Indigenous Voices, Part 11: Notre Dame's History with Native Peoples from Reunion 2026

Episode Topic: Notre Dame's History with Native Peoples from Reunion 2026 

Drawing from the records of Fr. Badin, Fr. Sorin, and Fr. Hesburgh, as well as Chief Leopold Pokagon, the founder of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Zada Ballew '19 tells a fuller, more complicated story of how Notre Dame was founded and why. In this telling, Indigenous peoples are neither missing nor absent from the narrative — they are central to the history of the land that became Notre Dame. Understand more fully how the early history of the Potawatomi and Notre Dame is remembered on campus.

Featured Speakers:

• Zada Ballew, outgoing chair of NAA, University of Notre Dame

Read this episode's recap over on the University of Notre Dame's open online learning community platform, ThinkND: https://go.nd.edu/b0111b. 

This podcast is a part of the ThinkND Series titled Indigenous Voices.

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Transcript

1 0:00

Afternoon and welcome. We hope you're having a wonderful reunion weekend so far, and we thank you for joining us today. My name is Tara Konjakati. I am an enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. I am also the undergraduate community engagement and anthropology librarian here at Hesburgh Libraries. I'm an active member of the Native American Initiatives Group and Indigenous Faculty and Staff Organization here on campus. I'm thrilled today to introduce today's speaker. Zeta Belleau is an enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and chair of the Native American Alumni Board of Notre Dame. She earned her bachelor's degree in economics and psychology from Notre Dame and her master's degree in US history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research explores Native American business history from the fur trade in the 1600s to casinos today. Four days ago, she successfully defended her dissertation Making her officially Dr. Zeta Bellu. Though she is a doctor, she told me to tell you, please, please, please do not ask her for medical advice. But if you have any weirdly specific history questions, those are totally fair game. In 2023 to 2024, Zeta served as the historical consultant and cultural liaison for the Native American Initiatives of Notre Dame. In this role, she conducted an inquiry into Notre Dame's history with Native peoples, starting before the university's founding and continuing to the present. Drawing from the records of Father Sorin, Father Hesburgh, Leopold Pokagon, and more, she learned how Indigenous peoples have profoundly shaped the history of Notre Dame in ways the broader community doesn't quite yet know about. In this talk, she's going to share some of the stories she has found with you. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming Dr. Zeta Value I

Speaker 2 2:20

understand. Hi

Speaker 3 2:24

Oh my gosh. Ah, okay. Woo. All right, we got it. Um, Raymond, Wisconsin South Bend, Mina, uh, Granger, Indiana Um, hello everyone, good afternoon. It is so wonderful to be with you today. Um, miigwech, Tara, for that introduction. It's still very weird to hear Dr. in front of my name, but we're gonna g- we're gonna g- uh, e- enjoy this moment. Um, so like Tara said, my name is Zeta Ballew. I'm an enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, which is the tribe closest to the University of Notre Dame. I'm honored and thrilled and excited to have the opportunity to speak with you today, and to help welcome you all home. Miigwech to you all for being here this weekend, and especially for attending this talk. Uh, when the Alumni Association and I were planning what time to host a lecture during reunion weekend, we knew better than to host it at 9:00 AM. So I hope the afternoon yay. Thank you all for being here. Um, I'm so excited that you are. Before I officially step down as chair of the Native American Alumni Board of Notre Dame, I want to acknowledge some of the people Some of the people who have made our work today possible This is a photograph from the first newsletter of the Native American Alumni the Native American Alumni Board of Notre Dame. I promise I won't cry the rest of the talk. It won't be just me, an hour of me crying. Um, it's a very emotional weekend. Okay. We were formed in 2004 by the people you see on the screen, and many more who aren't, not pictured. Um, I'm so grateful for them, for everything they did, and I know at least one of the original board members is sitting i- in the audience today. Um, Iva, could you please stand? Uh, Miigwech, Iva, and to the rest of your board members for everything that you did. This one's for you I want to begin this talk with a research question. We are at Notre Dame, a preeminent research university. We're gonna start with a question. We're here today in South Bend, Indiana, a place so many of us, of us know and love. But why? Why is Notre Dame here? Of all the places in the entire world to build a school, how and why did Father Sorin decide that South Bend, Indiana, was the place to start a Catholic college? The weather is nice today, but give it a few months, and I'm sure our students will be asking the exact same thing. As you heard in the introduction, I work as a Native American historian. Three years ago, I was invited back to Notre Dame to research this question. In 2023, the Native American Initiative of Notre Dame received a grant from the Office of the Provost. The purpose of the grant was to hire an independent historian to conduct an inquiry into Notre Dame's history with Native peoples, starting before the founding and continuing to the present. For nine months, my job was as the historical consultant and cultural liaison for the Native American Initiative of Notre Dame, which I hope is the longest job title that I have in my whole entire life because it is certainly a mouthful. My job was to research the Native American history of Notre Dame and to share my findings with our community. About half my time was spent in the archives, and the other s- half was spent outside the archives making sure that the stories we found didn't just stay in the archives, that they actually made their way out into our community. Now, I can't say for certain, but I don't think it was a coincidence that I was asked to join the project Uh, this is the youngest photo I could find of myself wearing a Notre Dame shirt. But if my pa- But if my parents had known that the bookstore sold onesies, you would see baby pictures of me on the screen Neither of my parents went to college, but both of my- both sides of my family have a history with Notre Dame. On my mom's side of the family, her grandmother, my great-grandmother, was a Hungarian immigrant who used to clean the dorm rooms here. Every day after school, my mom would hear stories about the people my grandma or her, or, or her grandma called her Notre Dame boys, what they were studying, who they were taking to dances, and the kinds of trouble they were getting into, which at the time was a lot Probably still is I'm joking, I'm joking On my dad's side of the family, we're all citizens of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi. This is a photo of my grandmother, Elizabeth. My grandma was a survivor of the Mount Pleasant Indian Boarding School in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The history of Native American boarding schools can and should be its own talk, but for the sake of time, I'll just say that her time at the school was not good When she came home, she met my grandpa, and together they had 13 children. They were very busy. Um, here's a family photo. My grandma is in the front row wearing purple, and the one highlighted in red is my dad. For as long as I can remember, I've been hearing stories about the Native American h- history of Notre Dame. My uncles, the ones pictured here, used to tell me that it was because of us that Notre Dame is where it is today. I grew up proud of our history, and I knew our tribe's relationship with the u- university very well. It's a really good story, and one that I'll share later, later with you in this talk. But when I arrived to Notre Dame in the fall of 2015, I was shocked that most people on campus had never heard of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians before. At the time, there was no mention of us or our history with Notre Dame anywhere on campus as far as I could see. Most people had no idea that campus was on Indigenous land or any knowledge of the history of the place that they now called their home As a Notre Dame alum, lifelong fan of Notre Dame, and citizen of the Pokagon Band, I've been learning about the Native American history of this place for my entire life. So when the Native American Initiative asked if I'd be interested in coming back to campus and conducting the inquiry, I couldn't say no. This was a dream come true. During the year I was on campus, we didn't work alone. We partnered with tribal historians, archivists, linguists, artists, and community members, all members of the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi, several of whom are pictured here on the screen, and many, many more who are not. One day I hope to bring everybody back to campus to get one big group photo so you can see just how many people were involved in this work We also worked with Notre Dame Archives upstairs on the sixth floor here in Hesburgh Library. Here's a photograph of our partners at Archives meeting many of our partners at the, uh, from the Pokagon Band. We also