By EMMA LAUS and JAZMIN GOMEZ
Hosted in Pearson’s Moore Lounge, Gloria Bradley, in collaboration with CMSAI (Campus Mounds Sustainability and Advocacy Initiative) and Anthropology Club, held a second event in a collection of Native American Heritage Month activities on Nov. 9 at 6:30.
With an array of chips, sweet trail mixes, cookies, and refreshments, attendees gathered to witness Chris Nelson, former public librarian at Beloit College, and Fred Burwell’86, Beloit College archivist and alum, present their research concerning Indigenous history in locality to Wisconsin and Beloit College’s Native alumni.
Bradley, Assistant Dean of Student Success, Equity, and Community and Co-Director of the Weisberg Program in Human Rights and Social Justice, introduced the event with a land acknowledgment statement: “We must acknowledge that Beloit College is located on the ancestral territory of Indigenous peoples. And we respectfully acknowledge the Potawatomi, Peoria, Miami, Meskwaki, and Ho-Chunk people who have stewarded this land. We’re settlers on this land, and we recognize colonialism is an ongoing process that must be disrupted.”
The presentations began with Nelson receiving an introduction from Bradley and a welcome from the audience. She began her lecture by engaging with the audience members with true or false questions intended to challenge our preconceived notions about Native history. After the discussion, Nelson’s presentation chronologically explored the local history of Indigenous peoples from their removal to their return.
Nelson ended her segment by offering important Native landmarks to visit and sources to further our understanding of Native peoples’ impact on American history. In a final question and answer session, Nelson commented on her motivations to compile this research, saying “it started as a land acknowledgment piece of research for the League of Women Voters. But the more I got going on it, it got very interesting. I just really enjoyed doing the research.”
Further elaborating on the importance of providing educational outlets to voice underrepresented perspectives, Nelson said, “Local history really opens your eyes. It just hits you– that you are on [Native] land. We were supposed to learn Wisconsin’s history, but we didn’t learn this.”
The second presentation was organized by Burwell, titled “Native American Students at Beloit College in the 1870s and 1880s.” This presentation centered around John and Charles Eastman who were members of the Dakota tribe, a subculture of the Sioux people. Burwell drew information from the brothers’ autobiographies and letters to the college administration, among other documents.
The Eastman brothers were encouraged to attend Beloit by a missionary named Stephen Riggs, who aimed to “Christianize and civilize the Dakota people.” Riggs wrote to the college president and asked to send John to the school, mentioning that he believed it was important for John to “get an idea of Christian civilization.” John went on to become a pastor and fought to reverse the ban on teaching Native languages in government schools.
A few years later, Charles attended Beloit. He later stated that his father sent him away to “master the secret of the white man’s power.” Charles also wrote that although he was received kindly at Beloit, hostility towards the Sioux was common. Burwell read several excerpts from Charles’ autobiography, which described his experience at Beloit as exciting but “nerve-trying,” due to the sudden change of environment.
In the early 1880s, the college underwent its so-called “Indian Experiment.” Beloit professors designed an exchange program with Santee Normal Training School, a boarding school run by Riggs. Santee students would split their time between classes at Beloit and apprenticeships with Beloit Wind Engine Company, where they would learn the mechanical arts. However, this program was discontinued years later due to the high cost required.
Burwell went on to state that the presentation only tells a small piece of the attempts to Christianize and assimilate Native Americans into White culture through education. Through the presentation, he hoped to show how Beloit fit into this larger story.
Bradley reinforced the importance of learning Beloit history through events such as this one, saying, “I know we haven’t done enough on campus for Native American Heritage Month, to celebrate the identities. This was needed so we can learn a little bit more about their impact on the Beloit campus as well as the city of Beloit.”
The third week of Native American Heritage Month is centered around celebrating Native artists and creators. Upcoming events include a trip to see Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” on Nov. 14 and a watch party and discussion based on a talk by Rose B. Simpson, an Indigenous sculptural artist, on Nov. 15.
Featured Image Credit: Jazmin Gomez’27
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