Sunset over a calm body of water with a rocky shoreline and silhouetted trees in the background.

Indigenous Perspectives Symposium

The annual Perspectives on Indigenous Arts Symposium creates a space for knowledge dissemination, focusing on the intersection of art with Indigenous Peoples, communities, Tribal governments, and lifeways.

Indigenous Perspectives Symposium on Art 2024

Indigenous Perspectives Symposium

Friday, November 1st, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
NMU’s Northern Center

This is an inaugural event focused on providing a space for Indigenous perspectives to flourish. Our purpose is to open a welcoming space for knowledge dissemination to an interested or broader audience about the intersection of art with Indigenous Peoples, Nations, communities, and lifeways. We are hosting this event to increase opportunities for creative collaborations across a wide variety of art mediums and presentations, from traditional to contemporary interpretations by sharing the story of Indigenous arts across NMU’s service area and providing discussion perspectives on impacts to campus/regional diversity and belonging.

Indigenous Perspectives Symposium screening of "Bring Them Home" film

Friday, November 1st, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
NMU’s Jamrich Hall Theater 

"Following her Oscar-nominated role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Lily Gladstone is narrating and executive producing a new documentary titled “Bring Them Home,” about a Blackfeet initiative to bring buffalo back to the wild and reclaim centuries of Indigenous tradition.

Directed by Blackfeet brother-sister duo Ivan MacDonald and Ivy MacDonald, as well as Daniel Glick, the 85-minute feature will premiere at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival on Feb. 24. The screening will take place at 6 p.m. and is sponsored by The Nature Conservatory.

“Bring Them Home” follows a decades-long effort by members of the “Blackfoot Confederacy” to bring buffalo back to the Blackfeet Reservation. The film examines the role the buffalo, or “iinnii,” played in Blackfeet life before settlers killed millions of the species in an attempt to eradicate the tribe." - Ethan Shanfeld, Variety Online Magazine. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAK3IYj2NqI

 

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A detailed beadwork artwork depicts a large brick building with arched windows in the background. In the foreground, boys dressed in sailor suits and girls in white dresses stand in orderly lines. There are adults in dark clothing to the right. The sky is textured with swirling patterns.

Ziibiwing Culture Center Beaded Boarding School Art
Artwork courtesy of the Ziibiwing Center and Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. 

Woodland Sky Performance at the Indigenous Perspectives Symposium

Woodland Sky Native American Dance Company

An Authentic Native American Dance Experience
Enjoy a spectacular, educational, and respectful Native American dance experience during the Decolonizing Diet Luncheon by the Woodland Sky Native American Dance Company.  Established in 2013, they focus on the telling of historic Native American stories using traditional songs and dances.

A group of people, mainly men, are gathered outdoors, playing traditional drums. Several other people, including women, stand around observing. Some participants wear colorful clothing. Trees and a cloudy sky are visible in the background.

Event Schedule

The event will feature keynote speakers, panel presentations, and breakout sessions, allowing opportunities for creative collaborations across various art mediums, from traditional to contemporary interpretations. 

The symposium will honor Anishinaabe protocols for opening and closing meetings and include discussions on Indigenous art’s impact on diversity and belonging at NMU and the region.

2024 Schedule

An artist sits on the floor in front of a large mural, which depicts surreal scenes including figures playing pool, an angel, and individuals skateboarding. The mural is predominantly in hues of pink and purple. Various art supplies are scattered on the floor.

Keynote Artist: Jonathan Thunder, Red Lake

Jonathan Thunder infuses his personal lens with real-time world experiences using a wide range of mediums. He is known for his surreal paintings, digitally animated films and installations in which he addresses subject matter of personal experience and social commentary. He is an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, and makes his home and studio in Duluth, MN.

Jonathan will be presenting about his experiences that continue to influence his art journey.  

2024 Speakers & Presenters

Northern Michigan University is located on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe Three Fires Confederacy. Gichi-namebini Ziibing is the traditional name of Marquette.  

ᑮᐧᐁᑎᓄᒃ  ᒥᒋᑲᓐ  ᑭᓄᒫᑫ'ᑲᒥᑯᒃ  ᑮᐧᐁᑎᓄᒃ  ᒥᒋᑲᓐ  ᑭᓄᒫᑫ'ᑲᒥᑯᒃ  ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯ  ᐧᓯ  ᔥᑯᑌ  ᐊᑭᒃ᙮  ᑭᒋᓇᒣᐱᓂ  ᓰᐱᒃ  ᐁᔑᓂᑲᑌᒃ ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒧᐧᐃᓂᒃ Marquette. 

Giiwedinong Michigan Kinomaage'gamigong ayaa gete-anishinaabewaking Anishinaabe Swi Shkode Aking. Gichi-namebini Ziibing ezhinikaadeg Anishinaabe mowining Marquette.