Return Address:Anishinaabe News Address Service Requested c/o Center for Native American Studies112 Whitman Hall Northern Michigan UniversityMarquette, MI 49855

Anishnaabe NewsAnishnaabe News is back

The Center for Native American Studies History

The Center for Native American Studies(CNAS) arose out of the Native American con-sciousness and activism in the 1960’s that wassweeping the nation. The takeover of Alcatrazand Bureau of Indian Affairs buildings byNative activists during this time had an impacton college campuses. This consciousness andactivism spread to the faculty, staff, and espe-cially the Native students at Northern MichiganUniversity. CNAS‘s roots can be traced to aninitial meeting which occurred between theNMU Chippewa Education and the MichiganInter-Tribal Councils in the summer of 1970.The purpose of this meeting was to discuss theformation of a Chippewa Studies Center. ManyNative Americans attended. In the fall of 1971,the American Indian Management TrainingProject was started because of a grant NMUreceived to train fifty Native Americans inoffice occupations. More developments withNative American projects ensued on campus,and in the following year, the Office ofAmerican Indian programs. This office waslater placed under the larger umbrella of diver-

sity programs and is currently the DiversityStudent Services.

In 1991, Dr. Melissa Hearn revived the discus-sions of a possible Center for Native AmericanStudies (CNAS). Initially, CNAS informallywas housed in the English Department for nextfew years where Dr. Hearn and Ms. LillianHeldreth were faculty. They taught courses inthe program, and also served the program in anadvisory capacity. The first Native Americanfaculty member, James Spresser was hired intothe English department.

During this time, the CNAS program estab-lished an interdisciplinary Native Studies, andin 1993 the Phillip Morris foundation provideda $100,000 grant for three years to the Center.In 1996, CNAS became officially approved bythe Board on Control. Dr. Dennis Tibbettsbecame the first Director of CNAS until 2000.Dr Martin Reinhardt was hired in 2001 andremained until January of 2005.

Anishnaabe News is back! What isAnishnaabe News? Anishnaabe News beganin 1971 as one of the premier Native newspa-pers in not only the region but at the nationallevel, too. Native American students atNorthern Michigan ran all of the newspaper’sfunctions. At its peak, The Anishnaabe Newshad a circulation of over 6000. Due todecreases in funding and revenue, theAnishnaabe News published its last edition in1983. Now, Anishnaabe News will be start-ing up again after a twenty-one year hiatus,and it is run by current Native American stu-dents at Northern Michigan University.

Nishnawbe News (as it was spelled earlier)has a rich and storied history. Back in 1970,Jim Carter worked in the Office of Researchand Development and became instrumental inbeginning Native American education pro-gram emphasizing cultural heritage, interests,

and abilities. After consulting faculty, Cartercontacted Senator Robert P. Griffith aboutdeveloping a Chippewa Education Center.The courses of the center focused on nativelanguage, folklore, history, and anthropology.

The time and place ripe for Nishnawbe Newsto emerge as small group of Native AmericanStudents and Jim Carter developed one of theleading newspapers in Indian Country. Thestudents did all the necessary functions ofrunning a newspaper, the writing, formatting,editing…etc.

In the spirit of those former students and con-tributors of the original Nishnawbe News,Native American Students with the help of theCenter for Native Studies will bring backAnishnaabe news. Some things will be dif-ferent. The name will be changed slightly toAnishinaabe News, nd the format and layout

will be different due to the technology wehave today. Anishnaabe News will be in alimited print edition and will be online. Wehope we have the spirit of those foundingmembers as we bring back Anishnaabe News.

Anishnaabe News will continue on the on tra-dition of being a student-centered newspaper.We are always looking for help in everydepartment. We thank our readership for allthat they do and please pass the word on,“Anishnaabe News is here to stay.”

Inside this Issue

April Lindala’s Interviewp. 2

Darnell Bradley’s Interviewp. 3

Editorialp.4

Kinomaage and Miningp.5

NASA /Student Showcasep. 6 & 7

Native Events this Fallp. 8

Book Review/ AICCp. 9

Sweet Grass Film Festp. 10

Ojibwe Food Tasterp.11

Native Heritage Monthp. 12

Volume 1, Issue 1November 2005

10 3

Interview Darnell Bradley: Director of D.S.SSweet Grass Film Festival 2005 In conjunction with the NMU Fall Domestic DiversityInstitute, the Sweetgrass Association (formerly known as theSweetgrass Foundation) presented ...three days of contempo-rary Native American films and special guests on theNorthern Michigan University campus in Marquette,Michigan."A Thousand Roads" (signature film of the new NationalMuseum of the American Indian, director Chris Eyre)

