Indigenuity 2.0 Day 1:
Monday, September 19, 2022
All presentations livestreamed on YouTube and the Arkansas CW.
10:00 AM
Join us for the 6th Annual Native American Cultural Celebration Kickoff! WATCH HERE!
10:45 AM
Talking Circle With All Our Relations
with Dr. Mae Hey
Location: MONAH Tent or Livestreamed on YouTube
Situate your mind and settle your spirit in alignment with Nature and our community in a Talking Circle with Dr. Mae Hey. Come together in a moderated conversation about sharing knowledge, stories, and fellowship. People of all age groups will enjoy participating in this event!
Dr. Mae Hey stewards the Indigenous Friendship Garden at Virginia Tech. In the garden and other spaces, she works with Land to support Nature-centered learning, to close wellness inequities involving food, and to promote sustainability through kinentric ecology. She also serves Virginia Tech as an Assistant Professor, a Faculty Fellow for their Office of Inclusion and Diversity, a Faculty Affiliate for their Food Studies Program, and a Faculty Fellow for their Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation. She is a Sequoyah Fellow of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and a member of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance’s culinary mentorship program.
12:30 PM
A Conversation with Environmental Problem Solvers
With Dr. Daniel Wildcat, Dr. Michelle Montgomery, Patrick Freeland, and Dr. Paulette Blanchard
Location: MONAH Tent or Livestreamed on YouTube
In a panel discussion, Dr. Daniel Wildcat moderates his former mentees and future brain trusts of Indigenous science, Dr. Michelle Montgomery, Patrick Freeland, and Dr. Paulette Blanchard. Learn how these Indigenous environmental scientists navigate modern Indigenous problems. Join in a conversation and Q&A at the end.
Dr. Daniel Wildcat (Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma) is a professor of Indigenous and American Indian Studies at Haskell Indian Nations University who serves as the director of the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center. Dr. Wildcat also serves as the lead investigator for the The Large Scale CoPe: Rising Voices, Changing Coasts: The National Indigenous and Earth Sciences Convergence Hub. He is the author of RedAlert! Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge (2009) argues for the application of Native wisdom and nature-centered beliefs to combat the climate crisis.
Dr. Michelle Montgomery (enrolled Haliwa Saponi/descendant Eastern Band Cherokee) is an Associate Professor and Chair, Division of Social and Historical studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington, Tacoma. She is also the Assistant Director for the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Indigenous Curriculum and Community advisor for the School of Education, Interim Director for Undergraduate Program in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities School of Medicine, and co-coordinator/external Indigenous advisor for the University of Minnesota Morris Sustainability Leadership Program. Dr. Montgomery's -heart work - focuses on Indigenizing and decolonizing the climate justice narrative through the Indigenous Speaker Series, environmental ethics connected to Indigenous Peoples' identities, and Eco-critical race theory to eliminate racial and environmental oppression.
Patrick Austin Freeland, Wind Clan of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, serves as an educator and communicator, committed to action to promote the advancement of community and educational institutions through the integration of plural knowledge systems, employing excellence in design, and leading innovation through adaptation. Through interdisciplinary sciences, arts, and engineering, Patrick’s vocation seeks to integrate living systems and contemporary knowledges as a means of addressing significant environmental challenges through cultural revitalization and community engagement.
Dr. Paulette Blanchard (Absentee Shawnee Citizen & Kickapoo descendant). Ms. Blanchard holds a Doctorate in Geography from the University of Kansas, Master of Arts in Geography from the University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous & American Indian Studies from Haskell Indian Nations University. Her work addresses the challenges and opportunities that Indigenous Peoples face in relation to climate change and climate justice. Her work also addresses Indigenous science and science education, Indigenous led environmental movements, and activism. She incorporates Indigenous Feminist methodologies and philosophies into her geographic framework. Her work includes social, climate, and environmental justice for Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized populations.
2:00 PM
Indigenous Science: What Would It Take to Transform The World?
with Mary Smith, Dr. Megan Bang, and Sarah Redfield
Location: Online panel, watch stream in-house in the MONAH Great Room or on YouTube.
