Wednesday, August 25, 2021
The Department of Public Instruction congratulates the four Wisconsin Tribal Library Services recently awarded Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. A total of ten tribal library projects nationwide were awarded funds this year. The other recipients include (in Oklahoma) the Quapaw Nation, the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, Inc, and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota; the Hoopa Valley Tribe in California; and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakima Indians in Washington. Details of the projects proposed by Wisconsin Tribal Library Services follow, and full details on all projects are available here: IMLS Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants
Oneida Nation, Green Bay; $96,365
Oneida Community Library and its Green Earth Branch Library will increase child and family literacy within the Oneida community in Wisconsin and offer programs with a focus on science, technology, authorship incubation, and art. The libraries plan to expand afterschool, summer, and adult educational programming through offerings such as a Tuesday technology and engineering focus for elementary youth, civic programming for teens, storybook walks for families, a community reads program, and reminiscence therapy for elders. The libraries provide essential services to help direct the community energy into programs, services, hobbies, and free time opportunities that have lasting benefits and promote community engagement and well-being.
Forest County Potawatomi Community, Crandon, $150,000
The Forest County Potawatomi Community will strengthen library programming and re-engage the community after the pandemic. The Cultural Center, Library, and Museum serves a rural population with limited resources, and the pandemic severely impacted the library’s hours of operation, services, and staff. The project will hire an assistant librarian to develop reading programs; coordinate cultural activities such as star quilting, ribbon shirts and skirts, and war club classes; implement digital literacy and employment workshops; and collaborate with the three local school districts to provide resources and services. The library staff also will develop a virtual tour of a new museum exhibition and mentor youth in the community.
Lac Courte de Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Hayward, $141,919
The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College Community Library, which serves as both an academic and public library, will digitize historical collections with a focus on the Lac Courte Oreilles community newspapers. These collections serve as important primary sources documenting tribal elections, genealogy, and photographs, and the project will help inventory them. The newspapers are currently stored in archival boxes and thus not as widely accessible, but this project will digitize and upload them to a website. Other materials will then be identified for digitization, including scrapbooks, yearbooks, and newsletters. The library will work with its local history group to offer a writing and research workshop and encourage the sharing of stories on the library website. The project also will offer community programming around anniversaries of historic events.
Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Bowler, $149,701
The Arvid E. Miller Memorial Library and Museum will document tribal history by working with the community to gather stories and photos. The project will culminate in the creation of a history book with photographs and stories of individuals and families who make up the tribal membership—past and present—and serve as a pictorial representation of the Mohican Nation as it survived through various phases of removal from upstate New York in the 1700s to the current reservation in Wisconsin. Community members will participate in outreach events around kinship and genealogy, home visits and interviews, and family story sharing. Through participation in these events, community members can trace their Mohican genealogy roots, identify ancestors, and understand how their family fits into the overall history of the Stockbridge-Munsee.
For questions about this information, contact Martha Berninger (608) 224-6161.
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