602: Widoké (Making Community): Building a Legacy through Culture and Education
9:45-10:45 am
General Track 2
Ki Ngot-Ki Nish
Mtg Rooms 1&2
The Gun Lake Tribe Education Department invites you to explore how culturally grounded education can shape a powerful message for future generations. Through community partnerships, interdepartmental collaborations, cultural programming, and student engagement, Gun Lake is planting seeds that will grow into strong, proud, and connected Anishinaabe leaders. This session will highlight practical strategies for weaving culture, language, and identity into education from early childhood through higher education, ensuring that each step forward honors those who came before us and inspires those who will follow.
Our session directly reflects this year’s theme by focusing on how the Gun Lake Tribe Education Department carries forward the teachings, responsibilities, and hopes entrusted to us by our ancestors. Just as our elders looked into the faces of the generations before them—listening to stories by the fire, learning from the marks on birch bark, and understanding the truths behind treaties—we are doing the same work for our youth today. Through culturally grounded programming, language integration, and community-based education, we are ensuring that the memories, teachings, and gifts carried in the hearts of our ancestors continue to live on.
Each program we offer, each partnership we build, and each young person we support becomes part of that sacred responsibility to “send a message” to those who will follow. Our work is about planting seeds now so future generations can live mno-bmadzewen, a good life—one rooted in pride, belonging, sovereignty, and cultural strength. This session will show how education can be an active practice of honoring the past while shaping a powerful and healthy future.
Lead By:
Karen Bos, Tribal Librarian - Gun Lake Tribe
Karen is a third-generation librarian from Newaygo, Michigan. She currently lives in Wayland, where she serves as the Tribal Librarian for Gun Lake Tribe (GLT) and the Assistant Director of Jijak Youth Camp. In her four years at GLT, Karen has focused on decolonizing the library collection, developing culturally relevant library programming, and offering innovative continuing educational programs. A passionate crafter, she launched a weekly creative night with the GLT Culture department, where they've woven together traditional and modern crafts and fostered a welcoming learning environment for the community.
Karen is a graduate of Kalamazoo College with a BA in Art/Art History and Classical Studies. In her free time, she enjoys thrifting with her daughter, golfing, gardening, creating, and, of course, reading.
Meagan Uber, Education Assistant - Gun Lake Tribe
Meagan Uber lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with her husband of 18 years and their two children, Levi and Bryn. Her love of teaching and learning began as a preschool teacher and later transitioned into public education. She now has the privilege of serving as the Education Assistant and Internship Coordinator for the Gun Lake Tribe’s Education Department, as well as serving on the Allegan Area ESA Early Childhood Advisory Committee. In these roles, she supports the Tribe’s youth, families, and community through culturally grounded educational programming.
Meagan works closely with data analytics to help improve the productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Education Department’s programs. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.
Andrea Heidtman (Keweenaw Bay Indian Community), Higher Education Specialist - Gun Lake Tribe
Andrea is a citizen of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. She grew up in Skandia in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula. Andrea graduated from Western Michigan University in 2003 with a BA in Interpersonal Communication and Africana Studies and earned the Presidential Scholar Award from the School of Communication in 2004. Andrea has worked in the service industry for the last two decades, dedicating herself to community involvement and social justice. In her latest role as a Higher Education Specialist, she helps Gun Lake citizens find and shine their light.
Andrea currently lives in Kalamazoo with her husband, Quintin, their six children, and five grandchildren.