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Wake up and smile! Grab your breakfast and join us for a lighthearted hour of laughs with Johnny R., The Ojibwe Outlaw!

This presentation will highlight multiple collaborations the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), the Confederation of Michigan Tribal Education Directors, and Michigan’s educator preparation institutions have undertaken in recent years to support a more equitable and inclusive education system for learners of all ages from Michigan’s Anishinaabe community. These collaborations include forging pathways for tribal educators to earn Michigan teaching certification, programs for teachers to earn the Anishinaabemowin Language and Culture endorsement, and standards for teacher preparation across discipline areas that strive to honor Anishinaabe history, perspectives, and ways of knowing. Representatives from MDE’s Office of Educator Excellence will discuss how these collaborations support multiple strategic initiatives for transforming Michigan’s education ecosystem. The presentation will showcase representatives from Northern Michigan University’s Center for Native American Studies and College of Education and from Bay Mills Community College to demonstrate how their inter- and intra-institutional collaborations created Michigan’s first-ever Anishinaabemowin Language and Culture teacher preparation program.

I reminisced about the memories that were frozen within each photo on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Each photograph was neatly kept in a large leatherbound photo album, beginning with a blurry photo of an ultrasound and ending with a photo of my high school graduation. As I flipped through the weathered pages, I remember thinking how impressive it was to see the first eighteen years of my life condensed into one large book. Based on the dust that filled its pages, it seemed as though this photo album was merely a shelf ornament that was rarely opened. Thinking about this book in the context of the current digital age sparked a consideration that few people contemplate – children’s privacy. While some individuals still have physical photographs tucked away in albums, most young people today have only digital memories stored in a digital cloud or shared on various social media outlets. Imagine a world where nearly every moment of your childhood was available to the public by one click of a button, beginning on the day you are born and extending into perpetuity. Even worse, imagine one of your most traumatic childhood memories preserved on the internet for all to see. Unfortunately, this is the reality that some Indian children face when they are involved in high-profile litigation. This presentation will discuss how high-profile litigation impacts Indian children’s privacy and distinguish how individuals can seek balance between advocacy and oversharing. It will also highlight some important considerations that young people and caregivers should contemplate when considering what information to share on the internet.

All any of us really want is to belong. A place where we feel safe cared for and heard. In the face of power, cruelty, and exclusion, the only healthy response is laughter. The arts, writing, music, beauty, is a lace of stories, where it is possible to disrupt narratives of power with humor.

The intent of the town hall is to provide an opportunity for audience members to ask questions they have about Indian education in the State of Michigan, and/or to voice their ideas and concerns. Each of the panelists embody different and important elements of what we might collectively think of as Michigan Indian education.

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