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Conversations on the Commons: Countering Native American Erasure
October 8, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Countering Native American Erasure: Practical Steps for History & Cultural Organizations
October 8, 2021, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
A conversation with Heidi K. Brandow (Diné & Kānaka Maoli), artist and co-founder of the Harvard Indigenous Design Collective; Annawon Weeden, consultant, presenter, and performing artist; and Dawn Duncan (part Cherokee), Board member, Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA)
How do local organizations and towns think about Indigenous history and perspective in their own community histories? What are practical ways that we, as members of cultural organizations, can integrate these perspectives into the programs, language, and conversations we have about local history? Join us to discuss ways to counter Native American erasure and build more nuanced and inclusive narratives about Massachusetts history.
Moderated by Ymelda Laxton, Assistant Curator at Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. Registration is free.
This Conversation will be livestreamed. We will do our best to monitor your questions and comments during the livestream. A recording will be publicly available in the Conversations on the Commons Archive.
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- Heidi K. Brandow (Diné & Kānaka Maoli) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work is centered on the inclusion of Indigenous people and perspectives in the development of ethical and sustainable methods of creative engagement. She is a co-founder of the Harvard Indigenous Design Collective, an organization that recognizes and promotes design by and for Indigenous communities as foundational to the history, theory, and practice of design fields.
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- Dawn Duncan (part Cherokee) has been a board member for the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness for more than 15 years. She has also helped several Native American groups in Massachusetts, including serving as a founding Board Member of Intertribal Council of Tolba Menahan (Turtle Island), a Native American nonprofit organization that was originally founded in Somerville and eventually moved to Gloucester. She has been active in the local Native communities since she attended graduate school at Boston University and the Harvard School of Public Health. Dawn holds a Master of Science Degree in Maternal and Child Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Boston University. She is owner of The Grant Connection, a grant writing consulting firm in Lynn, MA.
Questions? Be in touch with Caroline Littlewood: commons@masshistoryalliance.org
Conversations on the Commons
Where people from Massachusetts history organizations get to vent, empathize, laugh, complain, think, collaborate, brainstorm, plan, and in general be up to no good.