worked with students, faculty, staff, and alumni from Notre Dame and the surrounding community to better understand how Indigenous peoples have shaped the founding and history of Notre Dame. I'm grateful especially for Jason Ruiz, Ashley Bird, Tara Konjakati, who gave the intro, uh, Patrick Milhoan, Ben Secunda, Cathy Sproscumming, Sean Jacobson, John Lau, Kyle Malott, Cecil Wilson, Jen Caltukmuck, and many, many, many more. All of this is to say that although you'll only see one person presenting with you today, please know that a very big community of people have made this work possible. Today, our community just got a whole lot bigger because it now includes all of you In this talk, I'll be sharing some of our most significant findings from the inquiry in the form of five stories. The first is about a letter, the second a monument, the third a mural, the fourth a speech, and the last is about a seminar. We're going to consider how the founding story of Notre Dame has been told, what role indigenous peoples have and have not played in the telling of that story, and how the story has changed over time. We've got about 200 years of history to cover in about 30 minutes, so we are gonna get started As we know, the founding story of Notre Dame is usually told as a story of one man, Father Edward Sorin. As the story goes, in late November 1842, a 28-year-old French priest traveled from France to northern Indiana to found a Catholic school. In this story, the land is usually remembered as a wilderness with no signs of people or civilization whatsoever. On Notre Dame's website, we can read a brief history of Notre Dame that begins when Father Sorin arrived in November of 1842 We can even buy children's books in the bookstore that tell the founding story of Notre Dame, beginning, of course, with the arrival of Sorin. But again, our question for today is, why is Notre Dame here? Of all the places in the entire world to build a Catholic school, how did Father Sorin decide on South Bend? Unfortunately, we can't ask him. If we could, that would make my job a lot easier. Um, but as a historian, I'd probably be out of a job, so, you know, trade-offs, pros, cons. Um, so instead, we look for clues in his writings, in the documents he left behind for us to find On December 5th, 1842, less than two weeks after Notre Dame was founded, Father Sorin wrote a letter to Father Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Many of the stories we tell about Notre Dame, the founding of Notre Dame, are inspired by this letter. By show of hands, how many of us have heard the phrase that this college cannot fail to succeed? Okay, keep those hands up. Uh, how many of us have heard the phrase that Notre Dame will be a force for good? Yes, lots of hands. Uh, me too. I've heard those quotes a lot. Both of those quotes are inspired by Father Sorin's 1842 letter. During the inquiry, I read a copy of the letter. I learned that Father Sorin was torn between two impulses. On the one hand, he knew Father Moreau wanted him to be the person to oversee the school that was becoming Notre Dame. He, on the other hand, much preferred spending his time working with, in his words, his dear Indians In the letter, Father Sorin thanked heaven that he was an Indian missionary. "There was nothing in the world to be preferred," he writes. For Father Sorin, becoming an Indian missionary was a dream many years in the making, as God inspired me with so great a desire to labor for them. In the letter, we learn that Father Sorin wanted to learn how to speak Bodwéwadmiwin, the Potawatomi language, the language I greeted you in today. "Tomorrow, rather this very day," he wrote, "I shall commence the study of their language. When your letter comes, I may be able to return you my thanks in Indian." In the 1990s, in honor of the university's 150th anniversary, uh, Notre Dame decided to transform Father Sorin's 1842 letter into a campus monument This monument became the Founders Plaque. It's on display on a hill near the Grotto overlooking the lakes. If you join us for Mass tomorrow morning, uh, in the Log Chapel, you'll be able to see this for yourself The monument is based on the December 5th, 1842 letter that we just looked at together. It invites us to remember the founding of Notre Dame through Father Sorin's own words, or so we think Hmm. Yeah. Uh, throughout the monument are a series of ellipses, these dot dot dots we see highlighted in red. When we compare the text of the letter with the text of the monument, we get two very different stories of how Notre Dame was founded. According to the monument, Father Sorin wrote, quote, "This attractive spot has taken from the lake which surrounds it the beautiful name of Notre-Dame du Lac... It is from here that I write you now." But in the letter, there are no dot dot dots. In the letter, Father Sorin actually wrote, "This attractive spot has taken from the lake which surrounds it the beautiful name of Notre-Dame du Lac, and besides, it is the center of the Indian mission. It is from here that I write you now." Now, this isn't the only time that Father Sorin writes about Native Americans in his letter. If you'll humor me, we're going to play a quick game. I want you to hold up two fists, and on the count of three, I want you to guess how many times Father Sorin writes about Native Americans in his 1842 letter. One, two, three. Go. Okay, I see some nines, some sevens. Good. I don't see any ones. I told you it was more than one, so good job. All right. Keep your hands up if you have all 10 fingers. Now wave. I'm just kidding. But yes, yes, 10 times. In Father Sorin's 1842 letter, he writes about Native Americans 10 times. But on the founder's plaque, which includes four whole paragraphs from that exact same letter, there's no mention of Native Americans at all Now, excluding Native Americans from this founding story is one thing, but we're actually not the only group of people who are missing from this story According to the monument, Father Sorin wrote, quote, "Before long, it," meaning Notre Dame, "will develop on a large scale. It will be one of the most powerful means for good in this country." Period But in the original letter, Father Sorin wrote a much longer sentence, one that doesn't end with a period, but instead with the following quote And once the sisters come, whose presence is so much desired here, they must be prepared not merely for domestic work, but also for teaching, and perhaps too, the establishment of an academy. That academy, as we know, would eventually become St. Mary's College. In this monument, we can see how both indigenous peoples and women have quite literally been written out of the founding story of