Native Wisconsin peoples to explore ‘many wisdoms’

There are easily as many ways to learn and teach as there are subjects. American Indian students, faculty and staff at UW–Madison are exploring how higher education might use lesser-known avenues to wisdom at a symposium in Madison, Thursday and Friday, Oct. 17 and 18.

The symposium, “Many Wisdoms in Higher Education: Communicating Our Changing Cultures, Communities and Challenges,” actually has a double purpose, according to co-organizer Gary Sandefur (Chickasaw), UW–Madison professor of sociology.

“We want to bring together the Indian communities on campus and off, to find out how the university might be helpful to them, and also how higher education might benefit from adopt traditional Indian ways of learning,” he says.

This exchange already has begun to take shape. In spring UW–Madison formed a partnership with the Menominee Tribal College on the reservation in Keshena that enhances the ability of Native students to transfer to UW–Madison. In addition, university-trained health care professionals have offered their expertise to Native communities, and, in turn, have learned about more traditional Indian practices.

However, Sandefur notes that differences in learning styles in themselves can cause confusion between cultures. “For example, there is the belief in some Native communities that knowledge should be transferred person-to-person, rather than written down,” he says. “Native peoples also rely on stories and examples as teaching tools, as opposed to presenting straight facts.”

Sandefur predicts that campus climate issues will be a major discussion topic at the symposium. “Change requires time and effort to understand why some people may not be comfortable here (on campus). Sometimes, the discomfort can be very subtle. We need to remember to reach out to people who are different from us, and that necessitates an ongoing commitment – we have to work at being inclusive and responsive,” he says.

Conceived as basically listening and sharing sessions linked to various themes, the symposium will open Oct. 17 with conversations with Janine Pease-Pretty-On-Top (Crow-Hidatsa), founder of Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Mont. Pease-Pretty-On-Top holds a MacArthur “Genius” Award, and has been honored with an American Civil Liberties Union Jeanette Rankin Award. In 1990 she was named National American Indian Educator of the Year, and has recently started an educational consulting business. She will be speaking with students, parents, educators and others in an open forum beginning at 2 p.m. in room 240 Madison Area Technical College (MATC) downtown campus, 211 N. Carroll St.

Proceedings will move to the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St., on Oct. 18 for more formal symposium fare. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., three concurrent panel sessions exploring the campus climate, identification and identity, and life on and off the reservation and how the university might reach out.

A luncheon at 11:30 a.m. in Memorial Union’s Great Hall will feature keynote address by Pease-Pretty-On-Top. A plenary session, “Creating a Native Intellectual Community,” will be followed by a wrap-up review. The symposium will conclude with an exhibition of contemporary Native art at the Kingsfoot Gallery, 2725 Atwood Ave. There will be a reception at the gallery at 6:30 p.m.

Co-organizer Janice Rice (Ho Chunk), UW–Madison senior academic librarian, says an important aspect of the symposium is to Native people on campus to reach out into the broader community.

“We want this event to be student-focused,” she says. “In many ways, their presence will point the way to the future.”

Organizers expect about 200 participants from not only the Madison campus, but the UW System, MATC, UW–Madison alumni, Indian educators and others from across Wisconsin. For a complete schedule of events and speakers, or to register online, contact the Web site at http://www.diversity.wisc.edu. For other information about the symposium, contact either Sandefur, (608) 262-0037, sandefur@ssc.wisc.edu; or Rice, (608) 263-7146, jrice@library.wisc.edu.