Community Forum - Monday, February 28, 2005
FORUM TOPIC: Aspects
of the Indian Experience
DISCUSSION LEADER: Sebastian Braun, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant
Professor, Department of Indian Studies, University of North
Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
TIME: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
LOCATION: Grand Forks Herald Community Room, 375 2nd Avenue
North (use alley entrance), Grand Forks
This Exploring the American Indian Experience community forum
provides you with a short overview of the historical experiences
of Native Americans with Euro-American settler societies.
It aims to give you a broader background of the voluntary
and forced cultural changes that Native communities underwent.
Although it does not discuss boarding schools per se, it
describes how boarding schools are an example of the many
ways forced assimilation occurred. The situations of cultural
contact and forced assimilation clearly show which cultural
values all parties hold as truly important. As people learn
about each other over time, these cultural values change
and evolve, or they remain the same and become ingrained
as cultural stereotypes. You are encouraged to freely ask
the questions you have always wanted to ask but were afraid
to regarding "the Indian experience."
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER: Dr. Sebastian Braun holds a Ph.D.
in socio-cultural anthropology from Indiana University. He
received his Masters degree in ethnology, history and philosophy
from the University of Basel, Switzerland. More recently, his
research has centered on contemporary tribal bison ranching
and human-animal relations on the Great Plains. He joined the
University of North Dakota Department of Indian Studies in
the summer of 2004. His academic interests include economics
and ecology, globalization, intercultural relations, trade
and warfare, and cosmology. Along with other courses reflecting
his research interests, he teaches the Lakota language course
at UND.
Community Forum - Tuesday, April 5, 2005
 FORUM TOPIC: From Dream to Nightmare: American Indian Boarding
Schools 1880-1920
DISCUSSION LEADER: Wilbert H. Ahern, Ph.D., Morse-Alumni
Distinguished Teaching Professor of History, University of
Minnesota-Morris, Morris, MN
TIME: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
LOCATION: Grand Forks Herald Community Room, 375 2nd Avenue
North (use alley entrance), Grand Forks
In the late 19th century, U.S. policy makers advocating educating
Indian children so that they would fit within U.S. society.
Among western tribes suddenly enveloped by U.S. power, an
interest in learning about the U.S. and "the white man's
road" grew. This common dream of education turned into
a nightmare for native communities. The boarding school,
rather than becoming an instrument of enlightenment and emancipation,
developed into one of coercion and control with grim repercussions
for native communities and the broader society. An exploration
of the creation of the federal system of Indian
education,
1880-1920, reveals that forces behind this unfortunate result
as well as some paths not taken.
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER: Dr. Wilbert “Bert” Ahern
is a Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of History
at the University of Minnesota, Morris. In 1998, he was named
the Program Consultant for Tribal College Programs for the
Bush Foundation. Since 2001, he has served as the Director
of the Faculty Center for Learning and Teaching at the University
of Minnesota-Morris. Dr. Ahern earned his B.A. at Oberlin
College, Oberlin, Ohio, in 1963. He earned his M.A. (1966)
and Ph.D. (1968) at Northwestern University in Evanston,
Illinois.
Community Forum - Thursday, April 7, 2005
 FORUM TOPIC: A Celebration of Life: Understanding the Powwow
Experience
DISCUSSION LEADER: Leander Russell McDonald,
Ph.D., Assistant Professor, National Resource Center on
Native American Aging, Center
of Rural Health, UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences,
Grand Forks, ND
TIME: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
LOCATION: Chester Fritz Auditorium, University Avenue & Yale
Drive, Grand Forks
American Indian dancers and singers from the surrounding
area will share their culture through dance and song. Dr.
Russ McDonald, discussion leader, will assist by providing
insight into these annual community celebrations of life
by explaining
the interaction between the master of ceremonies, arena director,
veterans, dancers, singers, honorings and the community.
An informational presentation opens the forum and a question
and answer session will follow the powwow demonstration.
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER: Leander Russell
McDonald, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Center
for Rural Health,
located in the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health
Sciences. Dr. Russ McDonald is also the Associate Director
of Research for the National Resource Center on Native American
Aging and has assisted 89 sites representing 171 tribes in
conducting needs assessments. His father is Dakota from the
Spirit Lake Nation and his mother is Arikara from the Fort
Berthold Reservation. He has been conducting research among
Native populations for the past seven years, with the last
five years focused on the American Indian and Alaskan Native
elderly.
 Artwork designed by Jake Thompson and Merry Ketterling.
Symbolism of artwork: Education is a MOUNTAIN to shoot for and one must learn
self-discipline, endure suffering and insurmountable obstacles to get to
the top. The ARROW at the top of the MOUNTAIN symbolizes strength and achievement,
as the top is reached and aiming for more. It is also symbolic of prayers
flying to the Great Spirit, asking for his support. The Morning STAR symbolizes
the length between past and present. The FIVE FEATHERS represent the five
reservations that are part of North Dakota and the PIPE is a symbol of
strength and spirituality. The TIPIs stand at the four DIRECTIONS.
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Exploring
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