MRC Programming 2020 - 2024
MRC Lecture Series and Collaborations
To Banish Forever: A Secret Society, the Ho-Chunk, and Ethnic Cleansing in Minnesota
Cathy Coats (Metadata Specialist at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Libraries and 2018 SCSU Distinguished Thesis Awardee) with special guest, Dr. Amy Lonetree (University of California, Santa Cruz)
Coats (author of To Banish Forever) and Lonetree (Ho-Chunk) engage in a discussion of the largely untold story of the Ho-Chunk exile from Minnesota, in which local white residents formed a secret society, the Knights of the Forest, that sought to expel all Indigenous people from the region and deny their claims to some of the richest farmland in the world.
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Atwood Memorial Center Theatre
It Took Courage: Eliza Winston's Quest for Freedom
Dr. Christopher Lehman (Department of Ethnic, Gender, and Women's Studies, St. Cloud State University)
On August 22, 1860, an enslaved woman from Mississippi named Eliza Winston petitioned for her freedom before a judge in Minnesota—and won. Dr. Lehman discusses his new book which uncovers the remarkable story of Winston’s first forty-two years and her long struggle to obtain her freedom.
7 p.m. Monday, April 22, 2024
Atwood Memorial Center Theatre
What's Our Story? Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women In Minnesota
Chris Stark
Stark is an educator and author, who’s recent book Carnival Lights has been nominated for a Minnesota book award. She serves on the governor’s task force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Minnesota and is an educator in gender violence prevention. Her book explores inter-generational love that allows a family and other Native people to survive and overcome attempted genocide.
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Atwood Memorial Center’s Theater
Co-sponsors: KVSC Radio, Women’s Center, American Indian Center, Multicultural Resource Center and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education
Wíyaka Siƞte Wiƞ "Tail Feather Woman's Vision of the Drum"
Paula Horne (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) and Babette Sandman (White Earth Ojibwe)
Listen to two Native women discuss the story of Wíyaka Siƞte Wiƞ, a Dakota woman who had a vision of a drum that would be shared in order to bring unity and healing among tribes.
Feb. 23, 2022
Watch recorded presentation (caption editing in progress)
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center and the Multicultural Resource Center
A Healing Tradition Shared: The Jingle Dress
Brenda J. Child (Red Lake Ojibwe) speaks about the jingle dress as a practice, its origins, and its ongoing use.
Child, Ph.D., is Northrop Professor of American Studies and former chair of the Department of American Studies and the Department of American Indian Studies. She is the author of several award-winning books including a book for children, Bowwow Powwow (2018), which won the the American Indian Youth Literature Award for best picture book. In 2019, she curated an exhibit at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum in Central MN, Ziibaaska'iganagooday: The Jingle Dress at 100. Child also has a popular new documentary, Jingle Dress Dancers in the Modern World: Ojibwe People and Pandemics, which is available on YouTube.
Dec. 7, 2021
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center and the Multicultural Resource Center
peehkiciihaataawii "Let's Dress Her/Him Well": Traditional Great Lakes Indigenous Haute Couture
Native people have been expressing themselves through innovative clothing styles for thousands of years.
Learn about traditional Native clothing with Scott Shoemaker, a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Program Officer, Native Arts and Cultures of the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.
Nov. 18, 2021
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center and the Multicultural Resource Center
Honoring Nada Fronk: A Native Father’s Experience with His Missing and Murdered Indigenous Daughter
Monte Fronk, a 2007 graduate of St. Cloud State University (Public Safety Executive Leadership) and Emergency Management Coordinator for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, will tell the story of his daughter, Nada Fronk, who was murdered by her boyfriend May 26, 2021 at the age of 24.
Nada Fronk was missing and trafficked during much of her youth. After being rescued, she found the resilience to earn her high school diploma and was making a life for herself before it was tragically ended.
Oct. 7, 2021
Atwood Memorial Center’s Voyageurs room
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center, Department of Ethnic, Gender, and Women’s Studies, Multicultural Resource Center, Racial Issues Colloquium, School of Public Affairs, and Women’s Center.
Content warning: This event will contain language and images that may be disturbing. Gender violence advocates will be present at the event for attendees who need support.
Walking In Beauty: Navajo Experience in Minnesota: A Conversation with Donavan Rian Begay Postier
Hear Donavan Rian Begay Postier share about the relationship between gender, sexuality, and the Navajo community through their professional and personal experiences, especially as a Navajo transwoman.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Co-sponsors: LGBT Center, American Indian Center, and Multicultural Resource Center
Education as a Tool for Colonization: Reflections of the Native Student Experience in Higher Education
Dr. Sasanehsaeh Jennings, Coordinator of Native Student Success, University of Wisconsin System
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021
COVID-19 and the Social Determinants of Health*: What does it mean to our communities and to higher education?
Professor Giovanni Antuñez, Department of Kinesiology, St. Cloud State University
*This refers to the different social, economic, cultural, environmental, political, religious, and biological factors associated with health and disease.
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2020
The (R)evolution of Indigenous Food Systems of North America Chef Sean Sherman (The Sioux Chef)
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center and Multicultural Resource Center
UnleashIndigeneity with an Inspiring Native SCSU Alumni
Dustin Goslin, (GEOG 2008) Prairie Band of Potawatomi and Vice President of Business & Economic Development for Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center and Multicultural Resource Center
The Winding Path of a Community Leader
Roxanne DeLille indizhnaakawz zhaagaanaashiimowin, Dean of Indigenous and Academic Affairs at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College & Consultant specializing in leadership and relationship dynamics
Monday, Oct. 12, 2020 - Indigenous People's Day
Co-sponsors: American Indian Center and Multicultural Resource Center