Embedded Files
"Indigenous World Making through the Arts: A Conversation with Andi Cloud and Kimberly Crowley"
Kim Crowley (written by Sarah Crowley)
My nani is Kimberly Crowley, Thunder Clan of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She is the daughter of Sidney and Christine Hall. Basket making has been in my family for many generations, and she enjoys focusing her time on teaching the art to the next generation: her granddaughters Brooklynn and Ariel. She has been making and learning the art of black ash basket making for 43 years, it’s what our family is best known for. My grandmother has had a beautiful basket on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American Indians since the 1980’s. My tega’s, Sid Hall Jr and William Hall and my nani, continue to keep the art alive. They cut and pound the ash, and together, they process the ash for baskets. She is devoted to not letting this art become a thing of the past.
Andi J. Cloud, M.Ed.
Nizuwinga "Rain"
Andi grew up in the Indian Mission. Her mother is Shelley Thundercloud. Her
maternal grandparents are the late Lawrence “Sunshine” Thundercloud and the
late Edith Pettibone-Thundercloud. She was given her waksik name from her
cooka, the late Eugene Thundercloud. She is Thunder Clan, wakaja hikikarac.
After graduating high school Andi attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
(UW-L). She earned her Bachelor of Science degree (2006) with a double-major in
Communication Studies-Public Relations and Organizational Communication and
Political Science. In 2012, she completed her graduate thesis (Indigenous Identity
and Public Education: The Ho-Chunk Experience) and earned her Master of
Education degree at UW-L. Andi has been in the education field for over ten years.
She has taught courses in college, high school, middle school, and early
childhood. Andi has also taught English as a Second Language abroad in La
Serena, Chile.
In September 2021, Andi was selected by the Madison Public Library to be their first
Indigenous Storyteller In-Residence. Her residency with Madison Public Library has
given her opportunities to share stories and teach about her Ho-Chunk culture.
Through her work she was appointed by Governor Evers to the Council on Library
and Network Development (COLAND). Along with her term as a public member of
COLAND, Andi also serves on the Kiijire Naagu Board of Directors, Oneida Nation
Arts Program, Ho-Chunk Alumni Association, and the Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal
Action Plan.
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