Enduring Kinship Roundtable Conversations

On the occasion of the major exhibition showcasing renowned black ash basket weavers, Kelly Church & Cherish Parrish: In Our Words, An Intergenerational Dialogue, Stamps Gallery is proud to present a day-long series of roundtable conversations entitled Enduring Kinship with Indigenous seed keepers, botanists, chefs, and artists.

Free and open to the public. Limited space available; registration recommended for each program. These roundtable conversations are generously supported by the U‑M Arts Initiative and a Michigan Humanities Grant.

Roundtable #1: Plant-Kin Preservation & Rematriation

10 a.m. — Noon, November 15, 2024
Organized in partnership with the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum

About the Speakers:

• Roger LaBine (Lac Vieux Desert Band of Chippewa) is a traditional teacher and manoomin (wild rice) restorationist.
• Kirstin ​“Kirby” Shoote (Tlingit) is a chef, urban farmer, and seedkeeper based in Detroit.
• Kaya Deerinwater (Citizen Band of Potawatomi) is an ethnobotanist and grower who works in food sovereignty.
• Camren Stott (Little Traverse Band of Ottawa Indians) is a chef and food justice advocate currently managing the Elder Meal Program for the Gun Lake Tribe.
• Moderated by Shiloh Maples (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians), community organizer, seed keeper, storyteller, and U‑M alumnus.

Click here to register for Roundtable #1.

Roundtable #2: Indigenous Artists from the Great Lakes Combating Climate Change

1 – 3 p.m., November 15, 2024.

About the Speakers:

• Kelly Church (Potawatomi/​Odawa/​Ojibwe) is a nationally recognized basket weaver and artist. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2018 National Heritage Fellowship, and is a 2024 US Artist Fellow.
• Cherish Parrish (Potawatomi/​Odawa) is an award-winning black ash basket weaver and birch bark biter.
• Courtney Leonard (Shinnecock) is an artist and filmmaker. Her work explores the concept of ​“breach,” focusing on the intersection of water, whales, and material sustainability, and documenting cultural and environmental histories.
• Jason Wesaw (Potawatomi), is a multi-disciplinary artist, creating works that are informed by the land and relate stories that are rooted in place and the acknowledgement of spirit.
• Moderated by Blaire Morseau, a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies department at Michigan State University where she also teaches in American Indian and Indigenous Studies. Her research interests are in Indigenous science fiction and futurisms, traditional cultural and ecological knowledge, digital heritage, and Native counter-mapping.

Click here to register for Roundtable #2.