The Speakers

Hatarimuy Film Screening and Conversation on Decolonization, Autonomy, and Self-Representation of Indigenous Communities

Goodspeed 205 - 9:00 AM

I will be giving a presentation of my short film Hatarimuy. First I will give a brief introduction about myself and my artistic practice, as well as my community and collective cultural projects, followed by screening my community made short film, Hatarimuy, winner of best human rights short Chicago Shorts 2024 and Berlin Shorts Award 2024. The short film will open different themes of conversation about issues Indigenous peoples confront. This film reflects on our history through a decolonizing lens, revealing our original identity. My intention is to question the colonial perspective of who we are, our nationality, race, and beliefs. It exposes the corrupt and genocidal system that’s still in control of our territories and continues to oppress our nations. This film sheds light onto these issues and serves as a voice for what is not talked about, exposing what is kept silent. After screening the film, we will open conversation on these complex topics with a Q&A.

Love Lessons in a Time of Settler Colonialism

Goodspeed 205 - 10:10 AM

Love Lessons in a Time of Settler Colonialism is a poem by Tanaya Winder, exploring the roots of colonization in the murdered and missing Indigenous womxn epidemic, while touching on our shared community histories of boarding schools.

Yaku Project Water Conservation And Protection

Goodspeed 3rd Floor Conference Room
10:00 AM

The Pachacamak Foundation and the Yaku Program, named after the Kichwa word for "water," offer a comprehensive strategy for addressing pressing environmental, social, economic, and health challenges within the community, deeply rooted in the sacred connection to water in Kichwa culture. Focused on combating water and beach pollution, particularly microplastics, the project engages in regular beach cleanups and educational workshops. It emphasizes community well-being through environmental stewardship and indigenous wisdom, recognizing water as a sacred element in Kichwa traditions. By integrating indigenous perspectives and conducting research on the effects of microplastics, Yaku aims to preserve traditional knowledge while advancing scientific understanding. Outdoor environmental education serves as a cornerstone for promoting hands-on learning, fostering a connection to nature, enhancing health and well-being, raising environmental awareness, and encouraging community engagement. Through these efforts, Yaku strives to create a resilient, healthier, and more environmentally conscious community while monitoring and conserving marine life and biodiversity affected by plastic pollution.

Reintroducing Sovereign Storytelling in Museums through Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art

Classics 110 - 9:00 AM

In museums, long considered as colonial institution par excellence, “people [were] always exposed to disappear” to borrow Georges Didi-Huberman’s words,  (Didi-Huberman 11) , as it was commonly and wrongly believed that Indigenous populations were on the verge of extinction, hence the “necessity” to preserve their culture and objects. However, the very end of the 20th century marked a decisive turn in the curation of primarily ethnographic exhibitions in museums, since they tended to focus more on Indigenous voices and added a reflexive twist to their displays by showcasing commissioned pieces by Indigenous contemporary artists. This presentation will first demonstrate how museums were developed as colonial institutions and will explore how Indigenous populations were exhibited and perceived from a European standpoint from the second half of the 18th century. Then, we will consider how a significant shift in curatorial practices occurred from the 1990s-2000s onwards when contemporary Indigenous Australian artists redefined their identities from subjects to agents and used the space of the museum to reclaim their Indigeneity through an emphasis put on Indigenous sovereign epistemologies and storytelling. Drawing from a comparative transdisciplinary approach, we will finally raise the question of the decolonizing process at work in museums nowadays, using concepts theorized in decolonial thought.

