Registration is now closed for the 2015 Great Plains Symposium, an event that will bring several important figures in the current Native American economic and cultural renewal.
The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs have teamed up to bring this exceptional gathering of Native American talent to Lincoln, Neb., on May 14-15. The 2015 Great Plains Symposium “Standing Bear and the Trail Ahead” will explore the status, challenges, and especially the opportunities and prospects that Native Americans and First Peoples face going forward.
We expect it to be of great interest to:
- Native opinion-makers in the Great Plains, including authors, scholars, organization leaders, tribal elders, advocates, and others
- Indian residents of the Great Plains, including both individual residents on reservations and those living in urban areas
- non-Native scholars, agency officials, authors, and others who professionally address or are concerned with Native issues of culture, history, jurisprudence, and economic development
- college and graduate students, both Native and non-Native, who have curiosity about or curricula involving the issues to be discussed
- Members of the general public interested in the future and well-being of Native Americans in the Great Plains.
Our title, “Standing Bear and the Trail Ahead,” plays off the local effort led by Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, NCIA Executive Director Judi gaiashkibos, and others to create a Memorial Trail honoring Standing Bear. The Memorial Trail, a virtual experience, would follow Standing Bear’s (and the Ponca tribe’s) “removal” to Oklahoma and his unauthorized return to the Ponca homeland, where he was arrested, tried in an Omaha federal court, and famously granted the first recognition in U.S. law of Indians’ “personhood.” The relevance of Standing Bear’s story for our Symposium is that his return and vindication embody the kind of “triumph of endurance” that in a larger sense Native and First Peoples have achieved and that now places them on the threshold of renewal and revival.
“the Trail Ahead” part of our title signals that the Symposium will look broadly at the current status and future prospects of Native peoples. There has been considerable attention (as there should be) on reservation bad news, such as high diabetes rates, joblessness, alcoholism, domestic violence, and suicide. But good news deserves telling too, and our Symposium will showcase growing economic progress among Indians and the emerging Native cultural renaissance.
We see emerging evidence of the new opportunities and improving prospects in the prosperity that gaming and casinos have brought some tribes, but much more profoundly we see it in the business success of Ho-Chunk Inc. and the Winnebago tribe and in the growing entrepreneurialism the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Eastern Shawnee, and the Hoopa Valley Tribe; we see it in the developing success of the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council; we see it in the benefits brought by such landmark cases as the Osage land trust settlement; we see it in the escalating quality of Indian colleges and their students’ achievements; and perhaps most convincingly we see it in the accomplishments of Indian writers, artists, and film-makers like Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, William Least Heat-Moon, Chris Eyre, and others. Indeed, we may be at the front edge of a Native and First Peoples renaissance of historic proportions.
An impressive number of the individuals contributing to this renaissance will appear at the Symposium, including:
- Activist Winona LaDuke
- National TV correspondent Hattie Kauffman
- Entrepreneur Lance Morgan
- Attorney Wilson Pipestem
- Kansas State House Representive Ponka-We Victors
- Buffalo Council president Jim Stone
- Scholar-advocates Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, James Riding In, and Robert Miller
The event will conclude with an exceptional and powerful concert by Buffy Sainte-Marie. An event not to be missed!
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The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs (NCIA) will hold its 2015 Chief Standing Bear Breakfast as part of the Symposium. This will be the start of a new biennial format for the Breakfast that will allow more time and energy to be focused on bringing bigger and better events to program attendees. The 2015 event will still feature the Breakfast Commemoration, but will also bring speakers, performances and discussion to Lincoln.
The NCIA is the state liaison between the four headquarter tribes of the Omaha, Ponca, Santee Sioux and Winnebago Tribes of Nebraska. It helps ensure the sovereignty of both tribal and state governments is recognized and acted upon in a true government-to-government relationship. The commission also serves all off-reservation Indian constituencies in the State of Nebraska. All goals of the commission are accomplished through advocacy, education and promotion of legislation.
If you have immediate questions, email the Center. More information on the Chief Standing Bear Breakfast can be found at the Commission’s website.
For more information about the symposium go to www.unl.edu/plains/2015-symposium
2015 Symposium Featured Presenters
Winona LaDuke
Native American activist, environmentalist, economist, and writer, is known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation. LaDuke is the executive director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, a nonprofit that seeks to recover land for the Anishinaabeg people and develop programs for environmental preservation. You may recognize LaDuke when she was the vice presidential nominee of the Green Party of the United States in both 1996 and 2000 or from her appearance on the Colbert Report in 2008.
Hattie Kauffman
Former CBS and ABC correspondent (and first Native American national correspondent), author of memoir Falling into Place.
Wilson Pipestem
Managing Partner and co-founder of Ietan Consulting, which is “dedicated to advocacy on behalf of Indians and tribes”; enrolled member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Native American songwriter and folk singer, former “Sesame Street” regular, member of Cree Nation.
