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The Native American Support Program (NASP) cultivates an environment supportive of positive experiences for Native American and Indigenous students at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Learn about NASP initiatives and programming, and get updates on upcoming events and resources both on the UIC campus and within the greater community.
4. Indigenous Events

blog posts

  • Flyer for Event

    The Indigenous Poetteller’s Workshop

    • Date: January 29, 2020
    • Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
    • Location: American Indian Center
  • Urban Native Education Conference

    Urban Native Education Conference

    The Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative (CAICC) is pleased to announce that the Call For Proposals for the 2021 Fifth Annual Urban Native Education Conference is now open.  The virtual conference will take place May 14-15, 2021

    Our conference theme this year is Living Our Values Towards Health & Healing. The theme acknowledges the ways in which our values shape and support our individual, family and communities’ health, wellbeing and healing, specifically during a pandemic. At the core of many Native American and Indigenous communities are the values known as the 4 R’s – relationships, reciprocity, responsibility, and respect. In what ways do these values influence how we build, support, care, teach, learn and lead? How has this pandemic helped to ground us in what’s important? 

    We invite Native American and Indigenous community leaders, knowledge keepers and scholars, students, educators, youth, administrators, helpers and staff of educational programs, organizations and institutions, from Chicago-land (Checagou) and beyond, to join us at the 5th Annual Urban Education Conference. 

    CALL FOR PROPOSALS NOW OPEN

    For more information and proposal instructions please visit: https://chicagoaicc.com/call-for-proposals-for-caiccs.../Deadline: April 2, 2021 

    A special miigwech to Le'Ana Asher for permission to use her art, Cones. Learn more about Le'Ana's art here: https://leanaasher.com/?v=32aec8db952d

  • Untangling Colonialism Public Training • August 5th

    Untangling Colonialism – Building a Decolonizing Framework. A decolonizing practice requires recognition of the history of colonization and its current manifestations. This training briefly covers United States Federal Indian Policy carried out dominantly in the lower 48 and its expansion into Alaska policy and the implications on Alaska Native peoples. Additionally, participants will discuss how the history of environmental conservation has mirrored colonial world-views and what possible strategies we can further in order to decolonize conservation. This training delves into the spectrum of decolonizing strategies; from various personal, institutional, and systemic pathways forward.

  • 3rd Annual Chicagoland Native American Housing Fair

    Learn about: credit counseling, home buying resources, rental resources, etc. 

  • Field Museum Town hall Meeting

    Hello Everyone,

    there will be a Town Hall meeting on  February 29th from 11:30-3:00pm, at St. Kateri Center/St. Ben's Beaven Hall, 2215 W. Irving Park Rd. We will be discussing the Native American Hall Renovation Updates/Design Overview, Meet Chicago advisory group, Q&A with Field Museum staff and Chicago advisory group, Opportunity to provide feedback. Lunch will be provided. Limited parking available in parking lot behind the church, accessible from Bell St.For more information, please contact Debra Yepa-Pappan, Community Engagement Coordinator, at dyepapappan@fieldmuseum.org is

    Please RSVP by clicking on the link below. Please share this link and invite with anyone interested in attending.

    Thank you,

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VxLJE5aaGPOBw2VVXqpeTip596sIQLUfVHFOUTCurto/edit?ts=5e4c2a88

  • American Indian Center Chicago Inter-Tribal Youth Summer Program

    PLease see attached flyer

  • The Chicagoland Native Artist Directory Flyer

    The Chicagoland Native Artist Directory

    Please see the attached flyer for details. 

  • Is Education a Path Forward From Historical Trauma?

    Native people have had to overcome hundreds of years of trauma stemming from continued colonization and subjugation, and education has bound our broken hearts and provided new paths. The American Indian College Fund wants to know your thoughts about this difficult journey - awarding $200 prizes to selected submissions.

    Learn more and share your reflections by OCT 9th!

  • Powwow Flyer

    It's Almost Powwow Time! American Indian Center - Chicago

    Interested in a group rate discount? Contact us at powwow@aicchicago.org for more detail.

