Community Learning & Practice: Native Ways of Thinking, Knowing, Being
November 15, 2022 - Yéił Katłáagu—Raven’s Journey: The Tlingit People's History of Raven
Naałkh J DeAsis, Łingít
Learn from Native students at the University of Kansas, from their own experiences, about the diversity of Tribal Nations, systems of education, and language.
Community Learning & Practice is presented by KU First Nations Student Association, the Office of Native American Initiatives, and The Commons, with support from the Department of Visual Art, to offer space for building understanding around topics resonating with researchers at KU and in public life in 2022. These sessions lead with Indigenous values and practice, including reciprocity, relationship, and reconciliation.
April 28, 2022 - Indigenous Graduate Students Share Research
Community Learning & Practice is presented by KU First Nations Student
Association, the Office of Native Initiatives, and The Commons, to offer space for building understanding. These sessions lead with Indigenous values and practice, including reciprocity, relationship, and reconciliation.
Robert Hicks, Jr, Pyramid Lake Paiute-Yakama-CherokeeD’Arlyn K Bell, Cherokee Nation
Kynser Wahwahsuck, Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, Shoshone, Sac & Fox
Tweesna Mills, Shoshone-Yakama-Umatilla Nations
Moderated by Melissa Peterson, Diné - KU Director of Tribal Relations
Each graduate student will present about their research, which spans many disciplines. Afterward, they will be invited into conversation about Native Scholarship and the power that Native Scholars hold, being able to access multiple systems of knowledge.
March 8, 2022 - Indigenous Students Present
Community Learning & Practice is presented by KU First Nations Student Association, the Office of Native Initiatives, and The Commons, to offer space for building understanding. These sessions lead with Indigenous values and practice, including reciprocity, relationship, and reconciliation.
Naałkh J DeAsis, Łingít
Michael Redbear, A’aninin/Lakota
Matilda Anderson, Sicangu Lakota & Diné
Celina Hall, Ho-Chunk
Moderated by Melissa Peterson, Diné KU Director of Tribal Relations
Learn from Native students at the University of Kansas, from their own experiences, about the diversity of Tribal Nations, systems of education, and term across Native Nations.
November 18, 2021 - Language as Culture
Presented by the KU First Nations Student Association and The Commons.
How do you communicate with the more than human species around you?
What limitations and possibilities do our languages offer our understandings?
Robert “Nokwsi” Hicks, Jr. will begin the event with a proper cultural song. In discussion, we will then consider how language is learned and shared across species, and how words shape our understanding. Following this introduction, participants may share from their own practices for deep listening and
immersive learning through language.
Led by:
Dr. Joe Brewer, Director, Indigenous Studies Program / Associate Professor, Environmental Studies Program
Dr. Ignacio Carvajal, Assistant Professor, Department of Spanish & Portuguese / Affiliate Faculty, Indigenous Studies Program
October 21, 2021 - Knowing Where You Are: Land as Teacher
Presented by the KU First Nations Student Association and The Commons.
What is your relationship to place?
How do you find deeper connection to where you are?
Learn about the Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) program and the importance of place-based
curriculum to Native students in environmental science. This summer, HERS students engaged
In zhúje Waxóbe in its curriculum.
Led by:
Dr. Jay T. Johnson, Professor of Geography & Atmospheric Science
Katrina McClure Muscogee, PhD Candidate, Geography & Atmospheric Science
September 23, 2021 - Restorative Practices & Wellness
Presented by the KU First Nations Student Association, the KU School of Social Welfare Toni Johnson Center for Racial and Social Justice, and The Commons.
Led by:
Dr. Melissa Holder, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Assistant Professor, KU School of Social Welfare
Laurie Ramirez, MSW, Ojibway, Associate Professor of Practice / Liaison to Native Communities, KU School of Social Welfare
What can practicing well-being teach us?
What are the relationships between well-being and reciprocity?
Learn about human-centered approaches to healing and restorative therapies adopted to overcome historical and individual trauma. Following the presentation, participants may share their own practices for healing, restoration, and transformation. We hope to build community and skills for self-care and healing in more and meaningful ways.