"American Indian Graffiti" (writer/producer Steve Judd);"Black Cloud" (film composer Brent Michael Davids) "DoeBoy" (Randy Redroad, writer); "Goodnight Irene" (SterlinHarjo, director); "Images of Indians: How HollywoodStereotyped the Native American" (writer/director, ChrisEyre); "Last of the Mohicans" (Brent Michael Davids, com-poser);"Tattoo on My Heart" (writer/director/producers ChrisEyre and Charlie Abourezk);"The Gift" (Heath & Wellness,Western Hemispheric influence of corn in wellness, NMUfaculty represented).

In addition, two Native poets, Sherwin Bitsui, an Academy ofAmerican Poets award winner and experimental writer/artistand Luke Warm Water, an Arichibald Bush FoundationFellow in poetry/film, were on hand to discuss their projects,serve on panels as respondents and provided the close to ourfestival with a reading performance and slam showcase on-campus followed by Warm Water’s animated storyboardscreening.

Diversity Student Services (DSS) takes aproactive role in the education and prepa-ration of all of the university's students forlife in an increasingly multicultural world.Diversity Student Services fosters avibrant, stimulating, safe learning commu-nity in which cultural diversity is valued,differences are respected, and people fromall cultures and backgrounds can flourish.The wide variety of services provided aredesigned to enhance opportunities for per-sonal growth, academic success, and socialinteraction particularly among AfricanAmerican, Asian American, Latino/a,Native American, multiracial, gay, lesbian,bisexual, transgender, and female students.

Darnell J. Bradley of Chicago, Ill., is thenew Director of Diversity StudentServices. Before joining the NMU staff,Bradley worked in the Greek life and lead-ership development offices at NorthernIllinois University. I had a chance to askhim some questions about entering a newcollege community and what he hopes toaccomplish while here.

Nish News: What kind of educationalbackground do you have?Darnell: I have Bachelors in PoliticalScience, a Masters in AmericanGovernment w/Public Administration con-centration. I currently am completing myDoctorate in Adult and Higher Education.

Nish News: Since you have recently relo-cated, what do you think about Marquette?Darnell: Marquette has been great thusfar. The people in my neighborhood havebeen really welcoming, and have reallygone out of their way to make us feel athome.

Nish News: What do you like aboutNorthern?Darnell: I like the small student popula-tion. Northern gives you an opportunity toget to know students on a more personallevel; something you can't get at a largerinstitution. NMU was the ideal size institu-tion I was looking for. Coming from acampus of 25,000, I wanted to be in anatmosphere where I could know a goodnumber of the students, and thus be able tohelp a larger number of students maximize

their potential. The fact that I don’t mindsnow was also an important factor.

Nish News: Can you tell us about yournew position? What your job duties areand such?Darnell: My duties include supervision ofthe day-to-day operations of the office,budgeting, and oversight of the diversitystudent services office as well as the twostate-funded programs it offers: theGateway Academic Program (GAP) andthe King*Chavez*Parks (KCP) CollegeDay Program. I also try to work with thecultural student organizations to coordinateprogramming and events.

Nish News: What kinds of things are youhoping to achieve this year?Darnell: This year, I want to make DSS asvisible as possible. In the past, the officehas not been as visible or involved in thecampus community as it should have been,and this year will be the first where it willbe out front providing multicultural pro-gramming. I hope to have at least five pro-grams targeted towards bringing the cam-pus community together to experienceanother culture.

Nish News: Are there any activities orevents your office is holding?Darnell: We hosted Bill Miller in concerton Sep. 27th. We are in the process offinalizing a Latino Heritage MonthCelebration for Oct. 16th. We will be par-ticipating in World Aids Day activities, aswell as Black History Month, Women'sHistory Month, GLBT Month, and Asian-American Heritage Month in the spring.

Nish News: Can you explain why DSSand GAP are so important?Darnell: DSS is important because thecampus needs a resource to turn to when itis looking for multicultural activities andideas. Multiculturalism has so many posi-tive benefits for students of every color,that an office like DSS can play a majorrole in explaining those benefits and pro-viding research to support it. The GatewayAcademic Program or GAP as it is morecommonly called is a retention programfor economically and academically disad

vantaged students. Since a college educa-tion remains to be a stepping stone to high-er earnings, and an overall improved quali-ty of life, giving as many students as pos-sible the chance to succeed at college isvital. GAP provides the mentorship andsupport that can make the differencebetween a successful student and one whodecides to give up on higher education. Akey focus of our office is keeping studentsat NMU through graduation, so I’m reallylooking forward to contributing my pas-sion for helping students succeed.