    Are you interested in the Volunteer Opportunities for our 68th Annual Chicago Powwow? Click the following link to sign up! https://forms.gle/vhcoCifGmUK2YVnw9

     ** CALLING ALL DANCERS, DRUMS, VETERANS, EAGLE STAFFS, COLOR GUARDS, AND ROYALTY... WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!! ****

    VENDOR SPACES STILL AVAILABLE, BUT GOING QUICKLY **APPLICATIONS ONLINE WWW.AICCHICAGO.ORG

    HOST HOTELS ARE LIVE, PLEASE MENTION THE AIC POWWOW TO RECIEVE THE RATES, LINKS BELOW https://www.marriott.com/event.../reservation-link.mi...https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/sm15i8...

  • Virtual Run Walk Dance, American Indian Health Services Chicago

    Please see attached flyer for details.

  • Men's Talking Circle

    Please See Flyer for Details.

  • Upcoming Symposium - Indigenous Interventions: Reshaping Archives and Museums

    A symposium hosted by the Field Museum, Northwestern University, and the NewberryFriday, November 13, 2020

    9:30 am to 3:15 pm

    OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

    CENTER FOR AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES PROGRAMS

    This program will be held virtually on Zoom. Please register for free in advance here.

  • Native Comedian Night

    Native Comedian Night

    Please see the flyer for details.

  • Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative Education Conference

    Date: May 2, 2020

    Location: UIC Halsted

  • Tommy Orange reading from There There on April 23, at the American Indian Center

    In collaboration with the American Indian Center and other partners, CNAIR is excited to host the Cheyenne and Arapaho writer Tommy Orange for a reading and discussion of his novel There There on April 23, at the American Indian Center of Chicago.  Space is limited, so please register for the event here:  https://tinyurl.com/vyna3fb.

    Busses will run from Northwestern to the AIC and back, departing at 4:30 and returning by 9 PM.  Please sign up here http://bit.ly/2PN9kYH if you’d like to reserve a seat on the bus.

    CNAIR partners will host discussions of There There across campus in early April—stay tuned for details.

    Thanks to Northwestern’s Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, the Litowitz MFA + MA Profram, Multicultural Student Affairs, and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion for partnering with us on this event.

  • Rafael Cintrón Ortiz Latino Cultural Center 45th Anniversary Celebration

    Please see the attached flyer for details. 

  • SHARE YOUR VOICE, JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

    National Crittenton and National Young Women’s Initiatives have organized the In Solidarity Conversations across the country to center the leadership, experiences and advocacy of cis and trans girls, young women, and gender-expansive people of color during COVID-19, the economic crisis and the recent protests and uprising. These conversations will serve as a mechanism for determining how they are experiencing and managing the effects of these recent events...

    Click Title to Learn More.

  • California Indian Manpower Consortium

    The CIMC Workforce Development Program provides job training and employment opportunities for low-income, unemployed and underemployed Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian individuals residing in our service area. 

  • American Indian Health Service of Chicago

    A new clinic has opened in the neighborhood and is accepting new patients. Schedule your appointment today!

  • Registration now open for National, Midyear, and more!

    Special February Rate!

    Registration and hotel reservations are now open for UNITY’s 2021 National Conference happening July 2-6, 2021, in Dallas, Texas!

    UNITY is dedicated to providing a safe environment for attendees participating in the in-person 2021 National UNITY Conference. With this in mind, UNITY is reducing the number of attendees by more than 50% of the venue capacity. This means that registration spots are limited, and once capacity is reached, the registration portal will close. Also, there will NOT be on-site registration this year; all registrations must be completed on-line and before the conference start date.

  • American Indian Health Service of Chicago

    Covid testing and relief funds.

  • David Treuer

    The American Writers Museum will be hosting an event with Ojibwe author, David Treuer on Friday, February 14th at 10:00a.m.

    David Treuer is a bestselling author from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. This special event will discuss his latest work, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, a sweeping history — and counter-narrative — of Native-American life from the Wounded Knee massacre to the present and was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award.At the event, you will have an opportunity to learn more about Treuer’s book and ask questions after his presentation.

    RSVP with our program to attend for FREE- email Lisa at LkbernaL@cps.edu to be added to our guest list. Please note, we will not be providing any travel accommodations.

  • What is indigeneity and how can it help us rethink gender and sexual non/normativity? CNAIR Course

    Course Description: 

    What is indigeneity and how can it help us rethink gender and sexual non/normativity? In what ways current notions and identities such as queer and trans* are expansive yet reductive to approach the experiences of Indigenous and Native people? 

