Relational Futures

915 East 60th Street,Chicago IL 60637

07 October, 2021

Description

A Symposium for Indigenous Land, Water, and Environment For whom have environments been protected, conserved, or honored? The prolonged impacts of environmental racism and settler colonialism, exacerbated by infrastructural and economic inequalities are realities shared by communities of color and Indigenous nations. How have notions of the commons and public lands, so central to environmental discourse in the United States, been used to simultaneously dispossess Indigenous territory and advance ideologies of conservation and protection? In light of the historical trajectory of these claims, catastrophic climate change, and ongoing global pandemic, how are Indigenous communities responding to and asserting their relationships to land and environment? Building and imagining more sustainable relationships with our environments, one another, and our other-than-human kin is crucial to our collective survival. Inspired by the more than two dozen artistic collaborations featured in the exhibition Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40 at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago—including work by Jeffrey Gibson, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Fazal Sheikh, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Mel Chin—Relational Futures offers a platform for dialogue around Indigenous environmental advocacy and research in the context of enduring legacies of toxic exposure, resource extraction, and global public health crisis. Bringing together Indigenous scholars, activists, and policymakers from the Indigenous Southwest to the Indigenous Midwest, this three-day program is open to all students, faculty, staff, and community members with the intention of building solidarity around our common commitments to environmental stewardship and relational care. AboutRelational Futures is presented in conjunction with the D’Arcy McNickle Distinguished Lecture series at the Newberry Library and the Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago, with additional support from the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago. Thursday, October 7, 6 pmVirtual event • Register through the Newberry Library for the webinar link Keynote Address by Deborah McGregor, Anishinaabe “Storytelling, Climate Justice, and Self-Determined Indigenous Futures” What does it mean to “live well” with the Earth in the face of climate/ecological crisis? What does a self-determined climate future look like for Indigenous communities and peoples? Indigenous-derived solutions must be generated based on knowledge systems which have fostered Indigenous survival despite centuries of environmental upheaval affected by colonization. This talk will capture desired ‘Indigenous climate change futures’ described by Elders and other knowledge holders, shared through peer-reviewed journal articles, workshops, podcasts, videos, a website, and presentations. Friday, October 8, 10 am–4:30 pmReva and David Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago, 915 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 10 am Welcome and Introductory Remarks 10:30 am–noon Environmental Justice in the Indigenous Midwest Roger LaBine (Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Water Resource Technician, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior ChippewaMichael Wassegijig Price (Wikwemikong First Nation), Traditional Ecological Knowledge Specialist at Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife CommissionDeondre Smiles (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), Assistant Professor of Geography, The University of VictoriaModerator: Blaire Topash-Caldwell (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians), Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Boston1–2:30 pm Nuclear Legacies from UChicago to Diné Bikéyah Talia Boyd (Diné), Cultural Landscapes Manager, Grand Canyon Trust Andrew Curley (Diné), Assistant Professor, School of Geography, Development & Environment, The University of Arizona Tommy Rock, (Diné), Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Geosciences, Princeton UniversityModerator: Teresa Montoya (Diné), Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow and incoming Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago3–4:30 pm Water Security and Relationality Grace Bulltail (Crow Tribe/Descendent of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation), Assistant professor, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-MadisonRochelle Diver (Lake Superior Ojibwe), ​​Independent Consultant, International Indian Treaty CouncilJanene Yazzie (Diné), Co-Founder, Sixth World Solutions Moderator: Kyle Whyte (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan 7 pm Film Program Public Trust: A Dialogue on Sacred Lands, Outdoor Recreation, and Indigenous Stewardship As an extinction crisis looms and climate change continues to be one of the greatest threats our planet has ever faced, America’s 640 million acres of public lands support biodiversity and carbon sequestration. It’s essential that we fight for their protection by preventing the slashing of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, fighting the potential permanent destruction of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, and stopping the de facto sale of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Public Trust (2020) is an award winning documentary film centering on three geographically distinct, though interrelated, public lands struggles. The stakes, as this film illustrates, are more pressing than ever. Screening and discussion around legacy of public lands appropriation and the role of Indigenous activism in reminding us whose lands we are fighting to protect. Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi), Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, New York University and the Cultural Resources Coordinator at Utah Diné BikéyahAshleigh Thompson (Red Lake Ojibwe), Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, The University of ArizonaJeremy Hunter Rubingh, producer, Public TrustModerator: Teresa Montoya (Diné), Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow and incoming Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago Saturday, October 9, 10 am–1 pmSmart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood Avenue Breakfast and curator tour of Toward Common Cause Abigail Winograd, MacArthur Fellows Program Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition Curator The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago is a site for rigorous inquiry and exchange that encourages the examination of complex issues through the lens of art objects and artistic practice. Through strong community and scholarly partnerships, the Museum incorporates diverse ideas, identities, and experiences into its exhibitions and collections, academic initiatives, and public programming. The Smart first opened in 1974. Admission is always free.