Sounding Indigenous Resurgence in the Pentagon

Classics 110 - 10:00 AM

Nacotchtank is the Piscataway place name for what is now commonly known as Washington, DC. DC sits on the homeland of the Piscataway and is the heart of the American settler colonial nation-state that promotes the occupation of Indigenous lands and spaces. Indigenous Peoples have and continue to unsettle settler colonial spaces through various means, including through music and sound. This paper examines the strategies in which Indigenous performers reclaim space and soundscapes in the federal government. My paper provides a close listening of Native performers (powwow singers, Pueblo singers and dancers, and Native storytelling) at a Native American Heritage Month Celebration on November 20, 2024, held in the Pentagon. As both an allied participant and observer, I argue that Native performers engage in acts of resurgence through sound, music, and storytelling in ways that amplify Indigenous cultural practices and protocols, rectify narratives, and assert Native sovereignties. I describe how these musical and sonic acts of resurgence amplify Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies enacted by Comanche, Diné, Kiowa, and Pueblo performers to collectively reclaim sonic space and assert sonic sovereignty. Given the scant literature on Indigenous musical and sonic practices in the nation’s capital, this paper provides an interdisciplinary contribution to ethnomusicology, Native American and Indigenous studies, as well as DC studies.

Meskwaki Song Maker Project

Goodspeed 3rd Floor Conference Room
10:30 AM

Documentary on the song making process featuring meskwaki song maker Martel Pushetonequa. Martel is a singer from the Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa. Martel writes songs for Championship Drum group Meskwaki Nation. Martel gives the viewer on his process for making songs and his experience singing at pow-wows all across the country.

American Indian Tubists: The Life of John Kuhn

Goodspeed 3rd Floor Conference Room
11:30 AM

The purpose of this project has been a tapestry woven over several years. Inspired by a captivating presentation from a colleague within the brass community, I began to ponder why the narrative had not been shared from the Native American perspective, breathing life into the trials faced by Red Cloud (John Kuhn) and countless elders who endured the tribulations of the boarding school/residential school system. This topic resonates deeply, for there exists a palpable scarcity of Low brass artists hailing from diverse backgrounds, particularly the American Indian viewpoint. Furthermore, the echoes of musicians from this era remain shrouded in mystery, leaving us yearning for an understanding of what it entailed to navigate two contrasting worlds while flourishing as a musician.

A Language with Wings: An Analysis of Wiwa’s Contemporary Poetry

Goodspeed 402 - 11:00 AM

Damana is an indigenous language spoken by the Wiwa in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a mountainous region along the Colombian Caribbean coast. Casa Wiwa is a collective of poets dedicated to composing literary works in their native language. Their first book ‘Dʉmʉnaye’ ‘Damana like’ presents a collection of nearly a dozen poems focusing on the relationship between their language and birds of the region – this thematic focus inspired the title ‘Language with Wings.’ The present study foregrounds an innovative and little-known body of literature while contributing to the broader ethnopoetic research on the intersections of culture, art, and poetry in Indigenous Languages across the Americas. The poem analyzed in the paper is Dʉmʉna kukunaye ‘Damana (is) like the Dove,’ written by the poet Julián Malo Barros. The analysis is grounded on the interplay between the written version of the poem and an audio recording of Julian's performance; both the printed and spoken texts are relevant here. Rather than imposing a predetermined scheme or structure onto the poem, the ethnopoetics approach is based on starting from the text and its singularity. Therefore, the paper investigates the units, patterns, and tropes that are significant to the poem itself. To sum up, the article examines formal aspects of the Wiwa poetry as metaphors, images, and similes; simultaneously, it engages in a reflection on how poetic expression varies across languages and cultures. Ultimately,  the article aims to recognize that distinct poetic traditions embody diverse epistemologies, ways of inhabiting the world, and modes of existing through words.

Chief Buffalo Memorial: Challenges and Successes in Community Organizing

Classics 110 - 10:30 AM

This panel brings together three of the lead organizers behind the Chief Buffalo Memorial—an ambitious, community-led art installation in Duluth, MN that honors Chief Buffalo, Ojibwe history, and contemporary Native presence. Over the course of three years, four Ojibwe artists mobilized over 500 community members to co-create more than 20 murals in a previously neglected urban walkway. Panelists will share the challenges and triumphs of this large-scale public art project: navigating city bureaucracy, reclaiming space in a tourist corridor, securing over $100,000 in grassroots funding, and engaging community members in the creation process. Through storytelling, visual documentation, and strategic insights, this session offers a case study in radical visibility and cultural resurgence. The panelists will explore the experience of building systems from scratch when they don’t exist, how to foster cross-cultural engagement in spaces where community knowledge of Indigenous communities is lacking, and how to center Indigenous leadership in every step of a project. This session is intended for Indigenous artists, researchers, and cultural workers seeking inspiration and practical tools for reclaiming space and narrative through art.

Indigenous Storytelling and Zine Workshop

Goodspeed 3rd Floor Conference Room
1:00 PM

Indigenous storytelling has been essential for fostering connections, community, and knowledge—centering Indigenous joy, ideas, and creativity. However, it has not always been acknowledged within academia, institutions, and dominant sociopolitical structures. Too often, Indigenous storytelling and art-based practices are framed as historical, reinforcing the misconception that Indigenous peoples exist only in the past. This outdated perspective fuels erasure and complicates efforts to navigate systems necessary for survival. Additionally, narratives of Indigenous trauma are frequently centered, overshadowing the joy, knowledge, and resilience that define Indigenous existence today and in the future. This project seeks to counteract erasure by uplifting Indigenous voices, stories, and creativity through contemporary storytelling and art-making. Indigenous peoples have survived numerous attempts at erasure and continue to care for each other and the land. By sharing knowledge of joy and survival in the present, we contribute to a collective future—not just for Indigenous peoples, but for all communities. This workshop will explore Indigenous storytelling through a community-based, art-centered approach using zines as a method of knowledge-sharing. Zines—self-published, small-circulation booklets—offer an accessible, creative way to share stories with those who may not have access to mainstream media. Participants will create zines using provided materials, focusing on a central Indigenous theme. Completed zines will be bound, photocopied, and distributed physically and digitally. Each participant will receive copies of their zine, ensuring their narratives endure. By blending Indigenous storytelling with contemporary art, this project highlights the ongoing importance of Indigenous knowledge. Through a participatory, community-driven process, it fosters engagement, builds connections, and showcases the power of Indigenous joy and storytelling.

Anisinabe Waki-Aztlán 1977 to Turtle Island Today

Classics 110 - 1:00 PM

This panel will present our research into the 1977-1980 Anišinabe Waki-Aztlán (AWA) exhibition materials. Delving into shared Indigenous and Chicanx cultural histories, Anišinabe Waki-Aztlán was a 1977 art exhibition originally held at Harry S. Truman College. The exhibition featured Indigenous and Chicano artists, organized by Movimiento Artístico Chicano (MARCh) & the Chicago Indian Artist Guild. Anišinabe Waki-Aztlán featured 52 participating artists, lecturers, poets, and performers, led by MARCh organizer, Carlos Cumpián. Featured artists included Malu Alberro y Ortega, Loniel Poco, Sharon Okee-Chee Skolnic, Salvador Vega, Robin Whitespear, Joe Yazzie, and many more. The 1977 event posters were made by renowned Chicanx poet, Wobbly, and printmaker Carlos Cortéz Koyokuikatl.  Benavides will present his progress with this investigation since 2019, and Harris will present their part in the collectively produced digital archive at awaproject.omeka.net. The presentation will summarize the investigation of this historic art exhibition. It will chart the ongoing investigation into this little-documented Chicago history started with support from the Illinois Humanities' Activate History Grant (2020), culminating in presentations and screenings at local, Chicago art spaces Chuquimarca and Comfort Station (2021). And, a team of graduate students from the University of Chicago's Public History Practicum joined the team (2021). This research was also awarded a “Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Faculty Research Fellowship” from The Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Consortium (SLCEC) to expand this research (2021). Select materials and presentations were made at Harry S. Truman College (2023). This work has been displayed at Vanderbilt University's Begonia Labs as part of the Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice (2024).

