UMN Morris to hold Native American Boarding School Teach-In Nov. 19

Sue Dieter

The University of Minnesota Morris will hold a teach-in about the history and impact of Native American boarding schools, including the ones that operated on our campus site.  The event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 19 in Imholte Hall room 109.   

The keynote speaker is Brenda Child, (Red Lake Ojibwe), Northrop Professor of American Studies and American Indian Studies, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is the recipient of the President's Community Engaged Scholar Award, is the author of multiple award-winning books, and was recently named a Guggenheim Fellow.  Her keynote address is titled, “Boarding Schools and American Indian Dispossession."

Other speakers for the event include:

  • Ted Gordon, Visiting Assistant Professor in Sociology, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, “Benedictine Boarding Schools in MN: Centering Indigenous Needs in Oral Histories and Archive Repatriation”

  • Demi Dumarce (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), NASNTI Education Collaborator and Salt Springs Teacher Education Lecturer, UMN Morris (UMM '18),  “Long Term Impacts of Native American Boarding Schools Through the Eyes of a Grandchild”, 

  • Becca Gercken, Associate Professor of English and Native American American & Indigenous Studies, UMN Morris,  “How to Be a Good Ally When the Subject is Indigenous Boarding Schools”, 

The event begins at 8:30 a.m. with a light breakfast, followed by a blessing and welcome at 9 a.m., then the first speaker at 9:10 a.m. Following the keynote, lunch will be served in Oyate Hall. If possible, please RSVP for lunch by Monday, Nov. 14  to help with planning.    

For those unable to attend in person, the Teach-In will also be available via Zoom.  Registration is required:  https://z.umn.edu/BoardingTeachIn2022