Speakers and Presenters
Beatty Brasch, Executive Director, Center for People in Need
Moses Brings Plenty, actor, lead in “The Cherokee Word for Water”
Judi gaiashkibos, Executive Directory, Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs
Camie Goldhammer, Founder and chair of the Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington, Sisseton-Wahpeton
Margaret Jacobs, Chancellor’s Professor of History, UNL, Bancroft Prize winner for White Mother to a Dark Race
Winona LaDuke, author, Founding Director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project and enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg
Christine Lesiak, NET Television, producer, director, and writer of Standing Bear’s Footsteps
Stew Magnuson, journalist and author of The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder
Robert Miller, author of Reservation “Capitalism:” Economic Development in Indian Country, enrolled member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe
Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc, enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Kaci Nash, research associate and project manager, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, author of The Great Sioux Nation
James Riding In, author and scholar, Arizona State University, enrolled member of Pawnee Tribe
Danelle Smith, Partner-Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP, enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, author of Standing Bear of the Ponca, enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Joe Starita, author, I Am A Man: Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice
Jim Stone, Executive Director, Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council, enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux
Mike Tyndall, Buffalo herd manager, enrolled member, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Mark Weekly, Acting Deputy Regional Director-Midwest Region, National Park Service
Ponka-We Victors, member of Kansas House of Representatives, enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and the Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona
Roger Welsch, Nebraska author, humorist, folklorist, and commentator, adopted member of Omaha Tribe and Tribal Friend of Pawnee
David Wishart, Professor Geography, UNL, author of An Unspeakable Sadness
Larry Wright Sr., Director of Ponca Tribe Buffalo Programs
Program
Thursday, May 14, 2015
9 a.m., Sculpture garden behind Sheldon Museum of Art: Teepee set up
10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St. Packet/ticket pick up
10:30 a.m., Morrill Hall front steps: Youth events with Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, St. Augustine Dance Troupe
1 – 2:30 p.m. | Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, south theater: “The Cherokee Word for Water” (film) and talkback with Moses Brings Plenty, (Moderator: Princilla Parker)
3 – 4:30 p.m. | Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, south theater: “Standing Bear’s Footsteps” (film) and talkback with Joe Starita and Christine Lesiak
5:30 – 7 p.m. | Van Brundt Visitors Center: College of Arts & Sciences’ Opening Reception, introduction by Rick Edwards, Judi gaiashkibos, and special guest Arts & Sciences Dean Joseph Francisco (packet pickup available)
7:30 p.m. | Kimball Recital Hall: Sherman Alexie plenary talk. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., auditorium doors open at 7 p.m. Mr. Alexie will sign books after the talk. (Packet pickup available)
Friday, May 15, 2015
8 – 10 a.m. | Embassy Suites Ballroom: Standing Bear Breakfast with Hattie Kauffman, anthem: Emmy Her Many Horses (packet pickup available)
10:15 – 11:45 a.m. | various locations: Concurrent sessions
1. Sheldon Museum of Art, Abbott Auditorium: “Back from Oblivion: The Trail Ahead for Tribal Buffalo Herds” – Jim Stone and a panel of Mike Tyndall, Larry Wright Sr, and others (Moderator: Andrea Miller)
2. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Steinart Room: “Removal, Return, and Reconciliation of Tribes in America” (Moderator: Alicia Harris)
David Wishart, “Plains Indians: Removal, Return, and Reconciliation”
Margaret Jacobs, “American Indian Child Removal and the Elusiveness of Reconciliation”
3. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lied Commons: “Building the Standing Bear Memorial Trail”
Mark Weekley, “What a National Historic Trail is and is Not”
Kaci Nash, “Following Chief Standing Bear: Investigating the Ponca Removal Trail”
Joe Starita, “Why Standing Bear Matters – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”
(Moderator: Beth Ritter)
4. Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, south theater: “Mitakuye Oyasin: Health and Healing through Motherhood” – Camie Goldhammer (Moderator: Marisa Cummings)
12 – 1:30 p.m., Embassy Suites Ballroom: Luncheon honoring tribal leaders with Wilson Pipestem, introduction by Larry Wright Jr., Ponca Tribal Chairman
1:45 – 3:15 p.m. | various locations: Concurrent sessions
5. Sheldon Museum of Art, Abbott Auditorium: “The Path Forward for Native Women” – Ponka-We Victors, Danelle Smith, Judi gaiashkibos (Moderator: Judi gaiashkibos)
6. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Steinart Room: “Resources for Indian Futures”
Winona LaDuke (Moderator: Shirley Sneve)
Robert Miller, “Building Sustainable Economies and Reservations”
7.Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lied Commons: “Returning Lands for Repatriation and Cultural Empowerment” (Moderator: Jess Shoemaker)
Roger Welsch, “Indian Giving: The Final Selfishness”
James Riding In
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | various locations: Concurrent sessions
8. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Steinart Room: “Breaking the Silence on 1970s Wounded Knee”
Panel: Stew Magnuson, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Beatty Brasch (Moderator: Leonika Charging)
9. Sheldon Museum of Art, Abbott Auditorium: “Celebrating the Ho-Chunk Story” – Lance Morgan (Moderator: Rebekka Schlicting)
4 – 5:30 p.m. | Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lied Commons: “Many Stories, Many Voices” – multiple authors and their books
7:30 p.m. | Kimball Recital Hall: Buffy Sainte-Marie concert, merchandise available before and after the show. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., auditorium doors open at 7 p.m. Open seating.
This program is not final and may change before the symposium date.
Download the Standing Bear and the Trail Ahead flyer.
Travel, hotels and parking
Travel: For those flying in to Omaha who require transportation to Lincoln, contact OMALiNK for shuttle information and pricing. For those flying into Lincoln, many of the surrounding hotels have free airport shuttles. Contact your hotel about shuttles.
Hotels: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn at a special rate. Use this link (forthcoming) to book rooms in this block. Other hotels within walking distance of Symposium venues include the Cornhusker Marriott and the Courtyard Lincoln Downtown. Due to a large event taking place at the same time as the Symposium, please book your room early.
Parking: See the map for nearby city parking garages. Daily maximum rates are $9.
Parking Map