2023 Theme: World Building and Radical Re-Imagining 

Native American and indigenous peoples Heritage Month Keynote Speaker: isabel Coronado, MPh 

6:00-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1
Via Zoom

Isabel Coronado, MPH, is the daughter of a formerly incarcerated mother, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and a policy expert who is on a mission to bring awareness and and solutions to the issues impacting children of incarcerated parents and the mass incarceration of Native people. Isabel is a Research Scholar in the Litmus program at NYU’s Marron Institute, where she coordinates the Family-Based Justice Center, a national technical-assistance center that helps localities, states, and tribal nations create programs to keep families together through comprehensive services instead of sending parents or primary caregivers to prison. Coronado also supports a collaborative project with the Women's Justice Institute and the Illinois Department of Corrections to assess parole policies and practices affecting women in correctional systems.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

Digressions: Open COnversation on "There there" 

Noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2
Pedroso Center 

What if all of Chicago read the same book? Please join us in conversation with the 2023 selection of One Book, One Chicago: "There There" facilitated by English 102 CASEP students.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

First Nations Film and video Festival 

6:00-8:00 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6

First Nations Film and Video Festival, Inc. (FNFVF, Inc.) hosts two annual film festivals dedicated to presenting a contemporary view of Native American culture, films directed by Native American film and video makers for all skill levels. The mission of the First Nations Film and Video Festival is to advocate for and celebrate the works of Native Americans filmmakers and new works and films that break racial stereotypes and promote awareness of Native American issues and to provide an appropriate venue for their works. All films screened are written and/or produced and directed by Native American artists from the United States, Canada, Central and South America and Mexico.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

Let's talk about it: Solidarity work luncheon Part 2 (addressing anti-indigeneity-reading circle)

1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9
Pedroso Center

During this circle participants will be given a shared reading (with structured time to read) and asked to engage in a group discussion as we share a meal together.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

Revitalizacion de las lenguas indigenas como un proyecto communitario y no desde el estado

6:30-8:00 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9
Pedroso Center

La bibliotecaria de estudios indígenas y curadora, Analú María López (Huachichil/Xi'iui) y el lingüista, profesor y activista por la revitalización de las lenguas indígenas, Victorino Torres Nava (Nahua) participarán en una conversación sobre la revitalización de las lenguas indígenas como proyecto comunitario y no parte del estado colonial. Otros temas se centrarán en los estándares y prácticas bibliotecarias y en la decategorización o desgeneralización del adjetivo “indígena” como un rasgo y no una forma de ser dentro de la diversidad lingüística. (Esta conversación será principalmente en español)

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

MOvie Screening: lakota Nation vs. united states 

5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13
Pedroso Center

Lakota Nation vs. United States is a documentary film and a continuation of a generations-long fight for Ȟe Sápa. Black Hills Justice is a movement led by Lakota Nations, treaty councils, elders, and guided by Tunkashila to return Indigenous lands to Indigenous hands. A provocative, visually stunning testament to a land and a people who have survived removal, exploitation and genocide – and whose best days are yet to come.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

Rock Your Mocs 

Wednesday, Nov. 15
National Social Media Campaign 

A positive opportunity to be united and celebrate tribal individuality by wearing moccasins. Rock Your Mocks was established for Native peoples to honor their ancestors, and Indigenous peoples worldwide. Non-Natives are encouraged to wear traditional footwear that showcase their individual heritage. We encourage everyone to post themselves wearing their mocs/traditional footwear on instagram, tag @pedrosocenter and use the hashtag #RockYourMocs for a chance to win an Indigenously creative gift basket.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

Watch Party: Live Stream of One Book, One Chicago Keynote Lecture by Tommy Orange, author of “There There”

6:00-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 15
Pedroso Center

Join the Pedroso Center as we watch Chicago Public Library’s (CPL) One Book, One Chicago 2023 keynote event: Tommy Orange, author of “There There.” Orange will be in conversation live from the Harold Washington Library to discuss his career and the book. He will also discuss the importance of Native American voices, as well as what he may have in store in the future. This event will also be available to stream via CPL’s Facebook and YouTube.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu

indigenous Feminism Documentary screening and discussion of "without a whisper: Konnon:kwe"

4:15-6:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16
Pedroso Center

"Without a Whisper: Konnon:Kwe" uncovers the hidden history of the profound influence Indigenous women had on the beginnings of the women’s rights movement in the United States.

Before the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls in 1848, European colonial women lacked even the most basic rights, while Haudenosaunee women had a potent political and spiritual voice and authority in all aspects of their lives. The contact that the early suffragists had with Haudenosaunee women in New York state shaped their thinking and had a vital impact on their struggle for equality that is taken for granted today. The film follows Mohawk Bear Clan Mother Louise Herne and Professor Sally Roesch Wagner as they seek to correct the historical narrative about the origins of women’s rights in the United States.

Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu