Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College Library Hosts Native Voices

The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College Library has been selected in a competitive application process to host Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness, a traveling exhibition to U.S. libraries.

Native Voices explores the interconnectedness of wellness, illness and cultural life for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Stories drawn from both the past and present examine how health for Native People is tied to community, the land and spirit. Through interviews, Native People describe the impact of epidemics, federal legislation, the loss of land, and the inhibition of culture on the health of Native individuals and communities today.

As one of 104 grant recipients selected from across the country, the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College will host the traveling exhibition for a six-week loan during its tour of the United States from August 20, 2019, to September 26, 2019.

“We are so pleased to bring to National Library of Medicine’s fascinating exhibition to Lac Courte Oreilles and Hayward,” said Caryl Pfaff, Librarian at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College Library. “We hope the Native People in our community will take pride in the exhibition and that all visitors will enjoy learning about these powerful concepts.”

The Library will host a reception on August 29, featuring guest speaker Prairie Rose Seminole. Refreshments created from produce harvested from the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College Sustainable Agriculture Research Station will also be featured. Funding for Prairie Rose’s presentation will be provided through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Native American Library Services Enhancement Grant. For more information on the exhibit and event, visit www.lco.edu.

Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled tribal member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of ND, descendent of the Sahnish/Arikara, Northern Cheyenne and Lakota Nations.

Seminole served on the Midwest advisory council to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, advising on labor, nonprofits and tribal government. In 2014 the Bush Foundation recognized Seminole as a Native Nations Rebuilder, a program that recognizes individuals who have a passion for learning about innovative tribal governance practices, and how they can take these ideas and approaches to their own Native nations to make a positive difference. In 2015 the ND Center for Business and Technology recognized Seminole as one of 2015 Leading Ladies. She brought food sovereignty and Indigenous traditional medicine knowledge to global conversations as a Salzburg Global Fellow in 2016 and again in 2017.

Seminole was formerly the Cultural Advisor to the Sanford Health Systems One Care initiative and Strategic Prevention Specialist for the Boys and Girls Club of the Three Affiliated Tribes, serving eight communities and over 2,000 youth between the ages of 5 and 18. Currently, Seminole is the Program Director for the American Indian and Alaska Natives with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She continues as an educator with an Indigenous lens to issues of justice, education and political participation.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed and produced Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in partnership with NLM, tours the exhibition to America’s libraries.

About Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College

The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College mission is to provide Anishinaabe communities with post-secondary and continuing education while advancing the language, culture, and history of the Ojibwa.

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College (LCOOCC) is a non-profit Ojibwe tribal community college. Our focus is to help Native students advance themselves in the world, while studying their own history and language. We are an open-door institution which welcomes anyone who would like to work toward a better tomorrow. LCOOCC does not discriminate based upon race and will not deny admission to any Native student regardless of tribal enrollment or affiliation.

Learn more at http://lco.edu

About the American Library Association

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 55,000 members in academic, public, school, government and special libraries. The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

About the National Library of Medicine

The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has been a center of information innovation since its founding in 1836. The world’s largest biomedical library, NLM maintains and makes available a vast print collection and produces electronic information resources on a wide range of topics that are searched billions of times each year by millions of people around the globe. It also supports and conducts research, development, and training in biomedical informatics and health information technology. In addition, the Library coordinates a 6,000-member National Network of Libraries of Medicine that promotes and provides access to health information in communities across the United States.