The Ann Arbor District Library acknowledges that it benefits from the colonization of Indigenous lands. The Library pledges to support Indigenous people and culture, through partnership with and recognition of Anishinaabek artists, writers, teachers, and performers.
For more information, please visit aadl.org/land.
AADL recognizes Native American Heritage Month in November with videos, staff recommendations, quotes, and more.
Upcoming Events
And Still We Rise: From the American Indian Movement to Today: 1960- Present
The 1960s were a pivotal time in the United States. The civil rights movement was sweeping the nation, and among these was the American Indian Movement. Continue to move through history with AIM in the 1960s, a resurgence of Federal Indian Policy in the 1970s with the Indian Child Welfare Act, the continued fight for tribal sovereignty, and through the protests at Standing Rock and the emergence of the Land Back Movement. This lecture begins in the 1960s and takes you up to the present day.
Heather Bruegl, inspired by a trip to Wounded Knee, South Dakota, quickly developed a passion for Native American History. Curiosity for her own heritage led her to Wisconsin, where she has researched the history of the Native American tribes of that region. Heather is a graduate of Madonna University of Michigan and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in U.S. History. She currently travels and lectures on Native American history, including policy and activism.
Redface: Native American Representation in American Theatre, with Dr. Bethany Hughes
American theatre has a long history of misrepresenting Native Americans, often turning to reductive, stereotypical, or racist tropes to depict Indigenous characters. This talk explores how the "Stage Indian" developed in American theatre, how redface is more than a costume and make-up, and how the stakes of redface impact Native American nations and Indigenous peoples. Drawn from her recent book, Redface: Race, Performance, and Indigeniety, Dr. Bethany Hughes will explain how audiences encounter "Indians" and what audiences can do to resist the harmful history of redface.
Dr. Bethany Hughes (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is Assistant Professor in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan. She is a performance scholar and cultural historian interested in how performance constructs culturally recognizable categories and offers possibilities to resist or remake those same categories. Redface: Race, Performance, and Indigeneity is her first book.
Ojibway Storytime
All are welcome to Indigenous storytime led by Ariel Ojibway, with a special emphasis on Anishinaabeg stories. Coloring, moving your body, and talking to your neighbor will be part of the fun!
Special Content
50 Years of Celebration: The Dance for Mother Earth Powwow
"In 1972, when many aspects of Native American religions and sacred ceremonies were still prohibited by law, American Indians at the University of Michigan (AIUM) held their first powwow in Ann Arbor. Over the years, the Native American Student Association (NASA), consisting of community members and students, evolved into a group fully dedicated to making the powwow a success. In March of 2024, the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 50 Years of Celebration: The Dance for Mother Earth Powwow, a variety of voices from multiple generations share what the powwow has meant to them." - Filmmaker Jen Howard
Click to stream and download now!
Dance, Music, Art & Community: 50 Years of the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow
Before the mid-20th century, powwows were illegal under several laws passed in the 1800s through the early 1900s. Powwows were often held in Ann Arbor in the 1960s-1970s but remained legally unprotected until the passing of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (AIRFA). Until then, smudging, tobacco, and many dances were banned.
Modern powwows are not a traditional form of religious practice, and the iterations we see today trace their roots back to post-World War II pan-Indian culture, with a resurgence and refinement in the 1970s. Dance, drums, and art play a central role in the proceedings, with an emphasis on the art form of regalia.
This exhibit is a look back at the vibrant 50-year history of the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow, featuring reprinted programs and posters from collections at the Bentley Historical Library, photographs, news articles, and artwork by Anishinaabe artist Jamie John.
Learn more about this rich piece of Ann Arbor history here!
On Anishinaabe Land: Treaties with Indigenous Nations and the Founding of Ann Arbor
The city of Ann Arbor (known to the Potawatomi as Ga-Bgoshkanek and to the Ojibwe as Gaa-bigooshkaaning, meaning 'place of pummeling') occupies Indigenous land ceded through coercive treaties that seized large swaths of land to be sold to colonizers. These are the traditional and contemporary homelands (the Anishinabewaki) of the Anishinaabeg: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi who together make up the Three Fires Council, established at Michilimackinac in 796 AD.
Due to land dispossession and tribal warfare in preceding centuries, many tribes were living on the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe at the time of colonial contact, including the Wyandot, in what was to become Detroit and the Washtenaw County region. The Anishinaabe and other Indigenous peoples are here today, and maintain their relationships with the living lands.
