Waking Women Healing Institute, Inc. and ESTHER held an important event in Houdini Plaza in Appleton on February 14, bringing awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and 2-Spirits (MMIWG2S). We heard from family members and leaders who are working to create change and healing.
Thank you to everybody who showed up on this cold day to show support. If you were not able to attend and are interested, Waking Women Healing Institute Inc. live-streamed the event from Houdini Plaza and from other locations. You can watch the recording, which is available on Facebook:
First Congregational U.C.C., 724 E South River St, Appleton
You are invited to participate in an impactful, experiential activity called the Blanket Exercise at First Congregational United Church of Christ, Appleton, on Tuesday, April 12 at 5:00 PM. This activity will foster truth, deeper understandings, and mutual respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. We will learn about the original inhabitants of this area, the U.S. Doctrine of Discovery, and the lasting repercussions that the Indian Boarding Schools have had upon Native Peoples into the present. This is an event you won’t want to miss!
There will be an optional meal at 5:00 PM in Fellowship Hall before the event. The activity itself will begin promptly at 6:00 PM.
The meal will be traditional indigenous food catered by Waqsecewan Indigenous Catering, a Native-owned business. For those who attend the meal, please consider providing a freewill donation to offset the cost of the food and to invest in this important work (see below). However, persons unable to contribute monetarily are still invited and encouraged to attend this powerful activity.
Please be aware that you do not need to attend the meal in order to participate in the Blanket Exercise. We hope you can join us!
Menominee Sustainability Institute, N172 HWY 47/55, Keshena, WI
Learn Menominee Sustainable Ways that can be applied across ecosystems and cultures. Visit Sustainable Development Institute, Logging Museum, and Heritage Museum on the Menominee Reservation in Keshena, WI.
Lunch will be available for individual purchase at Farmers Market
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)
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).
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.
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.
The Blanket Exercise acknowledges what has been buried by honoring the truth.
“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.
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.
Learn Menominee Sustainable Ways that can be applied across ecosystems and cultures. Visit Sustainable Development Institute, Logging Museum, and Heritage Museum on the Menominee Reservation in Keshena, WI.
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.
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.
“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.