Notre Dame Our next story takes place 40 years later, after Notre Dame was founded. On the morning of February 6th, 1883, a messenger told Father Sorin that he, the, who was still president of Notre Dame at the time, that he was needed in St. Edward's Hall right away. When he arrived, the alumni surprised him with a mural that looked something like this This is a recent picture taken of the mural. It's called Very Reverend Edward Sorin, C.S.C., Founding Notre Dame, November 1842. This mural is still on display in St. Edward's Hall. Do we have any Studs residents in the audience? I have presented this a lot to a lot of audiences. I don't think I've ever shared this with a Studs person in the audience, so we're gonna have to fix that. Um, in this mural, we, as the audience, are invited to witness Father Sorin founding Notre Dame as if we were there to see it for ourselves. But in this version of the story, Father Sorin and his companions are surrounded and outnumbered by Indigenous people. Father Sorin is certainly not alone when founding Notre Dame, and this land isn't exactly a wilderness. The people who commissioned this mural came up with a backstory for it In their version of the story, shortly after Holy Cross priests arrived to the land that became Notre Dame, quote, "14 Indians came to see Father Sorin and to receive from him the sacrament of baptism." The next day, the first mass ever held at Notre Dame took place. It was celebrated by Father Sorin, his Holy Cross companions, and the 14 indigenous people we see painted in the mural. In exchange for their baptisms and mass, the people presented in this mural donated seven gold rings in gratitude to Father Sorin. In the mural, we see a woman who's in the center of Father Sorin and the other man in the foreground, uh, taking off one of those rings to make a donation. We see another handing that ring, another ring, to Father Sorin on her behalf. This exchange is presented as the first donation made on the land that became Notre Dame, and it's led by indigenous people. Now, we know this mural was painted in 1882 and dedicated in 1883, but at some point it wasn't visible to the public and campus had completely forgotten it had ever been painted at all. Since we've started researching the history of this mural, I've heard at least two stories about what happened to it According to a 2006 Observer article, this mural was taken down, put into a storage closet, and rediscovered by hall staff in 2006. Personally, I find this story a little difficult to believe because when I saw the mural in person, it looks like it was painted directly on the wall. Since we know the artist who painted it was known to paint his artwork directly on campus walls, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to remove without destroying the artwork, this seems pretty likely that he would that he painted this one on the wall too According to another story I've heard, which is a campus oral history from some former St- St. Ed's residents, uh, which we can take their... I mean, the Notre Dame boys, you know. Um, between the years 1883 and 2006, the room that held this mural was converted into a storage closet, and the mural wasn't taken down, but instead it was completely covered in plaster At some point, the storage closet was converted again into a study room, but the mural was still hidden. One day, a student was studying in the lounge when he noticed a piece of plaster sticking off the walls. He started picking at it and picking at it until eventually this mural was revealed underneath it. Once it was found, the university decided to restore it, and in 2006, which I'm sure there are some 2006 people in the audience, we have to, we have to talk about this mural. If you were there, let me know. Find me after the talk. Let's, let's, let's figure this out. But in 2006, the residents of St. Edward's Hall hosted a rededication ceremony to celebrate this nearly forgotten piece of Notre Dame's past Today, the mural is in great condition. It looks like it was painted yesterday. This picture really doesn't do it justice. It's massive, nearly floor to ceiling. The ceilings are very high, and the people look to be at least six feet tall. Though as someone who stands at a very confident five foot four, most people around me look to be at least six feet tall, so you can take that one with a grain of salt. If you look closely at the top of the photo, you'll see that there are even spotlights shining down on the mural, speaking to the significance of this founding story to the history of Notre Dame. Throughout its lifetime, this mural has been commissioned, painted, dedicated, covered, forgotten, rediscovered, rededicated, and now spotlighted The Native American Initiative of Notre Dame has yet to find a more perfect metaphor to describe our community's very long and very complicated relationship with its Indigenous past So far, all my stories have involved Father Sorin, which makes sense because he's kind of a big deal. But Father Sorin hasn't been the only leader to acknowledge the importance of indigenous people to the founding of Notre Dame Father Hesburgh had some thoughts on this too In 1975, Father Ted was speaking at a Notre Dame graduation ceremony. That day, thousands gathered to celebrate the graduates. Also in attendance was President Gerald Ford, pictured here with Father Hesburgh during his visit. The president had been invited to campus to receive an honorary degree. During the graduation ceremony, Father Hesburgh wanted to introduce his audience not only to the president, but also to a history of Notre Dame they might not know. During his opening remarks, Father Ted said in part, "My dear friends, this occasion is perhaps more historic than most of you think. Let me say why. In the year 1836, an Indian chief from the Potawatomi tribe, centered here at the place which is now called Notre Dame, traveled all the way to Detroit, Michigan, and there he sought out a Father Badin." Now, you can be very critical of my use of dot dot dots here, but for the sake of time, dot, dot, dot. He asked Father, uh, he asked Father Badin if he would come to the spot a few hundred miles away and found a school for the Potawatomi When I've told this story before, a lot of people ask me whether it's true. Based on our research, most of it is. The year this event took place wasn't in 1836, but actually in 1830, just after the passage of the Indian Removal Act. The Indian chief from the Potawatomi tribe was none other than Leopold Pokagon, the founder and namesa- namesake of my tribe, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. This is the only surviving portrait we have of our nation's founder. It might be difficult to see, and most people miss this the first time they see his portrait, but if you look closely He was painted wearing a cross around his neck, a visible sign of his devotion to his faith Like I said, this is the only portrait we have of our nation's founder. Im- this might be hard for us to believe in 2026, but imagine only taking one photo of yourself your entire life. What would you want in that picture and why? He chose to be painted wearing a cross. According to our research, Pokagon went to Detroit in July of eighteen thirty to beg for a black robe, meaning a Catholic priest, to come to his land, educate his people, and help us avoid removal. Uh, initially, Pokagon received a lukewarm response from Father Gabriel Richard, the vicar general of the Detroit Archdiocese. Father Richard wasn't sure if it was a good time to expand missionary activities into southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana, especially after the Indian Removal Act had been passed and violence was almost certainly inevitable. To convince him of his sincerity, Pokagon reportedly challenged Father Richard to, quote, "See if I know how to recite Catholic prayers properly." He then made the sign of the cross, got on his knees, and recited the Our Father, the Ave Maria, the Apostles' Creed, and God's Commandments, without faltering according to witnesses and without making the slightest mistake. Upon seeing this, Father Richard responded Pokagon's request by saying that, quote, "My children, you will not be abandoned." Though Pokagon had received a yes from Father Richard, he wanted to know for certain that this would be a permanent arrangement between his people and theirs. Pokagon asked, quote, "My father, tell me the truth. The black robe that you'll send us will stay always with us, your children, or will he only be among us for some time? We want a black robe for always." Father Richard agreed. Within weeks, Father Stephen Badin, who is the namesake of Badin Hall here on campus, arrived to the land that would eventually become Notre Dame to educate the Potawatomi and, uh, many, many others in the teachings of Catholicism, or in Father Hesburgh's words, to found a school for the Potawatomi Pokagon's band used our partnership with the Catholic Church to resist removal from our homelands. At the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, the United States planned to remove all indigenous peoples who lived along the southern coast of Lake Michigan from east to west of the Mississippi River. Because Pokagon and his people were Catholic and therefore considered relatively civilized in the eyes of the federal government, he was able to negotiate an amendment to this treaty. According to the terms of the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, Pokagon's band of Potawatomi would not be removed from their land, quote, "On account of their religious creed." Father Badin and several other Black Robes missioned in Pokagon's village from 1830 until 1842. When their successor, a young French priest named Father Edward Sorin, arrived to the place he called the center of the Indian mission to continue the work This is a story that Father Hesburgh briefly recounted for his audience more than 50 years ago. More than 50 years later, the Native American Initiative is choosing to follow in his footsteps. The history of Notre Dame begins well before 1842. In Father Hesburgh's telling, the story of Notre Dame begins when f- Leopold Pokagon journeyed from his homelands in southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana to beg for a black robe to come to his land and educate Native Americans, not temporarily, but for always. Now, I'd love to end our time together there, and if we had less time, I probably would, 'cause that's a pretty good ending to the story. Um, but I did promise you a fifth story, and it is one of my favorites. So if you'll humor me, uh, I have one more story for you today. I wanna end our time together with a, about, a story about Dr. Kathleen Bittick and a seminar she taught at Notre Dame 22 years ago. In the spring of 2004, which, if my math is correct, was before most current undergrads were born Yikes. Do you feel, do you feel old? Because I certainly do. Okay, so all the way back in 2004, um, Dr. Bittick held a seminar on campus called Haunted Campus. Like the Native American Initiative today, the seminar's goal was to better understand Indigenous people's role in the founding and shaping of Notre Dame. During the course, students read texts from both Potawatomi and Holy Cross authors. They invited guest speakers from the Pokagon Band and Notre Dame to teach the students the piece of the, pieces of this story that they knew well. They also visited Notre Dame archives to see many of the exact same primary resources that I saw during my time with the NI, NAI. 22 years ago, their research led them to the exact same conclusion as ours has today, that Indigenous peoples have profoundly shaped the history of Notre Dame, but most of campus has no idea. As a final assignment for the class, Dr. Bittick posed a challenge to her students. "Teach the campus community the pieces of this history that you learned in this seminar." The students were free to use whatever resources they had available to them. Their only requirement was they had to work together as a community to tell this story On April 20th, 2004, the students invited the entire campus to attend their final assignment. At 7:00 PM, Notre Dame students, faculty, staff, and alumni gathered together with families from the Potawatomi and Myaamia Nations in the Great Hall of O'Shaughnessy. The evening began with the exchanging of gifts, a traditional practice in both Miami and Potawatomi cultures. Here's a photograph of Dr. Bittick as she's presenting the gifts during the ceremony. From there, the students led a procession from O'Shag to the Golden Dome In front of the dome, a representative from the Pokagon Band offered a reading from Simon Pokagon, one of Leopold Pokagon's sons, and the pamphlet that he called The Red Man's Rebuke. If you haven't been to the dome yet, there is a display of Simon Pokagon and The Red Man's Rebuke. I highly encourage you to check it out. It's, it's really good Now, I didn't know this before starting the work, but the representative from the Pokagon Band who'd been invited to speak that day was actually my uncle Greg Ballou, pictured here. I didn't know he'd been a part of the project when I started researching with the NAI a few years ago, but like my uncles always used to tell me and continue to do, it was because of us that Notre Dame is where it is today The class's procession ended near the founders plaque and the log chapel. There, before the procession arrived, the students had planted a red oak tree. At the base of the tree, the community placed a new plaque that discussed the importance of remembering the shared history. It was written in three languages: English, Potawatomi, and Miami When the procession arrived to the tree, three blessings were offered that day. One from Father Bill Lees of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, another from Chief Brian Buchanan of the Miami Nation, pictured here on the screen. I'm sorry it's so dark. It was nighttime by the time they arrived there. And the final blessing was from Kevin Daugherty of the Pokagon Band A lot of time has passed since Dr. Bittick taught her class. For most undergrads at Notre Dame, it's been more than a lifetime. Unfortunately, we no longer know which tree the students planted. The plaque they placed in front of the tree is also gone, and no one knows what happened to it. When I spoke to Dr. Bittick a few years ago over Zoom and told her that we couldn't find the plaque, she started crying. She said the students had asked permission from every campus authority they could think of, including the Office of the President, the Office of Residential Life, NDSP, the Office of Risk Management, the Office of Student Activities, Campus Ministry, and many more were all informed, involved, and supported the project. This is always meant to be an effort done by, for, and in community Dr. Bittick's class continues to serve as a cautionary tale. Like the seminar, we want our work to cont- to be done by, for, and in community. So the first meeting I scheduled was not on campus when I arrived in 2023, but instead 40 minutes north with the Pokagon Band Center of History and Culture. During this meeting, I told my relatives Cecil, Kyle, and Jen that I was going to be on campus for one year and asked if they wanted to work together. I gave them a list of things that I could think of off the top of my head. Nothing really stuck until I said, "I don't know. Do you want a tour of Notre Dame's archives?" And everyone, almost in unison, said yes So, together we planned their trip to Notre Dame for November of 2023. We didn't know what to call the visit, and I can't remember who suggested it, but someone half-jokingly called it a Super Day, and the name just kind of stuck and we rolled with it. So, Super Day 2023 took place on November 16th. This is the agenda, which might be a little difficult to see, um, but it was a full-day event. The agenda was created by my husband, Gabe, who's also in the audience. So, thank you, Gabe. This agenda is probably not as exhausting as a reunion weekend, but I'm sure it was pretty close. The day started with a personalized tour of Notre Dame Archives. During the tour, we asked our, our friends up there in, on the sixth floor of Hesburgh Library to include a brief tutorial to demonstrate how to request for materials in case participants ever wanted to come back and do this research themselves. From there, the NAI hosted a focus group. We shared lunch together, and everyone heard a much longer and worse version of the talk that you heard today. So, if you enjoyed this one, please let them know because their comments, questions, confusions, and concerns continue to make it stronger. After lunch, we invited Dr. Blair Mooresaw, another citizen of the Pokagon Band, who's an anthropologist at Michigan State, to come talk about her new book, As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon's Birch Bark Stories in Their Context. The same Po- Simon Pokagon, whose reading was in front of the dome. It all connects together. Dr. Mooresaw's talk happened in Bond Hall during one of the busiest weeks of classes right before finals. The event was free and open to the public, and almost every seat was filled After Dr. Morsaw's talk, another Pokagon citizen, David Martin, gave us a tour of his art studio. Coincidentally, Dave and I had been invited to Notre Dame at the exact same year for the exact same reason. I was writing history, he was creating art This is a group photo we took in his studio. The room was very small. The AC wasn't working that day. So it mi- it might not be the best photo we've ever taken, but it was certainly one of the happiest When I've told this story in the past, I've usually ended on a sad note. The grant that brought me here began in the fall of 2023 and ended in the spring of 2024. Since then, I've been away from campus for three years reaching, r- uh, finishing my degree. Until about three months ago, I didn't know what would happen to our research. I didn't know if someone else would continue this work or if it would lead anywhere. But about three months ago, the Department of American Studies offered me a job to continue doing this work here at Notre Dame. Next spring, uh Next spring, I think I, I'll be teaching my first class. It's tentatively called Native Americans and Notre Dame. It begins more than 200 years before ND was founded, and imagines the future of our community long after we're gone. Today's talk is the students' first lecture. The rest of the class, we're going to work together to research the stories we couldn't find in the archives, and continue to sh- share the work we're doing with our community What's next for the Native American Initiative of Notre Dame? I'm not sure. I'm a historian. I study the past. I'm very bad at predicting the future. But what I do know is that the Native American Initiative of Notre Dame has a history. Today, thanks to the people in this room and the many, many more who are not, it has a future, and for that, I am grateful. Chi-miigwech. Thank you so much Right. All right. How are we doing on time? Okay, plenty of time for questions, answers. Um, before I turn it over, uh, you've been sitting for a while. I wanna know what you think. I'm a historian by training, but I'm also a teacher. Uh, so I love a good turn and talk. So if you'll humor me again, I wanna know what happens next. Um, so here are some discussion questions. I want you to turn to the person next to you and just debrief what you heard, what you liked, what you didn't, anything that you wanna talk about. Um, so which stories or story m- resonated with you and why? Um, what questions, comments, or concerns do you have about the work we've done or the work we hope to do in the future? And then finally, the most challenging question of all: What should we do with this history? So I will give you three minutes to solve all the world's problems. I'm sure that's plenty of time. Um, but if you would turn and talk to the person next to you, I'd love to come back together and hear what you think

