Northern Michigan University 2008 Indigenous Earth Day Summit : Aboriginal Australia Delegation, Garry Morning Star Raven

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(Marquette, Michigan) - From the impact of global poisoning on food, water and soil of native peoples, to how can Euro-Americans and Western culture help protect "Sacred Lands" when many can’t fathom the concept, an Earth Day summit along the frozen shores of Lake Superior will dive into issues that may determine the fate of Indigenous populations across the planet like the deadly, heart-wrenching drought that has paralyzed much of Australia.

The 2008 Indigenous Earth Day Summit [3] will be held on April 22-23 at Northern Michigan University [4] in Marquette, Michigan. The summit is "a call to action on Indigenous environmental issues in the Great Lakes area, on Turtle Island and around the world," said Aimee Cree Dunn, summit coordinator.

"As Indigenous communities are often rural and money-poor, they are frequently the target of industrial projects with far-reaching environmental costs," Cree Dunn said.

Indigenous communities share "a deep spiritual love and respect for the planet with live with," she said. Summit organizers hope to "inspire participants to take action either in their daily lives or in the form of environmental activism on a broader scale."

The free NMU summit is sponsored by the university’s Center for Native American Studies [5], the Environmental Science Program and the Office of International Programs.

Keynote speakers are the Aboriginal Australia Delegation, who are bringing the Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways [6] (TKRP) project to Michigan. The Aboriginal Delegation is touring many of Michigan’s Native communities to establish a Three Fires branch of the TKRP project.

The major tribes in Michigan comprise the Three Fires Council [7]: The Chippewa (Ojibwa), the Ottawa, and the Potawatomi. These tribes share the same territory and have similar cultures but traditionally somewhat different lifestyles to adapt to the climate and terrain of their region, and the impact on their lives by European settlers.

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The delegation members are Barry Hunter, a descendant of the Djabaguy people from the Kuranda area

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John Hunter, a descendant of the Gamilaraay people from northwestern New South Wales

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Victor Steffensen, a member of the Kuku Thaypan from Cape York and manager and founder of the Traditional Knowledge Recording Project [12]

At the heart of TKRP is the philosophy that traditional knowledge belongs to Indigenous communities and only Indigenous communities should have say over if and how they will share that traditional knowledge, according to April Lindala, director of the NMU Center for Native America Studies.

The TKRP Three Fires project will be initiated and run by Michigan’s Native communities, she said.

"Universities, corporations and other entities may offer support if the Native communities involved desire it, but it is the Native community working to revitalize its traditional knowledge that has control over how that knowledge is preserved and shared," Lindala said.

TKRP, founded by one of the delegation’s members, is a government-funded multimedia traditional knowledge revitalization project.

The project goals are to preserve and record Indigenous knowledge from the elders using methods approved by the elders involved, share the knowledge with others in culturally appropriate ways, and involve Aboriginal youth in recording this traditional knowledge and invigorate interest and knowledge of traditional Aboriginal culture.

Delegate John Hunter will host the Aboriginal Art Exhibit. The summit will feature various panels, films and presentations including how to address Indigenous environmental concerns.

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Garry Morning Star Raven, a traditional Ojibwe teacher from Manitoba will speak on "Aki: Mother Earth" and other presenters from around the nation will speak on issues related to Indigenous environmental concerns from traditional ecological knowledge to industrial projects such as mining and the connection between Indigenous languages and Mother Earth.

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On April 23, Turtle Island Project Director Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard of Munising, MI will discuss whether "Euro-Americans can understand the concept of sacred lands"and if western culture "still has a notion of the sacred" as part of future environmental planning.

Hubbard’s presentation is entitled "In The Absence of the Sacred: Ecologico-Spirituality, Sacred Land and the struggle for Human Liberation."

"Human societies have traditionally made either nature or history determinative of reality," said Hubbard, a Lutheran pastor who served a number of Chicago area churches and two Afro-Caribbean Lutheran congregations on the island of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. "Traditional western forms of spirituality prefer history as the source of divine revelation, and hence use temporal metaphors for expressing their sense of the sacred."

"Indigenous forms of spirituality prefer nature as a source of sacred knowledge, and use primarily spatial metaphors to express their sense of the sacred," said Hubbard, pastor of Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising.

Western spirituality is "often understood as existing apart from the natural processes of the physical world" while Indigenous spirituality is "often tied to a specific time and a specific place," he said.

Hubbard said he will examine how the Euro-American concept of sacred lands impacts "global ecological concerns."

Hubbard co-founded the Turtle Island Project in August 2007 to promote respect for the environment and cultures of First Nations peoples. He travels regularly to the Lakota Sioux reservations in South Dakota.

