UW–Madison’s Indigenous community centers Native November around love

This year’s Native November theme, “Love is…”, celebrated the ways Indigenous people show love for their culture. From food to the arts to stories passed on from generations, love is deeply rooted in the Indigenous community.

Programming efforts, held throughout the month of November, were led by UW–Madison’s Indigenous Student Center and members of the Indigenous Student Center Coalition. The ISCC is made up of six student organizations housed within the ISC: Wunk Sheek; American Indian Science & Engineering Society; Twin Tails; the Indigenous Law Student Association; Tribal Libraries, Archives, & Museums; and Indigenous Graduate Students.

The UW Indigenous community celebrated Native November on Monday, Nov. 4 with the annual Kickoff Feast, which featured a barbecue dinner and Twin Tails as the host drum.

A group of Indigenous students are seated around a drum. They sing and smile while playing the drum.

Twin Tails, a student-led drum group, performed at the event. PHOTO BY: ROBERT SAN JUAN

People sit on either side of a long table adorned with red table cloths.

Attendees gather in the Red Gym on Nov. 4 for the Kickoff Feast. PHOTO BY: ROBERT SAN JUAN

A line forms for a barbecue spread provided by Ho Chunk-owned BP Smokehouse, located in Tomah, Wisconsin. PHOTO BY: ROBERT SAN JUAN

Lakota Native, actor, comedian and writer Jana Schmieding visited campus as this year’s Native November keynote. On Nov. 15, she joined a UW–Madison student-moderated discussion to talk about topics like Indigenous visibility and her career. And there were more than a few laughs as Schmieding responded to questions.

A group of young women students stands around comedian Jana Schmieding and laugh before posing for a photo.

Before taking the stage at Memorial Union’s Play Circle Theater for the keynote event, Schmieding (center) jokes with Wunk Sheek leadership (from left to right) Miinan White, McKenna Metoxen, Emma James, Kalista Cadotte and Ava Belisle.

Two young women sit in chairs on a stage and laugh while a third women, also in a chair, makes a joke.

Schmieding (right) responds to questions from UW–Madison students Kalista Cadotte (left), who serves as the social activism chair for the student organization Wunk Sheek, and Sierra Skenandore (center), a former intern of the Indigenous Student Center.

A crowd of students laugh at a joke while sitting in the audience of an indoor theater.

Audience members laugh while Silas Cleveland, an ISC COUSIN (programming assistant intern) asks a question during the audience Q&A session. Photo by: Bryce Richter

A group of people pose on a stage. Three sit in the front in chairs and the rest gather behind the chairs, standing.

Members of the Indigenous Student Center Coalition are pictured along with Schmieding (front, center) following a moderated Q&A session during the Native November keynote event. Photo by: Bryce Richter

Current Indigenous students and alumni came together for the Native November Alumni Social on Nov. 17. The event, hosted by student organization Indigenous Graduate Students in collaboration with the Indigenous alumni affinity group Cooweja and the Indigenous Student Center, featured a talk by the Honorable Michelle Greendeer, a UW–Madison alum and Badger parent.

A group of Indigenous students and alumni gather in front of a mural and pose for a group photo.

Indigenous students and alumni pose for a photo with the Honorable Michelle Greendeer (back row, center) during the Alumni Social.

On Nov. 18, the Nelson Institute hosted a free screening of “Bad River,” a documentary that follows the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band on their fight for sovereignty. The screening was followed by a moderated Q&A with Bad River tribal members Aurora Conley, vice chair of the Anishinaabe Environmental Protection Alliance, Misty Jackson, American Indian Science & Engineering Society Coordinator for Madison Metropolitan School District, and Patty Loew, UW–Madison professor emerita and retired inaugural director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University.

Five women sit on a stage in front of a large screen that reads, "Bad River A Story of Defiance."

Bad River tribal members Aurora Conley (center right), Misty Jackson (center left) and Patty Loew (center) spoke to the audience during a Q&A after the screening of “Bad River.”