Speaker 4 41:11

I mean, it was super awesome that night and it's all right, you know, it's all good It's, it's El Salvadoran here

Speaker 3 42:37

Right. If you can hear me, clap once. If you can hear me, clap twice. If you can hear me, clap three times. If you can hear me, clap five times Oh, man This is you can definitely tell this is a Notre Dame audience. We have a lot to say and only so much time to say it. Um, but thank you, thank you, thank you for your time. I was trying not to eavesdrop 'cause I wanted to be a little excited about what we were gonna talk about, but the floor is yours. I think we have time for five questions. Um, and we have a mic runner, the wonderful Angeline Johnson. Um, so please raise your hand, give yourself a brief Notre Dame introduction so I know who you are, um, and then let's, let's talk about this

Speaker 5 43:26

Hi, Katrina. Um, Notre Dame class of 2016, Lewis Hall, American studies, Latino studies. Um, I think we met yesterday, so this is so lovely. Thank you so much for all of this history. Um, my big question is around the main building portraits.

Speaker 6 43:43

Okay.

Speaker 5 43:43

Um, the one that you showed with the Studz mural- Yeah really amazing representation, right? Um, we were in school in 2016, 2012 to 2016, when there was a big effort to remove those murals.

Speaker 6 43:57

Yes.

Speaker 5 43:57

Um, and a lot of my friends and I was part of that push. Um, so I'm curious, like, how have you explored those ones? How will, how are we thinking about those? And the con- and for context for others, and y- maybe you can give it better, but they don't depict Native Americans in a very positive light. Yeah. Um, so that would be my question. Like, how do you, how do you plan to explore that in your class?

Speaker 3 44:19

Yes. Thank you so much for that ca- question, Katrina, and welcome home. Um, yeah, so what a lot-- When people found out that we were researching the Native American history of Notre Dame, everybody immediately went toward the Columbus murals, which makes sense. That's top of mind for a lot of people. But there is so much more Native American history than the Columbus murals. There is so much more we need to know. So, uh, for the Native American Initiative, knowing we were only gonna be here a short time, we tried to find as many other stories as we could to s- to show several different representations of Native peoples, not just the ones that were depic- depicted in the main building. What a lot of people don't know is that the artist who painted this mural in Studz is the exact same one who painted the Columbus murals in the main building. So that's why I think that this mural was painted directly on the wall, and they didn't wanna remove it because it would damage the artwork in the process. Um, the Columbus murals are a very big question that we're gonna explore, but I, I'll just begin with a story. Um, like I said, I've been hearing about the Native American history my entire life as a Pokagon person. When I arrived in 2015, uh, and I walked up the stairs to the main building to get a tour of campus, that was the first thing I saw. For the next four years, that was the only thing I saw So I, uh, campus looks different today, uh, and there are a lot more stories we can tell about it. So I recently gave my dad a mini walking tour of campus, and we stopped by Getty's Coffee Shop to see an artwork display that is in, if you haven't seen, you gotta check it out, contemporary Pokagon art. It's beautiful. We did go up those stairs to the main building, and we saw indigenous artwork on display. That was our reintroduction to the history and the, the, the beauty of campus and its landscape. There's also a display in the main building on the, the Pokagon Band, Simon Pokagon, the Red Man's Rebuke. I highly recommended that you ch- recommend that you check it out. And the next time that you come here, if I'm still around, I wanna give you as many more stories that I can to show the rich and vibrant and thriving indigenous history and to collectively imagine the indigenous future together. So do I have one answer for the Columbus mural? Absolutely not. Do I want as many stories of indigenous peoples as I can on this campus? Absolutely. I hope that answers your question. Oh, thank you

Speaker 7 46:42

Hi, uh, Bob Durgin, class of, uh, 1981. Uh, loved just your talk, uh, and I think the spotlight on the mural is really something that needs to be further spotlighted and, you know, otherwise, um, publicized regarding the history of the university. Uh, the question I have for you is actually on the way here from South Carolina- Yeah uh, my wife and I were actually researching the question of, you know, why was Notre Dame founded in South Bend.

