On the occasion of the major exhibition showcasing renowned black ash basket weavers, Kelly Church & Cherish Parrish: In Our Words, An Intergenerational Dialogue, Stamps Gallery is proud to organize an important public discussion on the tragic legacy of American-Indian Boarding Schools in the United States and the intergenerational trauma and suffering they inflicted on Indigenous communities. Church and Parrish explore the consequences of this time through their boundary-breaking basketry as they pay homage to their community’s resilience, strength, and bravery. 

Taking place at Stamps Gallery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on October 5 from 2 to 4pm (EDT), American Indian Boarding Schools: The Michigan Anishinaabe Experience will include the following speakers and moderators:

Rochelle Ettawageshik is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and serves as vice chair of the tribe’s child welfare commission. She currently sits on the board of directors for the National Indian Child Welfare Association and is vice president of the Michigan Indian Education Council. Ettawageshik recently retired from the State of Michigan as the director of Native American Affairs in the Child and Family Services Administration, where she developed policies to improve services to American Indian families in Michigan. 

Benedict Hinmon is the Director at Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Hinmon is the grandson of Obwaandiak (Chief Pontiac) and comes from a proud family of Michigan Anishinaabe. 

Matthew L.M. Fletcher is the Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law at Michigan Law. He teaches and writes in the areas of federal Indian law, American Indian tribal law, Anishinaabe legal and political philosophy, constitutional law, federal courts, and legal ethics. He also sits as the chief justice of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. 

Wenona T. Singel is an Associate Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law and the Director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center. Her research and writing address issues related to Tribal Sovereignty and Indigenous Rights. She is working on a book about the intergenerational impact of federal Indian law and policy on Native families. 

Learn more and register for the panel.

Kelly Church & Cherish Parrish: In Our Words, An Intergenerational Dialogue

On view through December 7, this exhibition centers the subjectivities of two contemporary Indigenous artists whose practices have sustained and bolstered the relevance of the age-old Anishinaabe practice of black ash basket-making in the 21st century. Kelly Church and Cherish Parrish explore the themes of Native women’s labor as carriers of culture, the legacy of boarding schools, treaties, and stories from ancestors who walked on through their work.

Curated by Srimoyee Mitra with Curatorial Assistant Zoi Crampton. 

This exhibition and its associated programs are generously funded by Michigan Humanities and U-M Arts Initiative. 

All programs are free and open to the public.

For more information, visit stamps.umich.edu.