Native Motion: Visual Land Acknowledgements and Motion as Metaphor to Convey Native History

Goodspeed 205 - 2:30 PM

Maruawe (Greetings), my name is Eric Tippeconnic and I tenure track professor of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos and an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. In addition, I am both a professional historian and a professional artist (www.erictippeconnic.com). I have lived and worked with diverse Native populations my entire life. I engage in community placed based participatory service with Native communities and my work explores the intersections of art and history. I am proposing a presentation that will share my approach to artistic instillations and murals as visual land acknowledgments. While a Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects the indigenous peoples as traditional stewards of this land, and  serves as an act of conciliation that makes a statement recognizing the traditional land of the indigenous people who have called and still call the land home before and after the arrival of settlers, I combine the impetus of the land acknowledgment with visual representation in order to explore how art instillations and murals are effective mechanisms to acknowledge and relay Native history. This presentation will explore several museum exhibits that I have curated and multiple murals that I have completed across the country. In addition, I will convey how motion is an artistic feature as well a metaphor for the history of Native people.

Native American Storytelling

Goodspeed 205 - 3:30 PM

I start my program with who I am, and why I am. Introduce myself then proceed with the story of my grandparents and Residential School. After that I set the tone for Native Storytelling. I tell mostly Ho-Chunk handed down stories - around 5 stories.

Arte, Cosmovisión y Territorio

Goodspeed 402 - 2:30 PM

Busco entablar una conversación, sobre la práctica investigativa y artística que hemos hecho en Guatemala en nuestra comunidad maya Chichicastenango, desafiando la centralidad de los centros dedicados al Arte. Cómo desde nuestro territorio hemos explorado la sustancia de los conocimientos ancestrales y recuperarlos del mito de la memoria en lejanía, de como hemos trabajado con niños, niñas, niñes y profesorxs de escuelas públicas para que puedan ver que el arte y la cosmovisión humana están ligados a la noción de territorio. Hablar desde nuestros ejercicios curatoriales en un espacio independiente, nos ha permitido crear vínculos naturales entre arte, cosmovisión y territorio, cuestionando sistemas de pensamiento antropocéntricos y capitalistas para intuir y/o exponer diversos modos de ver el mundo, posibilitando la resistencia a la explotación y racionalismo instrumentales.

Futurismos Indígenas: Hip-Hop Kichwa y Activismo Cultural Contemporáneo en los Andes Ecuatorianos

Goodspeed 402 - 3:30 PM

A pesar de enfrentar inmensos desafíos como resultado de la globalización, la migración y la crisis ecológica, la juventud indígena desempeña un papel fundamental en la expansión de la visibilidad de las narrativas indígenas en los ámbitos cultural, académico y digital. En esta presentación, investigo las representaciones de lo que significa ser indígena en el siglo XXI para la juventud kichwa ecuatoriana de la región andina. Como joven investigadora indígena, esta investigación también ofrece recomendaciones para una metodología comunitaria y orientada a la acción, basada en la relacionalidad y la cocreación ética. Utilizo herramientas analíticas de los Estudios Críticos Indígenas que visibilizan estrategias innovadoras para construir nuevas realidades sociales, en las que la juventud indígena se considera clave para el cambio del futuro. Contrariamente a los discursos locales que afirman que están "perdiendo su cultura", sostengo que la juventud kichwa utiliza el activismo artístico y el hip hop para tejer creativamente sensibilidades espacio-temporales, memoria intergeneracional y compromiso sociopolítico con una apertura a la improvisación y la diversificación. Al establecer nuevas conexiones con la literatura futurista indígena, destaco la presencia de la filosofía andina entretejida en prácticas estéticas de renovación y adaptación. La juventud kichwa, por lo tanto, genera imaginación crítica e innovación pedagógica cruciales para adaptar la lengua, la ciencia y la filosofía kichwa a las diversas realidades de la urbanidad y la diáspora. Finalmente, la colaboración en investigación también dio lugar a una cumbre nacional de dos días de activistas, artistas y educadores kichwa ecuatorianos, denominada Wambra Kapary, con importantes enseñanzas para la investigación comunitaria desde una perspectiva juvenil.