At 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7, Gwen Westerman, Ph. D., will be speaking in the Courtyard Café. Titled “What Would Thanksgiving Be Without American Indians,” the talk will be well-timed for Gustavus students to learn a little more about Thanksgiving’s representation.

Westerman’s talk will focus on the impact of indigenous cultures on the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States, and how Americans perceive Thanksgiving and its celebration as a day of discovery while, for American Indians, it marks the beginning of their oppression.

Westerman was contacted by Senior Sociology and Anthropology and Political Science Major Irma Marquez and Junior Psychology Major Tasha Ostendorf through the Building Bridges program.  The Building Bridges program is a student-run and led social justice organization that puts on an annual conference focusing on a specific social justice issue which changes from year to year.  Past topics have included human trafficking, immigration, liberation through education and genocide.

This year’s topic is the unresolved conflicts that still exist within the Native American communities in the United States.

“I am excited to have more Native American representatives on the Gustavus Campus. There isn’t much spotlight on this wonderful culture, which is unfortunate,”Marquez said. Co-chair Ostendorf, agrees.

“Gwen brings the perspective of her people and sheds light on the misconceptions of this holiday,” Ostendorf said.

The goal of Westerman’s visit to Gustavus is “to educate students, not to make them feel guilty or attacked and present information they probably were not taught in high school or middle school,” Ostendorf said.

”I hope that Gustavus Students’ perspectives about Native Americans changes.  There is a lot of history that gets overlooked or is ignored when it comes to the Native American community.  Native Americans have become a small section in American History books,” Marquez said.

A poet and fiber artist, as well as a professor in English and director of the humanities program at Minnesota State University of Mankato, Gwen Westerman lives in southern Minnesota, as did her Dakota ancestors.

She is very in tune with the prairie landscape, which is revealed in her art and writing through the languages and traditions of her family. She is also an enrolled member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe.