NAI UPDATES
Kevin Leonard Named Director of the Native American Institute
Kevin Leonard, Ph.D., who has helped renew relationships with Michigan’s Tribal communities as interim director of MSU’s Native American Institute (NAI), has been named the institute’s permanent director effective August 1, 2024.
He was appointed interim director in October of 2022 by then MSU Provost Teresa Woodruff, who recognized his background, expertise, and forward-thinking commitment as integral to the success of NAI.
As interim director, Leonard led NAI’s transition from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to the Office of University Outreach and Engagement (UOE), where he began conducting listening sessions with Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Tribes and partners across the state. As a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Leonard’s extensive knowledge has contributed to better understanding Native communities and what they want from NAI and MSU as a partner. Read more
MSU Tribal Outreach Project Report Released
The MSU Tribal Outreach Project report reflects top priorities identified by Tribal communities and Native and Indigenous cultural, health, and education organizations across Michigan.
The report is the result of listening sessions between the Native American Institute (NAI) and Tribal partners inside and outside of MSU. “The process has helped renew and strengthen the bonds between MSU and our Tribal partners, and the results will help guide the NAI as we build on these relationships in the years to come,” said NAI Director Kevin Leonard, Ph.D.
Those conversations began in fall of 2022, when then Provost Teresa Woodruff appointed Leonard, then president of EAGLE (Educating Anishinaabe: Giving, Learning, Empowering) – MSU’s Native American faculty/staff association, as interim director of the NAI. He was charged with two primary directives: to bring stability back to the institute and conduct listening sessions with Tribal partners to determine their needs and wants from MSU and NAI. Prior to Leonard’s appointment, the NAI was operating amid distress, instability, and leadership transitions. Read more
NAI Receives Grant to Revive Indigistory with Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
Indigistory was first created in 2012 by Gordon Henry, Ph.D. (enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinaabe Nation) and Ellen Cushman, Ph.D., with the goal of bringing together knowledge and resources from social sciences, arts, and technology to support the creation of digital stories by American Indian community members from across Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Awarded the 2017 Michigan State University Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Creative Activities, Indigistory began as a collaborative partnership with several community organizations. Due to some unfortunate circumstances that included a change in the leadership of the Native American Institute, work on Indigistory slowly came to an end.
Understanding the importance of collecting and preserving the stories of the Anishinaabe people and communities, Kevin Leonard, Ph.D., reached out to Henry about reviving Indigistory shortly after he was appointed interim director of the NAI in 2022. Henry was interested, and discussions about the when and how of restarting Indigistory began. The planning team grew to include Kehli Henry, Ph.D., Emily Henry, and undergraduate student Tayden Davis. Read more
NAI Collaborates with MSU Science Festival to Bring Native Students to Campus
Visit from Robin Wall Kimmerer – Braiding Sweetgrass
Over half of all Native American students in the United States lack access to the math and science high school classes they need to prepare for the college degrees in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) fields. Only 17% of Native American students continue their education beyond high school, compared to 60% of the total U.S. population. It is clear work needs to be done to expose our Native youth to career opportunities in STEAM as well as institutions of higher learning. Read more
NAI Co-Sponsors Movie and Sponsors Documentary Showing for Lansing Native Community
The Native American Institute co-sponsored the showing of Killers of the Flower Moon in conjunction with Estrella Torres, Ph.D., and the Indigenous Youth and Exploration Program and Kristin Arola, Ph.D., director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program, in spring 2024. Based on David Grann's broadly lauded best-selling book, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. Over 250 folks attended, many dressed in traditional ribbon skirts and shirts. Read more
Native American Resource Guide Art Competition Winners
The Native American Institute (NAI) is partnering with the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP), to produce an online and print version of the Native American Resource Guide that expands on the guide that has been published out of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) for over the last two decades. Read more
OTHER NEWS
Kristin Arola Named Director of American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
Please join the Native American Institute in congratulating Kristin Arola, Ph.D., associate professor and the Karen L. Gillmore Endowed Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures, as the new director of American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) at MSU. Arola had served as interim director of AIIS since Dylan AT Miner, Ph.D., stepped down in spring 2022 to become the dean of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. Arola is a first-generation descendant of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians located in the western end of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Read more
Small Island Big Song – NOKOMIS Drum Making
In March 2024, the MSU campus experienced the transformative power of music during Small Island Big Song‘s performance and residency at Wharton Center for Performing Arts.
The project brought together Asian and Pacific Islander performers, uniting communities through song and a shared sense of responsibility to protect our water and our planet. The weeklong residency included engagement with over 100 Michigan K–12 students in schools, 50 MSU students in their classrooms, and over 100 community members both at the Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center and at Wharton Center. Read more
REDress Project Visits MSU, Spotlighting Violence Against Indigenous Women
This story contains references to lives lost and sensitive topics regarding violence perpetrated against women.
Women’s History Month is a time dedicated to recognizing women’s contributions and efforts throughout history. In 2024, this observance began on March 1, when people on MSU’s campus may have noticed 60 red dresses installed along West Circle Drive in areas around the MSU Museum and Beal Botanical Gardens. These dresses were part of an art installation titled The REDress Project by Métis artist Jaime Black-Morsette. Read more
Preserving Indigenous Culture Through Three Sisters Gardening
Recent Michigan State University College of Arts & Letters graduate Mikayla Thompson, who is a descendant of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is educating others about Indigenous farming practices and culture through the gardens she helped create and now leads at MSU’s W.J. Beal Botanical Garden and the Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center in Okemos, Michigan.
This past spring, Thompson, who graduated from Michigan State University in December 2023 with a B.A. in Linguistics and a minor in Indigenous Studies, helped establish a Four Sisters Garden at Beal Botanical Garden and a Three Sisters Garden at the... Read more
Annual Dance by the River Traditional Pow Wow Returns to Lansing
As the powwow season came to an end, the Anishinaabe Friendship Center, or AFC, presented the first Annual Dance by the River Pow Wow September 28-29 to honor the cultural significance of the ancestral powwow grounds of the Anishinaabe people at the Adado Riverfront Park in Lansing, Michigan.
Historically, the Lansing Indigenous name is Nkwejong, which means “where the rivers meet.” Traditionally, Indigenous people traveled on the river and, according to elders, the Lansing area has always been a gathering place.
This year’s powwow was a major milestone that coincided with Native American Day. After a pause since 2019, it’s finally returned, with hopes of establishing it as an annual event to restore the Anishinaabe presence in Lansing. Read more
Submit your programs and events for future NAI newsletters and NAI social media posting
The Native American Institute would like to help promote Indigenous programming, events, powwows, and social gatherings in future newsletters and/or on our social media. If you would like your event reviewed for promotion, please submit a brief write-up that includes title of the event, date, time, location, and other pertinent information, as well as related flyers or images, to nai@msu.edu.