Humanities News
Legislative News
NewsBytes
Newsletters
Press Releases Home

click here for pdf release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- December 10, 2004
Contact: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer
(517) 372-7770 -- shirko [at] michiganhumanities.org

NOKOMIS LEARNING CENTER RECEIVES $12,730 GRANT

(OKEMOS)-----The Michigan Humanities Council announces Nokomis Learning Center of Okemos has been awarded a $12,730 Humanities Project Grant for “Negotiating The Past Navigating the Future: Michigan Indian Treaties.” The Michigan Humanities Council awarded the grants as part of its program, “Strengthening Michigan’s Communities Through the Humanities,” which emphasizes collaboration among cultural, educational and community-based organizations and institutions to serve Michiganians today with public humanities projects and programs.

“ This project emphasizes the importance of learning about the past, present and future relations between the general public and Michigan Indians,” said Janice Fedewa, Executive Director of the Michigan Humanities Council. “It will help provide important cultural understanding about Michigan Indian treaties to the public through exhibits, lectures, and development of an interdisciplinary curriculum.”

“ Negotiating The Past Navigating the Future: Michigan Indian Treaties” is a collaborative project involving the Nokomis Learning Center, the Michigan State University (MSU) Museum, the Indigenous Law and Policy Center and the American Indian Studies Program at MSU, and the Clarke Historical Library of Central Michigan University. The project has three components:

(1) the development of a humanities-based interactive curriculum for later elementary and middle school students (fourth through sixth grades) pertaining to Michigan Indian treaties;
(2) a lecture series on treaties today; and,
(3) an exhibit of historic prints, “Native American Treaty Signers in the Great Lakes Region,” on loan from the Clarke Historical Library. This exhibit will open in summer 2005 at Nokomis Learning Center in conjunction with the lecture series.

" We are thankful to the Council for supporting our efforts to develop educational programs about Michigan’s Native peoples,” said Adriana Greci Green, Interim Director, Nokomis Learning Center. “This project on Michigan Indian treaties will help the public gain a fuller understanding of sovereignty and the interaction of federal, tribal, state and local governments in Michigan."

“ The Nokomis Learning Center’s project will be valuable not only to its intended audience of 4th, 5th and 6th graders but to adults as well,” U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow said. “This important grant from the Michigan Humanities Council will help people understand how federal, tribal, state and local governments in Michigan interact, and, of special note, it will help demonstrate why Michigan’s tribes have an important role to play as we move forward with efforts to protect the Great Lakes.”

" It is important to understand and learn about the cultural significance of Michigan’s Indian treaties," said U.S. Senator Carl Levin. "This grant will help the Nokomis Learning Center provide this education to our students and the general public.”

" In Michigan, with our history rich in the culture of Native American tribes, its crucial that our young people have an objective look at the impact of treaties between the federal government and tribes," said U.S. Representative Mike Rogers. "With this funding, the Humanities Council can continue its mission of strengthening understanding and preserving the history and culture of Michigan's diverse communities."

For more information about the Michigan Humanities Council, visit michiganhumanities.org; and, for more on Nokomis Learning Center please visit www.nokomis.org.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is the state’s independent, non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.