The Turtle Island Project hosted concerts in South Dakota and Michigan in 2007 to raise money for the White Buffalo Calf Woman’s Society battle against increased domestic violence and a teen suicide crisis on the Lakota Rosebud reservation.

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The Aboriginal Australian Delegation are the leading musicians at the free Earth Day Music Jam and Concert at 7 p.m. on April 22 in the NMU University Center.

For more info, visit www.nmu.edu/nativeamericans or call 906-227-1397.

Tuesday, April 22: Earth Day

12:00-5:00 Ontario/Michigan Rooms

Aboriginal Australian Art Exhibit

Featured Artist: John Hunter (Gamilaraay), Australia, Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways

 

12:00-9:00 Great Lakes Hallway & Bookstore Atrium

Vendors

Informational Tables

Student Research from NAS 295: Indigenous Environmental Movements

12:00-12:30 University Center Courtyard

Opening ceremony

Kenn Pitawanakwat (Anishinaabe)

Northern Michigan University

Aboriginal Australian Delegate – to be confirmed

12:30-1:30 Ontario & Michigan Rooms

Opening address and lunch

Jim Northrup (Anishinaabe) – to be confirmed

Author, elder and activist

1:30-3:30 Concurrent Session

Erie Room

Film: "Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action" – to be confirmed

263 School of Art & Design Studio

Workshop: Aboriginal Art and Mother Earth – An Interactive Mural on Canvas

- to be confirmed

Facilitator: John Hunter (Gamilaraay), Australia

Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways

3:30-5:00 Huron Room

Panel I: Industrial/Commercial Threats to Indigenous Lands and Cultures

Facilitator:

Panelists

Dr. Alex Carroll

Northern Michigan University

"Contested Landscapes: Differential Attachments to the Yellow

Dog Plains of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan"

Teresa Bertossi

Western Michigan University

"Celebrated Patterns of Protest: Indigenous Environmental Movements

and Anti-Mining Methods "

Hannah Nyala West

University of Wisconsin

"Tracking at the Future: The Politics of Footprints & ‘Expertise’"

Noah Theriault

University of Wisconsin

"Rights, Strategies, and Dilemmas: A Case of Environmental Contestation in the Philippines"

5:00-7:00 Dinner on your own – see registration folder for list of area restaurants

Green Awards Reception – NMU Department of Geography – to be confirmed

7:00-9:00 Huron Room

Evening Keynote Presentation

Garry Morning Star Raven (Anishinaabe), Manitoba

Traditional Teacher, Ravens Creek Ventures

"Aki: Mother Earth"

9:00-11:00 Huron Room

Music Jam (featuring the Summit’s Aboriginal Australian Delegation)

Bring your acoustic instruments or just come and enjoy!

Wednesday, April 23

9:30-5:00 Ontario/Michigan Rooms

Aboriginal Australian Art Exhibit

Featured Artist: John Hunter (Gamilaraay), Australia

Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways

9:30-5:00 Great Lakes Hallway & Bookstore Atrium

Vendors

Informational Tables

Student Research from NMU’s NAS 295: Indigenous Environmental Movements

9:30-10:00 Ontario & Michigan Rooms

Coffee and rolls

10:00-12:00 Concurrent Session

Huron Room

Panel II: Indigenous Earth Values and Philosophies

Facilitator:

Panelists

Jennifer Niemi

University of Minnesota

Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Language Revitalization

"Niizhwaaching Ishkodeng: Healing of the People through the Earth"

Jamie Kuehnl

Northern Michigan University

"Indigenous Knowledge as the Foundation of Eco-Feminist Thought: Giving Thanks Where Thanks are Due"

Christel Ries

Northern Michigan University undergraduate student

"The Land is Sacred"

Rev. Lynn Hubbard

Turtle Island Project founder

"In the Absence of the Sacred: Ecologico-Spirituality: Sacred Land and the Struggle for Human Liberation"

Erie Room

Film: "Manoomin (Wild Rice): Ojibwe Spirit Food"

Facilitators: Michael Loukinen

Northern Michigan University

Roger LaBine (Anishinaabe)

12:00-1:00 Ontario & Michigan Rooms

Lunch

1:00-2:00 Ontario & Michigan Rooms

Keynote Presentation

Victor Steffensen (Kuku Thaypan Cape York), Australia

Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways

"Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways"

2:00-4:00 Concurrent Session

Huron Room

Panel III: Indigenous Languages and Mother Earth

Facilitator:

Panelists

Kenn Pitawanakwat, Northern Michigan University

Howard Kimewon, University of Michigan

Margaret Noori, University of Michigan

Shannon Noori, 5th Grade Ojibwe Language Student

Fionna Noori, Kindergarten Ojibwe Language Student

Jim Northrup, Author - to be confirmed

"G’gaa Miigwetchwiiaanaa ji-Debenjiged – Giving Thanks to the Creator"

Erie Room

Film: Water and Traditional Knowledge

Facilitator: Barry Hunter (Djabaguy), Australia

Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways

4:00-5:00 Ontario & Michigan Rooms

Talking Circle Workshop: 7th Generation Solutions

Facilitator:

5:00-7:00 Dinner on your own – see registration folder for list of area restaurants

7:00-9:30 Jamrich 102

Evening Keynote Presentation

Aboriginal Australian Delegation:

Barry Hunter (Djabaguy), John Hunter (Gamilaraay), Victor Steffensen (Kuku Thaypan Cape York)

"Indigenous & Environmental Issues of Australia"

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Related websites and more information:

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NMU Center for Native American Studies:

http://www.nmu.edu/nativeamericans

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Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways project:

http://www.tkrp.com.au

TKRP as hosted by Balkanu:

http://www.balkanu.com.au

Traditional Knowledge Recording Project:

http://tkrp.com.au

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Turtle Island Project:

http://www.turtleislandproject.org

http://turtleislandtv.blip.tv

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Three Fires Council

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~minatam

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Here is additional information on summit presenters and the keynote delegation:

Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways (TKRP) project:

TKRP recently established a branch in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and, following on invitations extended to them from Indigenous communities, plans to expand TRKP to Turtle Island and Saamiland in an effort to unite Indigenous efforts at cultural and ecological restoration under an international Indigenous umbrella

Barry Hunter is a Indigenous Land Management Facilitator from TKRP hosted by Balkanu (http://www.balkanu.com.au/) and funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust. He has a B.A.S in Parks, Recreation and Heritage as well as a range of experience in land and sea management. His specialties include Aboriginal hunting and fishing rights particularly as they relate to turtle and dugong conservation and illegal commercial fishing issues.

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John Hunter is a TKRP Indigenous Land Management Facilitator for southern Queenslanda Ph.D. research scholar through Macquarie University and a professional artist. He has taught at the University of Western Sydney, Macquarie University and, currently, at the University of Queensland as both a permanent and part-time faculty member. He has various degrees including an Associate’s in Park Management; a B.A.S. in Parks, Recreation and Heritage; and a Master’s of Indigenous Studies in Research. His current Ph.D. work is focused on developing a Gamilaraay TKRP and Indigenous capacity building project. In addition, he plays the didgeridoo and will be bringing along an art exhibit and a display on the Stolen Generations.

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Victor Steffensen has a varied background on numerous issues such as methods of traditional knowledge recovery, application of traditional ecological knowledge in natural resource management, aboriginal history, the synergies between science and traditional Indigenous knowledge, Aboriginal culture and spirituality, and a range of contemporary Aboriginal issues

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The Turtle Island Project:

Turtle Island Project founders are concerned about the environment, global warming, climate change and species extinction and its effect on Indigenous peoples because over the past 500 years humans have killed off nearly 1,000 species.

TIP founders believes that species extinction and global warming are among the measures that demonstrate the dire future for Earth and humans if we don't change our attitudes.

Tip points out that nearly 15,600 species are threatened with extinction, according to several 2007 United Nations reports.

The U.N. reports state that almost one-third of the world's species of animals and plants are expected to be at risk of extinction within 50 years due to climate change.

During the interfaith retreat for religious leadersin late 2007, TIP director Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard said it's the responsibility of clergy to speak out on social issues like the abuse of the environment and racism.

Turtle Island Project founders say Euro-Americans can learn a lot from Earth-based cultures like the Celts and Native Americans.

TIP co-founder rev. Dr. George Cairns of Chsterton, Indiana saids the human race and the planet (therefore its wildlife) are facing a "Kyros Moment" that demands a change in the basic way humans view and treat the planet and its natural inhabitants.

Kyros is a Greek word for "occasion' or timing."

Kyros is the art of seizing the moment - a combination of understood context and proper timing.

Additional bio info on Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard:

Lynn Hubbard, M.DIV. D.MIN., is founder and director of the Turtle Island Project (TIP) in Munising, Michigan.

He is currently the minister of Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising.

In addition to graduating from Valparaiso University and holding advanced degrees from the Lutheran School of Theology and Chicago Theological Seminary, Lynn has studied at the Pedagogishe Hochschule in Reutlingen, German, the Religious Studies Department at the University of Indiana, and the Divinity School at the University of Chicago.

For many years he worked as the Associate Dean of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago.

He has had extensive experience in both the interfaith and ecumenical communities, and served as the Director of Development for the Parliament of World’s Religious.

Most recently, in working in his capacity as spiritual director for Juvenile sex offenders, he has given national and international conference presentations on "Creating Ritual Process for Juvenile Sex Offenders from a Cross Cultural Perspective".

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