The Sounds of Ojibwe with Asiginaak-Negamojig
Listen and sing along with the Blackbird Singers (Asiginaak-Negamojig) to learn the sounds of Anishinaabemowin. Led by Stacie Sheldon, Ojibwe language advocate and co-founder and co-creator of Ojibwe.net and author of Bebikaan-ezhiwebiziwinan Nimkii: The Adventures of Nimkii.
AADL's IndigiLit Book Club
This discussion series celebrates Native American authors and books, across genres, across time, and across the continent.
• This Accident of Being Lost by Leanne Betasamosake
• Sweetgrass Burning: Stories from the Rez by Barbara Robidoux
• This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid To Ask by Anton Treuer
• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Stream These Films With Your Library Card
Powerlands
Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, a young Navajo filmmaker, investigates the displacement of Indigenous people and the devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that have exploited the land where she was born. She travels to the La Guajira region in rural Colombia, the Tampakan region of the Philippines, the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Mexico, and the protests at Standing Rock. In each case, she meets Indigenous women leading the struggle against the same corporations that are causing displacement and environmental catastrophe in her own home. Inspired by these women, Ivey Camille brings home the lessons from these struggles to the Navajo Nation.
The Condor and the Eagle
Four leaders from impacted communities embark on an extraordinary trans-continental adventure from the Canadian Boreal forests to deep into the heart of the Amazonian jungle to unite the peoples of North and South America and deepen the meaning of justice. The Condor and the Eagle documentary offers a glimpse into a developing spiritual renaissance as the film's four protagonists learn from each other's long legacy of resistance to colonialism and its extractive economy. Their path through the jungle takes them on an unexpectedly challenging and liberating journey, which will forever change their attachment to the Earth and one another.
Rez Metal
When Navajo heavy metal band I Dont Konform sent out a demo album to Flemming Rasmussen, the Grammy Award-winning producer of Metallica, they never imagined that a few months later they would be rehearsing with him inside a hot Hogan on the Navajo reservation. As Rasmussen states after hearing their demo, "a specific technical element wasn't what stood out for me but the raw emotion and the thematic rage running through their music stood out as something refreshing and unique" - something true to the life of this metal band. Rez Metal explores the thriving heavy metal scene on the Navajo reservation through the remarkable story of I Dont Konform and their journey gaining popularity on reservations and recording their debut album in Denmark with one of the music industry's most influential producers.
Biblio Files: Episode 113 | Native American Authors
Each episode, a few AADL staff members present a book of their choice from a specific book topic such as favorite classic, book about nature, fiction under 200 pages, beloved children's book, etc. The topics span a multitude of genres. The theme this episode is books by Native American authors.
Local History: Who Lived Here?
Christopher highlights a West Park sign that commemorates the many Native Americans, including the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, and Wyandotte of the Huron Valley. The path through West Park is one of the many footpaths used by Native Americans at the time.
History of The Cherokee Phoenix Newspaper
Sequoyah, a Cherokee born in the late 18th century, invented a system of writing called the syllabary, which includes symbols that refer to consonant-vowel pairs instead of individual sounds. Christopher discusses The Cherokee people's adoption of the syllabary and the significance of The Cherokee Phoenix, the first indigenous American newspaper, in 1828.
Native American Heritage Month: Staff Recommendations
AADL staff members recommend several fiction and nonfiction books, podcasts, films, TV shows, and regional artists that explore different Native American nations, people, and cultures in rural and urban settings.
Staff Picks
- New Fiction by Indigenous Authors
- Teen Fiction by Indigenous Authors
- Reading for Native American History Month
Quotes
Inspirational quotes are captured through collage art, calligraphy, printmaking, and hand lettering. Each quote encourages reflection about nature, sovereignty, and creativity.
Poems
Native American poets explore kinship, heritage, and wildlife through their impactful words. Their poems are brought to life through collage art, watercolors, and printmaking.
More to Watch from AADL
Discussion: No, Not Even for a Picture
An online presentation with Veronica Williamson and Lindsey Willow Smith, curators of the online exhibit No, Not Even for a Picture at the Clements Library, and the resulting poster exhibit previously on display at AADL's Downtown Library.
Art from Around the World | Anishinaabe Watercolors
Learn about Anishinaabe artworks, both historical and contemporary, and then create your own work inspired by an Anishinaabe story. Presented by Jamie John, enrolled member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians based in Traverse City.
The Power of Native Women
Throughout history, women have played an important role in the family and the community. But Native women have also helped shape our nation by fighting alongside warriors, becoming doctors and performing other courageous feats. Learn about the impact of these women from historian Heather Bruegl.