Save the date! 

Location:  The George Watts Hill Alumni Center

The symposium will give members of the Carolina community an opportunity to see firsthand how modern Indian Nations work, foster dialogue about current challenges and goals for Native communities, and give tribal leaders the opportunity to discuss issues and develop relationships with other Native leaders.  The panelists will discuss some contemporary and historical struggles that Indigenous peoples face in the U.S. concerning representation and empowerment.

Morning Session and Lunch requires RSVP   (If interested in attending the morning session, please email Jennifer Olson at jlolson@email.unc.edu)

9:00-10:00 am | Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:00 am | Morning Welcome

• Brooke Bauer & Elizabeth Ellis, FNGC Co-Presidents
• Steve Matson, Dean of The Graduate School & Professor of Biology, UNC-Chapel Hill

10:15-11:00 am | Graduate Student Panel 1, Moderator Stanley Thayne, PhD Candidate,  Department of Religious Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill

• Elizabeth Ellis (Peoria), PhD Candidate, Department of History, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Caleb Hicks, PhD Candidate, Department of Linguistics, UNC-Chapel Hill

11:00-11:15 am | Coffee Break

11:15-12:00 pm | Graduate Student Panel 2, Moderator Ryan Comfort (Keweenaw Bay Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe), Academic Advisor, UNC-Chapel Hill

• Brooke Bauer (Catawba Nation), PhD Candidate, Department of History, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Jami Powell (Osage Nation), PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology, UNC-Chapel Hill

12:00-1:00 pm| Lunch 

12:30-1:00 pm | Afternoon Registration   Open to the Public (No RSVP Required)

1:00-2:00 pm| Keynote Address & Discussion

• Welcome & Introduction: 
  • Brooke Bauer and Liz Ellis, FNGC Co-Presidents
  • Chancellor Carol L. Folt, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Keynote:  Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University, Department of Anthropology & Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, blogger of Native Appropriations  .
  • “Learning to lead from behind a keyboard: Native representations and why they matter”
  • For Carolina Chronicle article about the symposium, click here.

Photo courtesy of Matika Wilbur

2:00-2:20 pm | Networking Break

2:20-3:15 pm| Sequoyah Fellowship Alumni Panel

• Introduction by Sandra Hoeflich, The Graduate School, Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Education, Fellowships, and Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Rose Stremlau, Associate Professor, Department of History, UNC-Pembroke
  “Historicizing Empowerment: Recognizing American Indian Women’s Agency in the Past”
• Courtney Lewis (Cherokee Nation), Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology & Institute for Southern Studies, USC-Columbia
  “Economic Empowerment in Indian Country: Building Economic Stability and Sovereign Strength with ‘Indianpreneurs’”

3:15-3:45 | North Carolina Native Leader Spotlight

• Introduction by Jami Powell (Osage Nation), PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Kara Stewart (Sappony), Writer, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Reading Specialist, Sappony Tribal Council, Board for the State Advisory Council on Indian Education.
  “Passion and Perseverance in Leadership”

3:45 pm | Closing Remarks

• Amy Locklear-Hertel (Lumbee/Coharie), Director, American Indian Center, UNC-Chapel Hill

The 2015 Native Leaders Symposium is sponsored by First Nations Graduate Circle and The Graduate School.

Evening Event

4:00-7:00pm | Dinner with NLS Participants (sponsored by the American Indian Center)