Nish News: Lastly, what words of advicecan you give to students?Darnell: My first advice would be to getinvolved. Make the campus experience onethat you never forget; if you don't mapyour own experience, you will just end upgoing with the flow, and miss out on greatlearning experiences. My other advice isfor them to come and chat with me orShirley Brozzo, my Assistant Director. In alot of cases I have been in a particular situ-ation and can speak to it from experience.Also, I try to stay pretty well networked,which means that if I don't have theresources to help a student, most likelyShirley will-and if all else fails we knowsomeone who can get you on the righttrack.

If you are interested in contacting Mr.Bradley, his office is located within theDiversity Student Services, 3001Hedgcock. The phone number is 227-1554,or email: dbradley@nmu.edu

By: Molly Meshigaud

Allison Hedge Coke, Project Director

Mark Pero (Senior), Charlie Abourezk

(L toR) April Lindala, Charlie Abourezk, Chris Eyre, Sherwin Bitsui, Steve Judd, Sterlin Harjo, Mark Pero (Senior), Travis Hedge Coke (Senior), and Brent Michael Davids

Sterlin Harjo, Steve Judd

8 5

Rediscovering the Way : Kinomaage and the Industrialization of the Northwoods

What do you see when you think ofthe Northwoods? Pines towering over blue-berries? Waves rocking wild rice? Troutswimming in the shade of cool waters? TheGreat Lakes? Chances are your mentalimage does not include smokestacks belch-ing pollution, mines draining sulfuric acidinto wild streams, or large powerlines web-bing their way through field and wood. Sadly enough, these latter images are also apart of the northern Great Lakes area.Worse still, they threaten the more beautiful,healthful images of birch stands, cattails,and the sun rising pink on the mists of asmall inland lake. But this is not merely athreat to beauty – it is also a threat to thecultures, health, and subsistence lifestyles ofthe Northwoods. A recent course at Northern MichiganUniversity, offered through the Center forNative American Studies, focused on learn-ing about the ways in which this northernland provides for its human inhabitants,“Kinomaage,” (which translates fromAnishinaabemowin into English most literal-ly as “the earth shows us the way”) took stu-

dents into the field and engaged them inclassroom discussions to learn about the tra-ditional ecological knowledge of theAnishinaabeg, knowledge that has beenacquired through centuries of intergenera-tional residency in the Northwoods. Thecourse also asked students to pay attentionto the plant community as an indicator ofecological stress, to be aware of what itmeans to have a respectful relationship withthe land, and to develop a consciousness ofhow cultural values shape people’s attitudestoward the earth. As part of this, studentslooked at the way in which the Northwoods,

and the people’s ability to harvest healthyfood, has been affected by industrialization.Far from being an untouched forest prior toEuropean settlement, the Anishinaabeg thor-oughly utilized the northland by farming,

harvesting, hunting and fishing. In fact, itcould be argued that the Anishinaabeg mademore thorough use of the land prior to theadvent of Western society than anyone doestoday. This concept is important to recog-nize for it shows that it is possible to utilizethe land while also respecting it and keepingit whole. Some have a difficult time understandingthis perspective. As discussed in“Kinomaage,” this difficulty often comesfrom the anthropocentric worldview of themajority society that humans are separatefrom this vague, often menacing, conceptcalled “nature.” Today this worldview hasgone to such an extent that many believeeating directly from the earth is unsanitaryand dangerous. Things must be sprayedwith insecticide and packaged in cellophanebefore they are “safe” to eat. “Kinomaage”contradicts this worldview by offering anintroduction to the idea that such things aswiinsisiibag (wintergreen), apakweshkway(cattail), mazaanaatig (stinging nettle), baak-waanaak (sumac), wiigwaasag (birch), andmiinan (blueberry) are harvestable and edi-ble or usable. Indeed, the harvest is morethan a functional utilization of the earth; it isalso heavily spiritual.This idea that the earth provides us withwhat we need often comes as a surprise tothose who are immersed in the Western par-adigm. For example, at a recent DEQ hear-ing on Kennecott’s proposed metallic sulfidemine on the Yellow Dog Plains inMichigan’s Upper Peninsula, one of the fewcitizens who spoke in favor of the mine toldhis fellow Yoopers that he was tired of hear-

