Spurlock Museum hosts Native American workshop

Lake+Superior+Ojibwe+Council+Member+Bizhikiins%2C+Dylan+Jennings%2C+leads+a+workshop+in+the+Spurlock+museum+centered+on+Native+American+culture+on+February+16%2C+2019.

Lake Superior Ojibwe Council Member Bizhikiins, Dylan Jennings, leads a workshop in the Spurlock museum centered on Native American culture on February 16, 2019.

By The Daily Illini staff report

The Spurlock Museum is hosting an ‘Integrating Tribal Sovereignty and American Indian History into the Classroom’ workshop Saturday.

The workshop is to be led by Dylan Jennings, who will be focusing on the incorporation of Native American values into our everyday lives and education in a respectful manner.

“Education is really the key to eliminating stereotypes that exist about Native people and the indigenous communities,” Jennings said. “I think this is a great opportunity for people to come and learn about some of the Ojibwe cultural practices and traditions, and also about the song and dance.”

The workshop of part of Spurlock Museum’s 17th annual Winter Tales celebration honoring the cultures of Native Americans.

“Mr. Jennings himself is a tribal leader, and so his talk personally about what it is like to be a tribal leader and what it’s like for a tribe in America to have sovereignty in America and what that means, and how that can be taught in the classroom,” said Kim Sheahan, the director of education for the Spurlock Museum.

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Jennings is a Bad River Tribal Member as well as a UW Madison Alumni. He was given the name Bizhikiins. He is also an elected Tribal Council Member, and part of his job is to provide communities for the 8,000 tribal members he serves.

“We’re a very vibrant and alive culture and still here, and you know our humor is just an amazing aspect of our way of life and part of I think how we’ve been able to survive for so long,” Jennings said. 

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