Abstract
To be an effective ally for the indigenous community and to help facilitate change within higher education and the arts takes considerable time and energy. It also takes financial support. Having served as the principal investigator and co-investigator on several grants to promote indigenous arts and culture, I have learned some useful approaches (and advice) for indigenizing education and promoting indigenous performance as a non-Native ally. In this paper, I discuss my experiences in association with two year-long grants: 1) NEH grant to create an “Indigenous Languages and Culture” certificate and 2) NEA grant to promote “Indigenous Art and Performance” in partnership with the university’s Arts Center, which functioned as an “arts incubator.” I examine principles of non-Native advocacy and practices of indigenizing education and artistic programming through community building, storytelling, caretaking, and the decentering of western educational practices. In regard to the former, I also explicate ways in which we used the Indigenous Evaluation Framework (IEF), developed by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, to expand the scope of humanistic study for Native and non-Native students and move education beyond the traditional classroom. Per the later, I discuss the development of works written and performed by Tomantha Sylvester (in association with Double Edge Theater) and Woodland Sky Native American Dance Company to bring about awareness of violence and injustice towards indigenous communities.
Presenters
Thomas MeachamAssociate Professor of Theatre Arts, Theatre Arts, University of Miami, Florida, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Oceanic Journeys: Multicultural Approaches in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
Indigenizing Education, Non-Native Ally, Advocacy, Community Building, Ojibwe, Anishinaabemowin, Performance