    This course critically explores Indigenous ways of knowing in the Americas in contrast to traditional views of gender and sexuality. By introducing and relying on decoloniality as a practice and form of analysis, the focus of this course will be two-fold: 1) We will analyze how contemporary understandings of gender and sexuality are contested by indigeneity across time, and how they operate within colonial processes and legacies; 2) We will focus on the ways scholars from Indigenous and Native Studies have theorized gender and sexual non-normativity in relation and in response to scholars in Queer and Trans Studies. As we move across several communities and geographical spaces, students will engage in tandem with primary and secondary sources including first person accounts, films, short literary texts, performance pieces, and historical, ethnographic, and theoretical works. Overall, students will develop skills in written, performance, and theoretical analysis while expanding their knowledge on gender and sexual minorities beyond western epistemologies.

  • Education Day, American Indian Center

    Please see the included flyer for additional details. 

  • Native Alliance Summit, Teach For America

    The second is the  Native Alliance Summit from November 6-8. This year’s virtual Native Alliance Annual Leadership Summit will bring together Teach For America’s American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai’ian Indigenous internal and external community to build a coalition of relatives, supporters and mentors among Tribal Nations/Villages. Throughout the three day summit, participants will work together to build, strengthen, and share resources that support best practices and legislative advocacy for Native Education. Through collaboration, we will work to strengthen the inherent sovereignty of our Nations through Indigenous thought and philosophy and work to dismantle, decolonize, and Indigenize the education system that has historically harmed Indigenous communities.

  • Valentine Bingo

    Come out and enjoy a day of fun bingo with our Young Native Leaders!

  • Book Club Flyer

    Native Script! Book Club April Book Selection

    Please see the attached flyer for details.

  • Chicago Native Housing Survey

    Chicago Native Housing Survey

    Please see attached flyer for details. 

  • Cultivating Black and Native Futures in Education Conference

    Registration is open for Cultivating Black and Native Futures in Education, a free virtual conference for scholars, artists, organizers, educators, activists, youth and practitioners to convene in the spirit of radical joy, love and solidarity; building what Ashon Crawley termed “otherwise worlds,” or what Leanne Betasamosake Simpson calls “a radical alternative present.”

    Register

    Cultivating Black and Native Futures in Education, June 16–19 When: 

    June 16,  2–3 p.m.June 17, 11 a.m.– 3:15 p.m. June 18, 10 a.m.– 3:15 p.m.  June 19, 10 a.m.– 2:45 p.m.*all times listed in MST time 

    Agenda: View conference program

    Location: Online

    Details: What does it look like for Black and Indigenous peoples to know our shared history as survivors of state violence, genocide, and settler colonialism, and move together toward imagining collective liberation and celebration of ourselves, one another, our people and the land and waterways? How can we work to make educational learning spaces — inside and outside of schools and institutions — as sites of exploratory and experiential learning, community accountability and answerability, resurgence and rematriation, and the forwarding of Black and Indigenous futures?  

  • Chicago Public Schools, American Indian or Alaska Native

    Chicago Public Schools - American Indian or Alaska Native students could be eligible for free services.

  • Young Native Leaders Virtual Workshop Series

    Young Native Leaders Fall 2020 Save the Dates Virtual Workshop Series 

  • UNITY Announces Series of Educational Webinars this Fall

    United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY) will hold a series of webinars this fall that will further its mission of fostering the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of American Indian and Alaska Native Youth.

     

    You can find more information on UNITY’s fall webinar series at unityinc.org.

  • Indigenous Women Healing Circle

    Please see the flyer for details. 

  • Urban Native Health and Wellness Survey

    Please see the flyer for details. 

  • Men's Talking Circle

    • Date: February 5, 2020
    • Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
    • Location: American Indian Center
  • Indigenous Peoples’ Day Training

    • Date: February 1, 2020
    • Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
    • Location: American Indian Center

     

  • Love Should Be Sweet

    • Date: February 12, 2020
    • Time: 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
    • Location: American Indian Health Services of Chicago
  • Native Youth and Adult Talking Circle

    • Date: January 27, 2019
    • Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
    • Location:  4326 Montrose Ave. Chicago IL. 60641
  • Young Native Leaders

    Please see the flyer for details. 