Speaker 4 47:13

Yep.

Speaker 7 47:13

Um, and we did a little bit of, uh, research, and we read that the land had actually been given to Father Sorin by the bishop in Vincennes. Yep. So my question is, in your research, have you found any connection between the bishop in Vincennes and the tribe, and how that land may or may not have been transferred to the bishop?

Speaker 3 47:36

That is a great question. Thank you for that, and thank you for doing the research on the way here. You were studying before you got to the lecture. Again, a very Notre Dame thing to do. Um, we know that Father Badin is the bridge between Father Sorin, the bishop in, uh, Vincennes, and, uh, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi. Um, from there, I'm still learning more and more, but to understand the St. Joseph River Valley, we need the 1821 Treaty of Chicago. And if you don't know what that is, it ceded pretty much the St. Joseph River Valley to the United States federal government, um, in exchange for very small reservations. It's where the Pokagon Band got its start, uh, in Pokagon Village, and it's a very long history. But I don't have a clear answer to that. I know the 1821 Treaty of Chicago is important, and I also know that the St. Joseph River Valley s- since the 1600s, has been a hub of commercial activity. Uh, French fur traders, Miami people, Potawatomi people, we came here because it was like our gar- Garden of Eden. It had everything we needed to survive. Um, and so, yeah, the, the s- the specifics absolutely matter, and I need to research the 1821 Treaty of Chicago more. Um, but the story begins and stays with Indigenous peoples, and, um, thank you for, thank you for your question.

Speaker 8 49:01

Um, Michaela Larkin, '01, '05, and '09. Um, I just had a question about the dot dot dot.

Speaker 2 49:07

Yes.

Speaker 8 49:08

Um, was that, um, like someone in the development office copying, like, a book that was edited? Or was this a Notre... Like, who's, who would we attribute the dot dot dotting to, is what I was asking. Thank you.

Speaker 3 49:24

Who did the dot dot dottings? Um, thank you Michaela for that question. I- we don't know, actually. This went up in the '90s, so somebody on campus should know this answer. If you or someone you know knows this answer, please come find us. Uh, we wanna know who made the editorial decisions that they did. I also wanna give a huge shout-out to Dr. Kathleen Spros Cummings in the Department of American Studies. She worked with us on the Native American initiative, and her research into women's absence and presence on this campus led her to find where women were missing, and then where indigenous peoples were, too. So huge shout-out to Dr. Cummings. Um, and if anyone out there was here in the '90s, come find me, because we've got some questions. Um, but thank you for that. I think we're running out of time, and we have food prepared. Maybe one more question. Um, okay, great. Maybe up there

Speaker 4 50:18

Probably there.

Speaker 6 50:19

Yeah Um, my name is Amanda Ngaiak, and I'm a class of, uh, 1996 anthropology and theology major. So I was over here crying your entire talk- as an anthropology major and just knowing the work that you've done. So, um, what I'm thinking about is the tension that lives with the description as a missionary, like missionary and colonialism. Yep. And so in terms of further research with NAI, um, is the Congregation of Holy Cross, um, making an effort in that coop- a cooperative effort in talking about reconciliation and justice for the tribes?

Speaker 3 50:59

That... Amanda. Sorry.

Speaker 6 51:04

Well done. I was here in the '90s, girl, so let's go. Yeah. Um,

Speaker 3 51:10

that's a really, really, really good question. Um, and I also... This presentation is very long, and there's a lot of stories here, but I also can't stress enough, we knew our time was limited. Like, I worked 20 hours a week while also writing a dissertation, and I, I, I had-- we had a team of people. This makes it seem like we're much bigger than we are. We are not. Like we're, we're Tara, me, Ashley, and a couple other folks, um, who are trying to do this work really, really hard and well. Um, but yeah, I would love to engage with religious communities more, um, the Myaamia Nation more, the, the other people who I know, Women Religious more. Um, there are so many other people who made this place possible, and I think we-- they deserve to be celebrated too. Um, it was one man with many people helping, and it was... It's, it's a good story if we spend 45 minutes in a lecture hall listening to it and then deciding what we do. But thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you for making the time. Another huge shout-out to the Native American Alumni Board of Notre Dame, um, my incoming chair, Pete Sleist, class of 1996. Ah, he was here in the '90s. And I wanna thank the Alumni Association, Angeline Johnson, uh, Dolly Duffy, and everyone who h- who helped us put this together and also let us share these stories. stay in touch, too. Reunion is a weekend, but the work lasts a lifetime. So, miigwech. Thank you, thank you.