The Angelina Pedroso Center for Diversity and Intercultural Affairs recognizes Native American & Indigenous Heritage Month annually during the month of November. This month we celebrate the rich and varied cultures, traditions, history, and societal contributions of First Peoples. We recognize that Native and Indigenous Peoples are essential to the fabric of university, city, state and nation. In partnership with NEIU’s Land Acknowledgement and Action (LAA) Committee we invite the whole campus community to participate in our upcoming events. Please feel free to share our calendar across your networks. In addition, we encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with NEIU’s Land Acknowledgment statement and consider donating to the Native and Indigenous Student Scholarship Fund.
Upcoming Events
Tell your own story: Documenting and Archiving the Movement
Thursday, Nov. 7
Noon-1:30 p.m.
Main Campus, Pedroso Center (Room B 159), 5480 N. St. Louis Ave.
Join the Pedroso Center in conversation with Anthony M. Tamez (he/him/his), an Afro-Indigenous community organizer & public servant. Anthony is a City College graduate, current NEIU student majoring in social work and elected councilman serving on the City of Chicago’s 17th District Council. He won his general election on Feb. 28, 2023, making him one of the youngest Native elects within the United States. His grandfather is a 60’s Scoop survivor and member of The Key First Nation. Anthony currently works for the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute and Chi-Nations Youth Council.
This discussion will focus on how young activists can start to document and safeguard their work. All attendees will be entered to win a door prize for a chance to take home their own copy of The Moment: Changemakers on Why and How They Joined the Fight for Social Justice by Steve Fiffer featuring an interview with Anthony Tamez.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu
*Public Event
First Nations Video & Film Festival
(Festival Runs Nov. 1-10 at various locations)
Friday, Nov. 8
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Main Campus, Pedroso Center (Room B 159), 5480 N. St. Louis Ave.
Overview: 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.
"Itu Ninu"
Director: Itandehui Jansen (Mixtec -Indigenous from Mexico)
In the not-so-distant future of 2084, Ángel finds himself trapped as a climate migrant in an unspecified smart city, under constant surveillance. Amidst a bleak and oppressive existence, Ángel makes a living by cultivating plants, preserving the fading wisdom of seeds.
"My Afternoon with Mayan Weavers"
Director: Christine Stoddard
A video by Christine Stoddard about a Mayan weaving workshop in Guatemala.
"Anthropocenic Venus"
Director: Laura Ferradas, Rodrigo Nahuel Lopez
This short film arises from the creative, playful and philosophical proposal of co-creating and recording an artistic performance on the question of time and about the gaze of the Venus of Willendorf as a material icon of the total feminine in time towards our present day. global. If Willendorf's paleolithic Venus figurine was incarnated in a real body today, what would happen?
"Santa Slays"
Director: Cam Woodman, Jamie Patterson
An out-of-work Santa returns to his quiet home town for the holidays ... with a new taste for blood!
"Obaìtí Àtilẹ̀nde"
Director: Bianca Bomfim
The present is an aesthetic experience that presents rituals from rural areas and indigenous communities that mix, showing how our culture leads to a common ritualistic point. O nome represents a search, an internal search, which results in finding that common ancestral root of cults of different origins that present sacred congruences. These similarities make us realize the importance of these rituals, costumes, and how the traditions of these communities refer to the same sacred cultural origin. The escolhido name, Obaìtí Àtilẹ̀nde, means “Finding Root”, Obaìtí, is indigenous and comes from the Tupi-Guarani language, and means to find. Àtilẹ̀nde is a word in Yoruba that means root, origin. Assim, or title means “Finding Root.”
"Bepuwaveh"
Pojoaque middle school students create a dialog, drama skit, and culture around welcoming at their school and in their community.
Total run time: 90 minutes
Learn more about First Nations Film and Video Festival.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu
*Public Event
Crafting Circle: Tatreez
Tuesday, Nov. 12
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Main Campus, Pedroso Center (Room B 159), 5480 N. St. Louis Ave.
This November, the Pedroso Center is hosting a drop in Crafting Circle celebrating art as an ongoing form of resistance across Indigenous populations globally. Pedroso will be providing a limited number of beginner Tatreez kits (Palestinian embroidery/cross stitch), which will go at a first-come, first-served basis. We will also provide additional art supplies for folks who want to engage their creativity in an alternative medium. Light refreshments will be provided.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu
Rock Your Mocs
Monday, Nov. 11-Friday, Nov. 15
This year the Pedroso Center is organizing a Roc Your Mocs Instagram event. To participate, upload a picture, video or story of you wearing moccasins (or traditional footwear from your culture) to Instagram with the hashtag #RockYourMocs then tag and follow the Pedroso Center (@PedrosoCenter) on Instagram for your chance to win prizes.
What is the Rock Your Mocs event?
Established 2011, Rock Your Mocs, is best described as a worldwide Native American and Indigenous Peoples virtual unity event held annually and during November which is National Native American Heritage Month in the U.S. During Rock Your Mocs, people wear their moccasins, take a photo, create a video or story, add the hashtag #RockYourMocs and upload to social media. This creates “an online photo album” for the world to see and enjoy.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel f-pochel@neiu.edu
*Public Event
Chicago Native History Tour
Friday, Nov. 15
9:00 a.m. Breakfast at Pedroso
- 9:30 a.m. bus departs Pedroso Center (Parking Lot C)
- Indigenous Chicago Exhibition and Ayer Archives Tour at Newberry Library 10:00 a.m.-noon
- Chicago's Legacy Hula and Native Truths Exhibit Visit at The Field Museum 12:45-3:00 p.m.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu
*Space is limited; currently enrolled NEIU students will be prioritized.
"SUGARCANE" Film Screening
Tuesday, Nov. 19
6:00-9:00 p.m.
El Centro, 3rd Floor; 3390 North Avondale Avenue
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, "Sugarcane," the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie - is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. Set amidst a ground-breaking investigation into abuse and death at an Indian residential school, the film empowers participants to break cycles of intergenerational trauma by bearing witness to painful, long-ignored truths – and the love that endures within their families.
In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves near an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada sparked a national outcry about the forced separation, assimilation, and abuse many children experienced at this network of segregated boarding schools designed to slowly destroy the culture and social fabric of Indigenous communities. When Kassie - a journalist and filmmaker - asked her old friend and colleague, NoiseCat, to direct a film documenting the Williams Lake First Nation investigation of St. Joseph’s Mission, she never imagined just how close this story was to his own family.
As the investigation continued, Emily and Julian traveled back to the rivers, forests and mountains of his homelands to hear the myriad stories of survivors. During production, Julian’s own story became an integral part of this beautiful multi-stranded portrait of a community. By offering space, time, and profound empathy the directors unearthed what was hidden. Kassie and NoiseCat encountered both the extraordinary pain these individuals had to suppress as a tool for survival and the unique beauty of a group of people finding the strength to persevere.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu
*Public Event
Indigenous Grounds Market
Friday, Nov. 22
3:00-6:00 p.m.
Main Campus, Pedroso Center (Room B 159), 5480 N. St. Louis Ave.
The Pedroso Center will be partnering with local Native and Indigenous artisans from across the Chicagoland area in celebration of Native and Indigenous Heritage Month this November. We will welcome multiple food, arts and crafts vendors for a robust evening of cultural exchange and appreciation celebrating the Global Indigenous.
Vendor applications accepted until Friday, Nov. 1.
Contact: Fawn E. Pochel at f-pochel@neiu.edu
*Public Event
For more information on November Heritage Month Programming contact Fawn E. Pochel (Saulteaux) at f-pochel@neiu.edu.
