Three Indigenous Madisonians will host the year’s first event in Madison Public Library’s Library Takeover program on February 26, 2022, 6-8:30 p.m with a presentation titled Thrival Tools: On Indigenous Winter Survival and Brilliance.
According to an announcement from Madison Public Library, the event will include a series of speakers representing different Tribes and traditions, song, throat singing, and more. Thrival Tools will provide a space for sharing cultural practices amongst Native peoples, as well as introducing non-Native people to the myriad methods by which Indigenous communities have thrived throughout the year in this region, but especially during winter.
“Native peoples have relied on community care, support, and understanding to exist in what is now called North America, Wisconsin, and Madison since time immemorial,” the Thrival Tools team in a statement. “We have thrived in regions that now require extensive reliance on external resources. Thrival Tools brings together Indigenous methods of existence through food, art, and land sovereignty.”
The first event was created and planned by a trio of Indigenous Madisonians: nipinet (Anishinaabe, Michif), Aabaabikaawikwe (Anishinaabe) and nibiiwakamigkwe (Onyota’a:ka, Anishinaabe, Métis) who applied to be part of the Library Takeover program. Three teams applied and were accepted, undertaking training event planning and being mentored by local Madison movers and shakers over the past three months. Madison Public Library provides funding, free space and marketing for each event.
Thrival Tools will be a celebration of Indigenous resiliency and will bring in stories, practices and perspectives from Ho-Chunk, Chicana, Ojibwe, and Yup’ik traditions through stories and song.
“We hope to bring greater awareness to Indigenous livelihoods and our resiliency in our own words and methods,” the Thrival Tools team said. “So often, Indigenous narratives are told without our presence and focus on our genocide and disenfranchisement. We are more than this.”
The event will proceed as follows:
- MadTown Singers Native Drum Group sings a welcome song
- Jon-Jon Greendeer, Ho Chunk Nation Health and Wellness Coordinator, shares Ho Chunk stories and lifeways
- Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores, Chicana community organizer and activist, teaches a workshop on wintertime medicinal drinks: fire cider and champurrado.
- Biskakone Johnson, Lac Du Flambeau Ojibwe knowledge keeper and artist, discusses treaty rights and food sovereignty
- Anastasia Adams, Yup’ik educator and performer, offers traditional Inuit throat singing utilized as entertainment and survival during long northern winters
- MadTown Singers Native Drum Group closes the evening with a traveling song
Thrival Tools is an event open to community members of all ages and backgrounds. A portion of the spaces’ capacity will be reserved for Native community members.
Additional resources will be provided at the event for attendees to internalize the learning and experience. The library and event organizers will collaborate to provide an Indigenous-focused book display, reading lists, online resources, recipes, and more. Madisonians can attend virtually via a Live Stream provided by GigiiGemin on Facebook.
Library Takeover is funded by the Madison Public Library Foundation with additional funding from Dane County Arts Cultural Affairs Commission and giige.
