Katie Samek-
The Gustavus President’s Council for Indigenous Relations (PCIR) is pleased to announce that Dakota Elder Joe Whitehawk will be returning as the PCIR’s 2024 Elder in Residence, and will be hosting informal talks with several classes from various academic disciplines about the Indigenous history of the Saint Peter area and ways that students can participate in Indigenous advocacy, both here on campus as well as in the surrounding community.
Joe Whitehawk, better known around campus as Joe, is a traditional Dakota elder, medicine man, and retired Chemical Dependency Counselor, integrating traditional Indigenous healing and Native culture with members of tribes in Minnesota and beyond. Elder Whitehawk has a long history within the Gustavus community dating back to the 1990s, first serving as a powwow dancer for a powwow held at Gustavus. He has since given several talks as an Indigenous People’s Day guest speaker, hosting a smudging ceremony for the PCIR in 2022, leading a Truth and Healing Circle in November of 2023, and serving as the PCIR Elder in Residence in 2022.
“Joe would say he’s ‘just a humble man,’” The co-chair of PCIR Katie Boone said. “However, for those who have been touched through Joe’s work and wisdom, their lives will never be the same.”
The Dakota people are considered aboriginal to Saint Peter and the surrounding areas (aboriginal, in this instance, means that they come from and are native to this region), and much of the Dakota language and culture has been irrevocably lost through the genocidal actions of the US government through treaties which stole their land, exiled their people from their homelands, and forcibly repressed their language, culture, medicines, and traditions. Much of this bloody history is not taught in most schools and even neglected in some colleges. It is through Indigenous elders like Joe Whitehawk, whom Gustavus is immensely privileged to work with, that we can not only learn about these lost parts of history, but revive interest in these traditions and seek to adapt, upkeep, and preserve them for generations to come.
Students fortunate enough to have Joe visit their classrooms this spring will find a wide berth of Indigenous wisdom and lived experience through his conversations. Elders from Indigenous communities hold wisdom that has been passed down through oral tradition and storytelling, and Joe’s teachings have been passed down through the Dakota people for generations. Furthermore, students can look forward to a kind, understanding, and humble speaker – and, according to several members of PCIR, a sense of humor to boot.
“The unique combination of ‘ancient wisdom patterns’ – to quote my colleague Katie Boone – and informality makes Joe very approachable”, Faculty Director for Academic Student Success and NEH Grant PI on behalf of PCIR, Elizabeth Kubek said. “Joe is very talented at the skill of ‘two-eyed seeing’ – that is, seeing within both the Indigenous and European perspectives. Students might hear him say that ‘the longest road to travel is the twelve-inch journey from the mind to the heart’ – it’s his way of saying that Indigenous knowledge is a very unique circular way of thinking and that it requires listeners to quiet their mind and center their heart.”
“Joe has a good sense of humor, almost like someone’s grandpa”, Student Representative and Sophmore Guadalupe Olague said. “He’s very ‘back in my day’ with his humor; he has a lot of knowledge and lived experience to share, and it’s all incredibly informative.”
PCIR is a relatively new organization at Gustavus and is unique among organizations for being one that is faculty-run rather than student-run. While at one point in Gustavus’ history, a Native American student-run organization did exist alongside other student organizations like PASO or OLAS, this organization was ultimately dissolved. PCIR does not seek to replace this former student org; rather, this volunteer organization of administration, faculty, and students interacts directly with Indigenous representatives from tribes within Minnesota and beyond to educate the Gustavus community on its Indigenous history, showcase Indigenous art and culture, and create advocacy for Indigenous topics among the Gustavus community.
“PCIR only has one student on its board right now, and that’s me”, Olague said. “I was actually reached out to by PCIR after expressing previous interest in advocacy for the Indigenous community. The hope is to eventually have a student representative from each class, but as there’s currently no way for students to sign up for a position on the board, I don’t know how the next student board member will be chosen.”
Currently, PCIR is focused on educational opportunities for students to interact with and learn about the Indigenous history of Saint Peter and the surrounding areas. For the past two years, PCIR has provided students with transportation to the Mankato Wacipi. They have also hosted various guest speakers from tribes both local and from across the US, such as Chippewa Anishinaabe, Oglala Sioux, and Iroqois; a documentary film screening of the Indigenous film Dakota 38+2, and several events on campus for Native American History Month this last November. They are also responsible for securing a 2022 NEH SHARP grant to support Indigenous relations, which was used in part to host Indigenous artist Marlena Myles as an Artist in Residency here on campus last year in 2023.
“The PCIR is entirely volunteer-led and run,” Boone said. “Student help and support is greatly needed to help with event planning and promotion, website and communications, outreach and engagement, and getting this work integrated into all academic subject areas across campus.”