OWNING OUR PAST: 

CHRISTIANITY AND NATIVE AMERICANS

United States Relationships with Native Peoples

Art and Dawn Shegonee (Menominee / Potawatomi)

February 7, 2022

Art Shegonee (Menominee / Potawatomi) was joined by his wife Dawn

They are co-founders of Call For Peace Drum & Dance Company, est. 1990, along with the late Rev. Charles Garel and the Madison Wisconsin Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition. The group traveled around the world, representing seven cultures, with a Mission of Peace, Respect & Unity of all Peoples. Their current work a transportable panoramic exhibit of photography, arts, literature, and film called Call For Peace. A Timeless Journey of Hope & Unity was presented in 2017 in Belfast Ireland, at the International Network of Peace Museums Conference and at the Madison Reunion Exhibit in the Wisconsin State Capitol, Rotunda in 2017.  In addition, their group made a historic performance at the Mitby Theatre in Madison, Dancing the Dream, A New Hope for Humanity, which was recorded and placed on a DVD in the Madison Overture Center for the Arts Time Capsule. 

Their presentation includes a short video clip of US Senator Daniel Inouye who came to Wisconsin to solve racial unrest over the Native Treaty and Fishing Rights Issues in Northern Wisconsin. His study revealed that the motorboats in the lakes, during tourism, killed more fish than any amount the Native Peoples were taking when fishing. The video clip is an excerpt from the longer video, Sovereignty and the US Constitution. It reveals how the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy and the Great Law of Peace, representing, Equity and Justice, provided the US with original concepts for our democracy.  In 1987, the 100th Congress finally acknowledged this contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations to the development of the United States Constitution.

Recording of the ZOOM session on February 7, 2022, can be found at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-8t1q0Rz6aO2VLb6QTTaDfnOtATTwl2Z/view?usp=sharing 

An extended version of the presentation by US Senator Daniel Inouye can be found at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15W6I92IevlPGi11PhdUWJ7-FUiB0UggB/view?usp=sharing

An extended version of the “Call for Peace” can be found at the following link: https://youtu.be/M6IUMNZcBO4 

Resources for further study suggested by Art and Dawn Shegonne:

Charles, M and Rah, Soong-Chan. Unsettling Truths, The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy of The Doctrine of Discovery. Westmont, Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 2019. (The Doctrine of Discovery preceded the Doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Mark Charles has several videos on YouTube of his speaking on The Doctrine of Discovery at churches, colleges, and conferences. He has also presented a Ted Talk.)

Grossman, Z. Unlikely Alliances - Native Nations & White Communities Join to Defend Rural Lands. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017. (Zolton formed the Madison Treaty Rights; His book covers battles on many issues being fought in states across the country, like protecting the salmon in Washington, wild rice in Wisconsin and many other issues.)

Kimmer, R W. Braiding Sweetgrass - Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, & the Teaching of Plants.  Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2013.

Neihardt, JG, Black Elk Speaks (Life Story of a Holy Man, of the Oglala Sioux).  University of Nebraska Press - Bison Books, 2014. (A religious classic)

Stolzman, W. The Pipe And Christ. A Christian-Sioux Dialogue.  Chamberline, SD: Tipi Press, 1991  (This book is the result of six years of dialogue between Sioux Medicine Men and Christian Missionaries on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota)

Treuer, D. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee-- Native America from 1890 to Present.  Penguin Publishing Group, 2019

Wohlleben, P. The Hidden Life of Trees. Greystone Books, 2016 

Of Related Interest on Peace and Justice:

“Just Mercy a book and movie by Author, Lawyer Bryon Stevenson, is a true story of how Bryon Stevenson got a man who served 30 years, off Death Row. It is currently still on Netflix. Bryon and his team Founded the National Monument for Peace & Justice and The Legacy Museum in Montgomery Alabama. Visit https://eji.org   The Equal Justice Initiative.  Currently the group has now gotten 160 African American men off death row.  The Memorial identifies more than 4,000 African American men, women and children who were lynched between 1877 and 1950.