President’s Column for Traill County Tribune

October 31, 2015

Campus and community members have opportunity to enhance knowledge of Native American culture

 

We look forward to hosting Dr. Anton Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji (Minn.) State University and the author of fourteen books. He’ll be at Mayville State University Nov. 9 and 10, 2015. Dr. Treuer’s visit is being hosted by the Byrnes-Quanbeck Library, Mayville Area Teacher Center, and the Mayville State diversity committee.

Dr. Anton Treuer is executive director of the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University. He is editor of the Oshkaabewis (pronounced o-shkaah-bay-wis) Native Journal, the only academic journal of Ojibwe language.

He has presented all over the United States and Canada, and in several foreign countries, on “Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask,” “Cultural Competence & Equity,” “Strategies for Addressing the ‘Achievement’ Gap,” and “Tribal Sovereignty, History, Language, and Culture.”

Dr. Treuer has been a member of a number of organizational boards and has received more than 40 prestigious awards and fellowships from organizations including the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

His published works include Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, Ojibwe in Minnesota (“Minnesota’s Best Read for 2010” by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress), The Assassination of Hole in the Day (Award of Merit winner from the American Association for State and Local History), Atlas of Indian Nations, and Awesiinyensag (“Minnesota’s Best Read for 2011” by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress).

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Master of Arts degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Many folks will have the opportunity to meet with and hear from Dr. Treuer while he’s on campus. Mayville State students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in discussion of the following topics on Monday, Nov. 9: “Oral Tradition and Storytelling in the Native American Culture, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask,” and “Cultural Competency in the Classroom.”

That evening, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Mayville State employees and students, along with area teachers, are invited to participate in Treuer’s session titled “Native Americans in North Dakota: A Path Through History.” The session will take place in the MSU Campus Center Luckasen Room. An evening meal is included, and the session qualifies for continuing education credit hours. For more information or to register, please contact Donalee Strand at teachercenter@mayvillestate.edu before Monday, Nov. 2.

Mayville State faculty and staff will participate in a roundtable discussion in the Byrnes-Quanbeck Library first thing in the morning on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Discussion topics are cultural awareness on campus, recruitment and retention, and more. A continental breakfast will be served.

Everyone is invited to participate in a book signing and further discussion, questions, and answers with Dr. Treuer from 9 to 10 a.m. Nov. 10 in the Byrnes-Quanbeck Library Quiet Room.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Dr. Treuer to Mayville State University, and happy that MSU library Aubrey Madler met Dr. Treuer at a recent leadership event focusing on libraries and literacy throughout North Dakota. She immediately recognized the connection of his topics to Mayville State’s mission and goals surrounding cultural awareness and education and pursued the possibility of invited him to share his expertise at Mayville State University. We hope you’ll join us for this exciting opportunity.

For more information about Dr. Anton Treuer’s visit to Mayville State, contact Aubrey Madler at aubrey.madler@mayvillestate.edu or 701-788-4814.