The best way to learn about people is to talk to them.
Dr. Anton Treuer will provide this opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about Native Americans at his Chautauqua lecture on Thursday, Nov. 19, at Eastern Kentucky University. A professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and executive director of the American Indian Resource Center, he will present “Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask” at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. His talk, free and open to the public, also serves as the keynote address for Native American Heritage Month.
Treuer is a cultural historian, storyteller and community advocate. He has given presentations around the world on topics such as Cultural Competence and Equity; Strategies for Addressing the “Achievement” Gap; and Tribal Sovereignty, History, Language and Culture. In his presentations, Treuer shares his vision of a better world, informed by his understanding of Ojibwe traditions and knowledge.
He is also the author of more than a dozen books on Native American and Ojibwe history and culture. “The Assassination of Hole in the Day,” about the 19th century Ojibwe leader also known as Bagone-giizhig, received the Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History and was hailed by Native American novelist Louise Erdrich as “a masterful history, and more…illuminating the character of a controversial and charismatic Ojibwe leader from within Ojibwe culture, and telling a powerful story of loss that reverberates in the present.” Two of Treuer’s books have also been selected as Minnesota Reads of the Year by the Society for the Book at the Library of Congress.
Treuer earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota. He is the editor of the Oshkaabewis Native Journal, the only academic journal of the Ojibwe language. Treuer has served on many organizational boards and has received more than 40 awards and fellowships from groups such as the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bush Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
His lecture is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Social Work; the Department of History; the Department of English; the Office of Diversity; the Department of Languages, Cultures & Humanities; the Comparative Humanities Program and EKU Honors.
For more information, visit www.chautauqua.eku.eduor contact Chautauqua Lecture Coordinator Dr. Erik Liddell at erik.liddell@eku.edu.