoke about “Justice on Native Land” for Luther College’s annual Farwell Distinguished Lecture. Nagle is a writer, podcaster, advocate and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. 

All these events are free and open to the public.

Micki Abercrombie-Donahue, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion and associate professor of education at Whitworth University

Wednesday, Nov. 6: “Indigeneity, Relationality, and Reciprocity: Transforming Models of Leadership in Higher Education,” Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall, 7 p.m. 

Micki Abercrombie-Donahue will explore how Indigenous perspectives on leadership, grounded in principles of relationality and reciprocity, offer transformative models for higher education. Abercrombie-Donahue is vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion and associate professor of education at Whitworth University in Washington. This discussion will highlight the importance of community, interconnectedness and mutual care in reshaping leadership practices within academic institutions. This event is made possible by the Lucille Price Endowed Lecture and the Luther College Department of Identity Studies. 

“The identity studies department is thrilled to continue our focus on Indigenous studies this year with Dr. Abercrombie-Donahue’s visit to campus,” said Char Kunkel, professor of sociology and identity studies department head at Luther College. “She brings not only strength in leadership but also research-based suggestions for transforming higher education in both leadership modeling and multilingual education, which leads to greater student retention for all. Her lecture and interactions are not only timely for Luther College but for the country.”

Thursday, Nov. 7: “The Business of Baskets: Weaving Economic Ties Between the Bethany Indian Mission, Ho-Chunk Families, and Lutheran Ladies’ Aides in the Mid-20th Century Midwest,” Pulpit Rock Brewery Event Room, 7 p.m. 

Anna Peterson, associate professor of history at Luther College, will explore the ways Ho-Chunk women and their families negotiated the effects the Bethany Indian Mission in Wittenberg, Wisconsin, had on their lives and took advantage of the opportunities it presented through the making and selling of black ash basketry. While Bethany missionaries often saw this work as unnecessarily burdensome and outside of the scope of their call, the basket weavers and their families put pressure on the Mission to act as a conduit between the basket makers and basket buyers. In this way, they used the Mission and its contacts to ensure ancestral basket weaving survived in the face of great adversity. Luther College played a significant role in the history of the Mission. This event is sponsored by the Luther College Department of History. 

Friday, Nov. 8: Anishinaabe Star-Knowledge Film+Planetarium Experience in Valders 206 and 205 (Planetarium), 7 p.m.  

This multimedia evening will leave you looking up. The program will start in Valders 206 with a 25-minute film, “Living in Balance: Anishinaabe Star Knowledge.” The film highlights Anishinaabe stories of constellations and moons in relation to contemporary insights about environmental changes. Immediately following the film, attendees will move next door to the Luther College planetarium for a presentation, given by physics professor Jeff Wilkerson, featuring key elements in “Living in Balance.” The planetarium has a maximum capacity of 30, so this part of the program will be on a first-come, first-served basis. This event is sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement.

Tuesday, Nov. 12: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, Valders 206, 5 p.m.  

Jessica Engelking of the Great Plains Action Society

Jessica Engelking, representation director with the Great Plains Action Society, will address the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR). The Great Plains Action Society addresses the trauma that Indigenous peoples and the Earth face and builds power in Indigenous communities. Engelking’s talk will focus on the crisis of Native American communities when relatives go missing. Come learn about this issue and how we can reduce and end violence against Indigenous communities. This talk is sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Engagement and Support. 

Thursday, Nov. 21: “Songs My Brothers Taught Me,” Valders 206, 6 p.m.  

Join the Center for Intercultural Engagement and Support for a screening of Chloe Zhao’s independent film, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” (2015). The film follows two siblings, living on Pine Ridge Reservation, who face challenges after their father’s death. The brother considers leaving for Los Angeles, but it would mean separating from his beloved sister. Zhao is the director of “Nomadland” (2020) and “Eternals” (2021).