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Native Peoples

“We Are Still Here” Celebration

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Date: 
Saturday, November 4, 2023 - 10:00am - 3:00pm
Location: 
First Congregational UCC, Fellowship Hall, 724 E South River St, Appleton

First Congregational UCC Appleton’s Indigenous Peoples Allies Committee is excited to invite the Fox Valley community to its inaugural Indigenous celebration. This intergenerational event celebrates the living legacies of our local Indigenous communities. The program features traditional storytelling, an intergenerational art workshop, native dancers, Indigenous artisans offering their wares for purchase, a raffle, favorite foods served at Indigenous celebrations, and more….  All are welcome!

Program

  • 10:00AM – Welcome, Opening of Native Artisan Tables
  • 10:15AM-12:00PM – Indian Story Stick Project (children & youth, age 5-10, must be accompanied by an adult)
  • 12:00PM – Traditional Indigenous food
  • 1:00-1:45PM – Youth Smoke Dancers
  • 2:15-2:45PM – Native American Storytelling
  • 3:00PM – Drawing winners announced

Activities & lunch are free, but please pre-register for the Story Stick Workshop by calling the church office at 920-733-7393.

Neenah Menasha InterTribal Pow Wow

Date: 
Saturday, September 16, 2023 - 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: 
Shattuck Park, Neenah, WI

Be sure to attend the annual InterTribal Pow Wow at Shattuck Park in Neenah. There will be drum groups, dancers, food, and other vendors. You will not want to miss this popular event!

Come early to attend the Neenah Farmers Market and hear Native American musician Clinton Miller.

Sponsored by Neenah Historical SocietyMenasha Historical Society and Neenah-Menasha Intertribal Powwow

More info at the Pow Wow Facebook Page

American Indian Studies in Wisconsin - Faithful Stance for Equity August Meeting

Date: 
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 - 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: 
Zoom

Wisconsin school boards are required to include in the social studies curriculum some instruction in the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the federally recognized American Indian tribes and bands located in Wisconsin. The legislature is currently considering revising these curriculum requirements. Brian Ward, our August speaker, is an expert on these issues and can provide helpful background. 

An educator and activist who lives in Teejope (occupied Ho-Chunk Land known as Madison, Wisconsin), Brian has also lived and worked on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglala Lakota Nation. His writing has appeared in The Nation, TruthoutNew PoliticsSocialist WorkerInternational Socialist Review and more. He has also worked with Indigenous people in Guatemala and Peru. His master’s thesis work focused on the representation of Indigenous people in K-12 classrooms.

The presentation will be on Zoom. If you are unable to attend but register in advance, you will be able to view the recording.

REGISTER HERE

ESTHER Leader Featured in Indian Civil Rights Documentary

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has just re-released (in HD video) its 2008 documentary on efforts of Native nations and the denomination’s National Indian Lutheran Board to secure sovereignty, justice, and civil rights for American Indians. Much of this collaboration and struggle took place in Wisconsin, involving—among others—the Lutheran Church of the Wilderness on the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Reservation in Bowler. Rev. Joel Schlatenhaufer (d. 2019), pastor of that congregation at the time, and later a founding member of ESTHER and its first president, is interviewed.


The history the video recounts is very interesting, and it would be useful for all of our members to know about the things that the video talks about.

—David Haas, ESTHER Board member

Reflections on the May 13 Blanket Exercise: Remembering (unforgetting) 450 years+ of Indigeneous History

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Indigenous Peoples’ Blanket Exercise

The Blanket Exercise acknowledges what has been buried by honoring the truth.

Blanket Exercise Participants“Opening our eyes and unforgetting the past” was the theme of the recent Blanket Exercise, designed to help participants understand how colonization of the land has impacted the people who lived here before Columbus and other settlers arrived.

On May 13 at First English Lutheran Church on Ballard Road, nearly 70 participants gathered for the Blanket Exercise to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Blankets arranged on the floor represented the land before the arrival of Europeans.  Everyone stepped onto blankets that represent the land, and took the role of the Indigenous peoples. As I listened to the history from pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance, I could see the people and the land disappear. At the end of the exercise only a few people remained on the blankets. Going through this visible history of eliminating people and stealing land was an intellectual and emotional experience.

CANCELLED - Winona LaDuke Earth Week Keynote Speaker

Date: 
Thursday, April 20, 2023 - 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Location: 
Lawrence University Warch Campus Center (Somerset Room), 711 E Boldt Way, Appleton

As of 4/12/2023, this event has been cancelled by Lawrence University

Earth Week 2023 Keynote Speaker: Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke is an Anishinaabe activist and expert on environmental justice. She combines economic and environmental approaches in her efforts to create a thriving and sustainable community for her own White Earth Reservation and Indigenous populations across the country.

Sponsored by LUCC Sustainability Committee, Office of SEAL, LUNA, and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Help spread the word; download and share the attached flier.

Indigenous Peoples Blanket Exercise

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Date: 
Saturday, May 13, 2023 - 9:00am - 2:00pm
Location: 
First English Lutheran Church, 6331 N. Ballard Road, Appleton

First English Lutheran Church’s Racial Equity Team, The Green Sanctuary Justice Action Team of the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Indigenous Peoples’ Allies Committee (IPAC) of the First Congregational United Church of Christ and ESTHER are proud to sponsor: 


Indigenous People’s Blanket Exercise

 

May 13, 9 am - 2 pm

First English Lutheran Church, 6331 N. Ballard Road, Appleton

The blanket exercise is a kind of simulation designed to help participants understand how colonization of the land we now know as the United States of America has impacted the people who lived here long before Columbus and other settlers arrived.

A traditional Talking Circle is included in the exercise to allow participants to debrief.

In addition to the exercise, a traditional indigenous meal will be served.

Register Here

Cost per person is $30, which includes the meal.
A no-cost registration option is also available thanks to the generosity of several sponsors.

See more on the Facebook event page.

ESTHER Mental Health Task Force Meeting

Date: 
Monday, January 9, 2023 - 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: 
Zoom Meeting

Monthly meeting of the Mental Health Task Force. Leave us a message at esther-foxvalley.org/mhtf for Zoom link or to be added to the mailing list.

Lawrence University 7th Annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Date: 
Monday, October 10, 2022 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: 
Main Hall Green, 501 E College Ave, Appleton

Join the Lawrence and Appleton Communities in Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Many cities and states across the United States have replaced the Columbus Day holiday with the official recognition of Indigenous People’s Day. Lawrence University welcomes the entire Fox Cities community to join in celebrating and learning about the many contributions of Indigenous people globally through song, dance, food, and local Native American guest speakers/leaders.

Main Hall Green (outside), 501 E College Avenue Appleton, WI.
Somerset (Warch Campus Center)

All ages welcome. Free and Open to the public.

Additional information on the Lawrence University Calendar.

This collaborative event is sponsored by LUNA (Lawrence University Native American Organization), AASD (Appleton Area School District), and the D&IC (Lawrence University Diversity and Intercultural Center).

Menominee Nation Pow Wow

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Date: 
Friday, August 5, 2022 (All day) - Sunday, August 7, 2022 (All day)
Location: 
Woodland Bowl, Keshena, WI

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