ing how we needed to protect the “pristine”landscape of the Yellow Dog Plains. “Youcan’t eat landscape,” he said. Raised in aculture that denigrates the earth and sees novalue in “uncultivated” or “undeveloped”land, this man was able to say, withoutembarrassment, that the landscape was ined-ible. However, there were others at thehearing who were aware of how inaccuratehis comment was. One woman fromKeweenaw Bay Indian Community “wantedto tell them about the blueberries ‘up there’being important for our food and feasts.” It is worth noting that, according toKennecott, the area for the proposed metal-lic sulfide mine site on the Yellow DogPlains has no “cultural resources.” On thecontrary. While the area may not harbormanoomin (wild rice), it certainly grows anabundance of miinan (blueberries). This isnot to mention that the area is also home toa variety of animals, includingwaawaashkeshi (white-tail deer) and variousgiigoonyag (fish), particularly trout, impor-tant to both the Anishinaabeg and theYooper cultures. Like the man who saw the landscape asinedible, Kennecott reflects the anthropocen-tric worldview. As discussed in“Kinomaage,” this worldview feels thatwhere humans exist, humans should domi-nate. Not surprisingly, such a perception ofthe earth tends to lead to ecological imbal-ance and disrupted lives for all concerned. Kennecott, with its proposed sulfuric acidmine drainage, is the most recent in a line ofindustrial exploiters who have sought tomake a fortune off the wealth of the north-land and its inhabitants. This industrialexploitation, while lining the pockets of out-siders, undermined the subsistence lifestyleof the Northwoods.

In addition, Kennecott’s proposedmetallic sulfide mine is at high-risk to leaksulfuric acid into the surrounding area(which includes an important trout stream, awetland, an aquifer, and, down the troutstream, Lake Superior). This risk is asgood as a certainty, for every metallic sul-fide mine in North America has contaminat-ed its surroundings within ten years of clos-ing. Such contamination certainly affectsthe quality of healthy food, be it plant oranimal, available for harvest in those areas.

Native American Events on NMU Campus

The Wiidoktaadwin:Walking in BalanceConference On Thursday, October 6, the NMU Centerfor Native American Studies and ProjectW.E.A.V.E/Reclaiming Futures hosted thefirst ever “Wiidoktaadwin: Walking inBalance” Conference at Northern MichiganUniversity. Over 35 agencies were repre-sented at the event. Eva Petoskey whooperates a community-based research andevaluation services for tribes and Indianorganizations started the day with a keynotepresentation. Following the keynote, theday was full with four different sessionsand twelve presenters that covered a varietyof topics. The goal of the conference was toprovide information and tools on how pro-gramming and treatment can be enhancedthrough Native culture, tradition and spiri-tuality.

Native American Performer

Bill Miller, a Native American song-writer/singer/flutist/storyteller and 2005Grammy Award Winner, came toMarquette on Tuesday, September 27,2005. Mr. Miller performed in concert inJamrich 102 as the doors opened @7:00pm and the performance started @7:30pm. Mr. Miller also lectured in theOntario Room before his musical perform-ance.

Two Native American students at NorthernMichigan University have been chosen to theAmerican Indian Education Foundation (AIEF)scholarship and be a part of their mentoringprogram. Dominic Davis, Freshman in HealthEducation, and Sonja DesArmo, FreshmanApplied Child Development have been bothawarded by the AIEF to receive scholarships

Scholarships Awarded

Earl’s WigWamEarl Otchingwanigan shared his talents inthe construction of a traditional wigmam.On October 14, 2005 a showing of "Earl'sWigwam" took place during the fallSeaborg Center Conference at the MeadAuditorium on the NMU Campus. EarlOtchingwanigan, a retired professor ofNative Studies from Bemidji StateUniversity and Rich Sgarlotti of the NahTah Wahsh, Hannahville Charter School,presented on this film on how to make ananishnaabe wigwam and discussingAnishinaabe culture in general as well asspecific uses of plants in this region.

By: Amiee Dunn

NNeeww NNaattiivveeAAmmeerriiccaann SSttuuddiieess CCoouurrssee ffoorr WWiinntteerr 22000066!!

Indigenous EnvironmentalMovements

NAS 295: Special TopicsWednesdays, 6 - 9:20pm4 creditsAimee Dunn, Instructor

Indigenous peoples aroundthe world face environ-mental issues that threatentheir cultural and ecologi-cal survival. Special topicscourse NAS 295:Indigenous EnvironmentMovements will study the-ses environmental issuesand will explore howindigenous peoples areresisting these threats inefforts to protect the landand their ways of life.

Call 227-1397 or 227-2035for more information.

Eric Halfaday (Freshman) shared songs attheWiidoktaadwin conference.