  • 2021 P.L.A.C.E. SESSION 1

    AUGUST 1, 2021 11:00 am - 12:00 pm MDT FREE | ONLINESUMMER - In our first 2021 REZILIENCE PLACE SESSION we're pleased to welcome back ROXANNE SWENTZELL who will be speaking about the “Pueblo Food Experience Project”. She will be sharing her journey in maintaining a relationship with ancestral foods, and her connection to her ancestors and homeland through food. Swentzell will discuss not only the health benefits, but also the cultural and spiritual benefits that come with a “pre-contact” period diet, and she will share her thoughts on the future and the world. Lee Francis will be our moderator and Joseph Stacy will be our visual facilitator.For more information on this event, contact rezilienceorg@gmail.com

  • Festival Of Stories

    • Date: February 28, 2020
    • Time: 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
    • Location: Ho-Chunk Chicago Branch Office

     

  • Tribal Voices in the 2020 Elections

    • Date: 2/6/2020
    • Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
    • Location: McCormick Foundation Center, 1870 Campus Drive Room 3-119
  • Urban Native Education Conference

    Save the Date: Saturday May 2, 2020

  • 7th Annual National Gathering of American Indian Veterans Flyer

    7th Annual National Gathering of American Indian Veterans

    Please see the attached flyer.

  • NCAI 2021 Mid Year Conference Flyer

    National Congress of American Indians 2021 Mid Year Conference

    Registration Now Open!

    Virtual Event

    NCAI Alaska Region

    June 20-24, 2021

  • Save the Date 2021 American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Health Summit

    2021 American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Health Summit

    This three day event will contain multiple sessions covering a variety of health practices within indigenous communities. Current topics that will be discussed are but not limited to COVID19 combat strategies being created in the AI/AN societies, uplifting women and their families, and the many factors that contribute to health. For more information and to register for free, follow the link below!

    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-american-indianalaska-native-aian-health-summit-registration-163090858147

  • Young Native Leaders Virtual Workshop Series

    St. Kateri Center of Chicago and CPS American Indian Education Program are building a new leadership program to cultivate young student leaders within our community. Participants will be able to receive stipends for their work at each of our programs’ events and have an opportunity to attend national Native Youth Leadership conferences as our youth delegate(s). It will be an exciting opportunity for our youth to develop their leadership and professional skills while giving back to the community!

  • LAND-GRAB UNIVERSITIES: OWNING THE TRUTH AND SHARING THE PATH TO MAKING AMENDS

    In partnership with The Ohio State University’s Humanities Institute and funded through generous support from The Ohio State University’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme Grants Program

    KEYNOTE ADDRESS BYTRISTAN AHTONE & ROBERT LEECO-AUTHORS OF THE LAND-GRAB UNIVERSITIES REPORT 

    ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS:

    Tsianina Lomawaima (Arizona State U) & Kelly McDonough (U of Texas): Co-Editors of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Special Issue on Land-Grab Universities

    Theresa Ambo (UC San Diego): The Complicity and Complacency of Land-Grant Universities

    Michael Roberts (First Nations Development Institute): Connecting Universities with Leaders of Tribes Whose Land was Taken and Sold to Fund Land-Grant Institutions

  • Field Museum Community Events: Save the Dates!!

    Community Town Hall Meeting

    Field Museum Native American Hall Renovation

    Saturday, February 29

    11:30 am - 3:00 pm

    Will begin promptly at Noon

    St Kateri Center/St. Ben's Beaven Hall

    2215 W. Irving Park

    Open to all in the Native community

    Lunch will be provided Native American Hall Renovation Updates/Design Preview Meet Chicago advisory group Q&A with Field Museum staff and Chicago advisory group Opportunity to provide feedback Please RSVP so we know how much to cater

    To RSVP or for more information, contact Debra at dyepapappan@fieldmuseum.org or 312.665.7315

     

    Apsáalooke Women and Warriors Exhibition

    at the Field Museum

    Exclusive Preview for Native Community

    Sunday Afternoon, March 8

    See the exhibition before it opens to the public!

    More details to follow.

    An invitation will be sent out within the next few weeks. RSVP will be required.

  • March Senior Lunch American Indian Center

    • Date: 3/4/2020
    • Time: 12 - 2PM
    • Location: American Indian Center