on campus HOMELANDS SIGN NMU acknowledges campus built upon ancestral indigenous lands By Kristi Evans
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orthern Michigan University honored Indigenous Peoples’ Day Oct. 11 with an unveiling ceremony for a new sign on the academic mall acknowledging that the campus is located on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe Three Fires Confederacy. The event included songs by the Morning Thunder Drum, speakers and a group procession to the Center for Native American Studies’ fire site near Whitman Hall.The Native American Student Association selected “A Day of Healing and On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct. 11, NMU held a ceremony Celebration” as the theme of this year’s event. NASA President unveiling a new sign that recognizes that the campus is loBazile Panek said it falls in the midst of the continuing cated on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe Three pandemic, as “American Indians and Alaska Natives are dying Fires Confederacy. (NMU phtoto) of COVID-19 at much higher rates and at younger ages than wrote. “Getting to today has been a journey that has taken a lot any other group.” of time, patience and work on behalf of many people.” Grace Challier, a Center for Native American Studies Dan Truckey of the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center faculty member, has taught a course on the history of Indian chaired the committee responsible for installing the land boarding schools for the past 14 years. She read a relevant acknowledgment sign. short essay titled “In Defiance” by NMU student Shelby “One thing I was told right off the bat was that a sign was Boggs, a double major in Native American studies and social not enough because that in itself was a sign of colonization; work.“The United States has committed 500 years of genocide we needed something more lasting and meaningful,” against the Indigenous people of Turtle Island in an attempt to Truckey said. “In addition to the sign, there is going to be an further the capitalization of the land,” Boggs wrote. interpretive walk in this forest area directly behind it. This is “The most insidious act of genocide was that of the Indian the remnant of a forest that once stretched throughout this boarding school system, which operated for nearly 100 whole area. We thought, how fitting would it be for this forest years through both governmental and church oversight. The to have a new life, where it actually serves as an interpretation main advantage for the dominant society to operate these of the Anishinaabe people and the things they value in their institutions was gaining control over Indigenous people lives. For that reason, we chose this location for the sign as an through systematic dehumanization and traumatization. entryway into the forest and trail.” Nevertheless, in spite of 500 years of genocide and forced NMU student Reese Carter, an illustration and Native assimilation, Indigenous people and culture prevail.” American studies major, designed the multi-language sign Professor Martin Reinhardt of the Center for Native that reads, “Northern Michigan University is located on American Studies read comments from NMU Interim the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe Three Fires President Kerri Schuiling, who was unable to attend because of a flight cancellation. “In spite of the atrocities Indigenous Confederacy. Gichi-namebini Ziibing is the traditional name peoples suffered and endured, it is our Native American of Marquette.” Kristi Evans is the news director for the NMU office for communities that have consistently taught us the importance of News and Media Relations. leaving the world in a better place than we found it,” Schuiling
Finlandia offering students free META mental health services
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inlandia University has begun offering META Teletherapy to students. All Finlandia University students will have free access to META’s mobile app. Students can connect to a national network of licensed counselors and therapists for chat, voice, and video sessions. Students download the app, choose a provider, and receive counseling through the privacy and convenience of their smart phones. The platform provides students the freedom to choose a therapist who’s a good fit, and the ability to reach them
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Marquette Monthly
November 2021
quickly and easily. Students attending online, out-of-state, and in-person will have equivalent access to mental health counseling services. A limited number of counseling sessions with META providers will be paid for by Finlandia University. META providers also accept insurance co-pay and out-of-pocket payments. Leading Finlandia’s partnership with META is Rev. Sarah Semmler Smith, Finlandia’s campus pastor. “Part of Finlandia’s mission is to support the whole person toward a whole life. This partnership with META arises
from the need to provide easier access to a broader variety of mental health providers to our students. META is an extension of the in person, on-site care we strive to provide our students every day,” Semmler Smith said. Since the COVID pandemic, student engagement on META has increased dramatically. Providers on META’s marketplace are available days, evenings, and weekends all year long to fit a flexible student schedule. For more information visit www. finlandia.edu