Inspired by the 2020 documentary Picture A Scientist (available on Netflix or rented on Amazon Prime), Mary Smith, founder and president of the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation, moderates what promises to be an engaging and inspiring conversation with Dr. Megan Bang, Professor of the Learning Sciences and Psychology at Northwestern University, and Professor and attorney Sarah Redfield, a Maine native whose work centers around unintentional bias and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The conversation will start with an overview of unintentional bias and its impact on Native American scientists. Then, it will move into broader issues of invisibility and the dangers of groupthink, which often silences the critical voices of diverse populations. There will be ample time for questions and discussion with the audience.
This panel is sponsored by the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation.
Mary Smith (Cherokee) is the founder and president of the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation, a organized dedicated to supporting Native American girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She is also President-Elect Nominee of the American Bar Association, and the first Native American woman to hold this title.
Dr. Megan Bang (Ojibwe and Italian descent) is a Professor of the Learning Sciences and Psychology at Northwestern University and is currently serving as the Senior Vice President at the Spencer Foundation. Dr. Bang studies dynamics of culture, learning, and development broadly with a specific focus on the complexities of navigating multiple meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just learning environments in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education.
Sarah Redfield is Professor Emerita at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and Affiliate Professor at the University of New Hampshire College of Education and Women’s Studies Program. She is a member of the Maine Bar. Her research and scholarship are focused on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and along the education pipeline. Her current work continues her long-standing interest in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and concentrates on implicit bias and on strategies to interrupt that bias and reduce the negative consequences of its manifestationsin legal, medical, education, and workplace environments.
3:20 PM
A Conversation on Indigenous Audio Books
With Bobby Bridger
Location: MONAH Tent or Livestreamed on YouTube.
In a career in the arts spanning nearly six decades, Bobby Bridger has recorded nine albums of original songs on Monument, RCA, and his own Golden Egg label. A renowned western historian, he is the author of four books, has sold over 300 paintings, and has written, produced and starred in one-man shows and full-company dramatic musical productions of his epic trilogy A Ballad of the West. Bridger was also featured as an actor in ground-breaking productions of Dale Wasserman’s Shakespeare and the Indians, and Chris Sergel’s stage adaptation of John Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks. Bridger has appeared on Austin City Limits (twice), and American Experience on PBS as well as other major American media, and his song, Heal in the Wisdom has been the official anthem of the internationally-famous Kerrville Folk Festival for over 40 years and it was also performed by Bridger to close 1988’s Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival sponsored by the United Nations at Oxford University. Bridger is the 2016 recipient of the John G. Neihardt Foundation’s prestigious “Word Sender” award. Most recently, Bridger produced the audiobooks of Vine Deloria, Jr.’s classics The World We Used To Live In: Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men, and God Is Red, both read by iconic American Indian actor, Wes Studi.
4:00 PM
Coyote & Crow RPG with founder Connor Alexander
Location: Online presentation, watch stream in-house in the MONAH Great Room or on YouTube.
Discover how one of the most successful role-playing games to ever fund on Kickstarter came to life! Connor Alexander is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, owner of Coyote & Crow Games, and the creator of the Coyote & Crow Roleplaying Game. After an introduction to the world of Coyote & Crow, it is your chance to ask the creator your thought-provoking questions!
Coyote & Crow Games is a tabletop game publisher dedicated to bringing fantastic games to your table while raising indigenous creatives' voices, ideas, perspectives, and imagination throughout the game industry. Coyote & Crow, the roleplaying game, is a Nebula Award-nominated sci-fi and fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in a First Nations alternate future where colonization never happened. This game was created and led by an all-Native team. In March 2021, Coyote & Crow became one of the most successful role-playing games ever to fund on Kickstarter, raising more than $1 million.
Connor Alexander is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Born in California and living in Seattle, his heart remains in New Orleans. A nerd since he was old enough to watch classic Star Trek re-runs, and a punk since he was able to buy his first pair of Doc Marten’s, Connor spent years wandering around the country through a myriad of careers, finally settling into a degree and career in film and television. In 2014, he took his first steps into working in the hobby game industry and hasn’t looked back.
5:00 PM
NACC 2022 Presenter Meet and Greet (Private Reception)
Location: MONAH