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2nd Annual John Trudell Lecture in Native American Studies

  • date: 02/09/17
  • time: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
  • location: Weitz CEC, Large Meeting Rooms 201/205 • maps
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The Labor of Tourism and Ho-Chunk Survivance: Performing Indigeneity at the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial

Professor Amy Lonetree will keynote for the 2017 John Trudell Lecture in Native American Studies. Lonetree focuses on twentieth century Ho-Chunk history and cultural performance through an examination of the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial, a historical pageant attended by thousands of tourists every summer in Wisconsin Dells, WI from the 1920s through the 1970s.

Drawing upon an important visual archive of photographic images and film reels, Lonetree explores the complexities of cultural performance, modern labor, and the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism through the experiences of Ho-Chunk people performing Indigeneity within the contact zone of twentieth century Wisconsin. Particular attention is given to privileging the perspectives of the Indigenous people captured in the frame and the ongoing meaning that this visual archive has to our understanding of Ho-Chunk identity, the various ways Ho-Chunk people sought to make a living in the twentieth century, issues of representation, tourism, and survivance.

The Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial helped transform the town of Wisconsin Dells into a major tourist destination. Generations of Ho-Chunk families—including Lonetree’s—made a living during the summer months performing dances for tourists at the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial site by night, and displaying other cultural activities at the nearby Pipe Dyer Trading Post by day.

About the Speaker

Professor Amy Lonetree is an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and an Associate Professor of History at University of California, Santa Cruz. Her scholarly research focuses on Indigenous history, visual culture studies, and museum studies. Her publications include, Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (2012); a co-edited book with Amanda J. Cobb, The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations (2008); and a co-authored volume, People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942 (2011).

About the John Trudell Lecture in Native American Studies

This event is an academic lecture series sponsored by the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) History Department, and Native American Studies Program. The lecture series honors the legacy of Santee citizen, American Indian rights activist, international recording artist, and Hollywood actor John Trudell. Trudell was born in Omaha, Nebraska, a military veteran and later one of the veterans of the Indians of All Tribes Alcatraz takeover in 1969. After his untimely passing last year, UNO Native American Studies elected to honor his memory with a distinguished lecture series featuring influential scholars and leaders from throughout Indian Country.

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