The historic Supreme Court decision in the summer of 2020, when the court ruled that much of Eastern Oklahoma comes under the Major Crimes Act and still retains Native reservation status, relied heavily on the significance of the 1866 Treaty which grants Creek Freedmen full citizenship status in the Creek Nation. This panel will discuss the significance of the court’s ruling in relationship to Freedmen activists and community members seeking restoration of their tribal citizenship.

Dr. Cathleen Cahill (Penn State University)
March 4, 2021, 5pm, James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference
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At the turn of the twentieth century Native American cultures, governments, and traditions were under sustained attack by federal policies that sought to destroy them. Policymakers drew a contrast between “modern Americans” and “primitive Indian,” ideas that were reinforced by the many images of Indians that proliferated in art, literature, and myriad other aspects of US culture. This presentation explores how three Native American suffrage activists–Marie Bottineau Baldwin (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), Laura Cornelius Kellog (Wisconsin Oneida), and Gertrude Bonnin also known as Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota)–strategically used their writings and public appearances to change public opinion about Native communities and advocate for political rights and self-determination.

Organizers and facilitators include:
Luisa M. Rivera, MPH (Laney GSAS) and Sierra Talavera-Brown (C23), Emory University
American Anthropological Association, virtual workshop series
Free/Advance registration is required.
Time 12-2:00 Eastern.

ZOOM event, 6:00 pm EST

Office for Racial and Cultural Engagement (RACE), Emory University
RSVP at bit.ly/35FRy0B

Join our panel of scholar activists in a conversation on indigeneity as a global and domestic category. Panelists will share their personal and research-based work with the Emory community, and engage with issues of ethnicity, race, and social justice for indigenous populations.

Emory Quad: Friday, 1:00-4:00 pm

Carlos Museum, Emory University

In the fall of 2021, the Carlos Museum will host the exhibition Each/Other: Marie Watt and Cannupa Hanska Luger

Organized by the Denver Art Museum (DAM), Each/Other is the first exhibition to present together the work of two leading Indigenous contemporary artists whose processes focus on collaborative artmaking.

Be a part of it. Contribute to a monumental artwork by artists Marie Watt and Cannupa Hanska Luger.

Join us on the quad this November 13, 2020 for a socially distanced sewing circle. Embroider a message onto a bandana, which will be mailed to Denver where Watt and Hanska Luger will incorporate them into a large-scale sculpture for the exhibition. 

All materials will be provided. Masks and social distancing are required. 

11/12 * Tabulating Race/Ethnicity: Implications for American Indian/Alaska Native High School Students

Zoom Event: Thursday, November 12, 2020, 1:00-2:00 pm EST

Center for Disease Control

The American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) population is at significant risk of misidentification in national surveillance instruments.  The implications of how race and ethnicity are tabulated affect (1) the accuracy and precision of health data and (2) public health planning and policy decisions. This study explored the impact of different tabulating strategies for race and ethnicity on the prevalence estimates, and precision of those estimates, for experiences with persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, suicidality, and violence victimization among AI/AN high school students.

Presenters: Sherry Everett Jones, Health Scientist, CDC/NCHHSTP, Division of Adolescent and School Health; and Delight E. Satter, Senior Health Scientist, CDC/CSTLTS, Office of Tribal Affairs and Strategic Alliances

11/19 * COVID-19: Experiences from Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Current EIS Officer

Zoom Event: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 1:00-2:00 pm EST

Center for Disease Control

Presenter: Temet M. McMichael, EIS Officer, CDC/DDPHSS/CSELS/DSEPD. At a young age Temet developed a love and passion for science; pursuing his interests, he obtained his B.S. in biochemistry, PhD in viral immunology, and found himself in the midst of a pandemic as the EIS officer assigned to the Public Health Department in Seattle & King County. Join us for Temet’s exciting EIS journey which includes EVALI, Polio in West Africa, and lots of COVID-19.

Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 2:00 pm Eastern
Live online Zoom discussion and reading. Registration required. Free.
Hosted by: The Michael C. Carlos Museum.

An online discussion and play reading, in collaboration with the Decatur Book Festival, by Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), author of the play Sovereignty, about the Cherokee Nation’s legal fight for sovereignty and also violence against women.

Written by Mary Kathryn Nagle, lawyer, playwright, and direct descendant of nineteenth-century Cherokee leaders John Ridge and Major Ridge, Sovereig unfolds over two parallel timelines. In present-day Oklahoma, a young Cherokee lawyer, Sarah Ridge Polson, and her colleague Jim Ross defend the inherent jurisdiction of Cherokee Nation in the U.S. Supreme Court when a non-Indian defendant challenges the Nation’s authority to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence. Their collaboration is juxtaposed with scenes from 1835, when Cherokee Nation was eight hundred miles to the east in the southern Appalachians. That year, Sarah’s and Jim’s ancestors, historic Cherokee rivals, were bitterly divided over a proposed treaty with the administration of Andrew Jackson, the Treaty of New Echota, which led to the nation’s removal to Oklahoma on the infamous Trail of Tears.

Monday, October 12, 2020 at 4:00 pm Eastern.
Live online Zoom panel discussion. Registration required. Free.

In celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Emory University Professor of English Craig Womack (Creek) chairs a panel discussion titled McGirt V. Oklahoma: Understanding the Implications of the Recent Supreme Court Decision Across Native America. 

Sarah Deer (Creek), University of Kansas Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Barbara Creel (Jemez Pueblo), University of New Mexico School of Law; and Andrew Adams III (Creek), Muscogee Creek Nation Supreme Court; and Professor Womack will explore the implications of the decision regarding the Creek Nation for Oklahoma tribal nations and other parts of Indian Country.   

This lecture is made possible through the generous financial support of the Hightower Lecture Fund and is co-sponsored by the Native American and Indigenous Students Initiative, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, and the School of Law Health Law, Policy & Ethics Project.

ZOOM registration link for webinar: https://emory.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fY3DxgwFTw-SDJDB_owEbA

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Decatur Square Sunday 10/11 at 6 pm Eastern, and learn more about the initiative calling for the removal of the 1836 “Indian Wars” cannon.