They are Learning from Each Other

They Are Learning from Each Other

The Development of Indigenous-Centered Land Restoration and Policy
📅 Thursday, October 16 | 🕙 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
📍 Location: UWM’s Union Wisconsin Room | 💵 Free Admission (Registration required for lunch)
Sponsored by: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District, Daybreak Fund, & Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education

Join us for a full-day symposium exploring Indigenous-centered approaches to land restoration and policy development. This gathering brings together scholars, students, and community leaders to share knowledge, stories, and strategies rooted in Indigenous environmental systems and relationships to land.

Through presentations, panels, and shared meals—including soup at the Fire Circle—participants will engage in meaningful dialogue about the intersections of land, language, and policy. The day will culminate in a keynote address by Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill, a leading voice in Indigenous knowledge and environmental advocacy.

Schedule Overview

• 10:00 AM – Introductions and Opening
• 10:15–11:00 AM – Dr. Sharity Bassett, EQI & WGS and Breann Clark, EQI
  “Indigenous Worldview and Collective Autofiction: Writing the Speculative Now”
• 11:00–12:00 PM – Kristin Schultheis, MMSD
• 12:00–1:00 PM – Lunch (Registration required)
• 1:00–2:00 PM – Michael Zimmerman, Ojibwe Language Instructor & Potawatomi Language Consultant
  “Land and Language: A bridge to understanding worldview”
• 2:00–3:00 PM – Mark Freeland, EQI
  “A Starting Place for Understanding Humans as Part of the Environmental Systems”
• 3:00–4:00 PM – Student Panel
• 4:00–5:30 PM – Break & Soup at the Fire Circle
• 5:30–7:00 PM – Keynote: Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill
  “Reimagining Environmental Science with the Haudenosaunee of Six Nations”