Arrive to Campus

This event is a panel of Undergraduates, featuring: Vivek Rallabandi, Gettysburg College Demi Gerovalsilis, Dickinson College Juliana Swanson, Gettysburg College The work of Sara Gilsoul, Gettysburg College The work of Calvin Mullin, Dickinson College

Rep. Tamara St. John is a Tribal Archivist in the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation of SD. She has served in that position for nine years and works with the Tribal Historic Preservation Office on cultural preservation issues. Tamara, a Native American genealogist, has done extensive research in the history of the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota or Oceti Sakowin. She worked with the Minnesota Historical Society along with other Dakota Tribes to collaborate on the Commemorating Controversy: The Dakota-U.S. War of 1862 exhibition. Tamara also serves as a Republican member of the South Dakota House of Representatives serving District 1. Angeline Wanna is Sisseton Wahpeton assistant archivist.

Jim Gerencser, Associate Dean for Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College Kate Theimer, Writer, Guest Curator, "Carlisle 1900" Frank Vitale, Assistant Professor - University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Millersville University Bryanna Nase '27, Millersville University

Dr. Kelly Hopkins, Assistant Professor, University of Houston Dr. Matthew Kruer, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago

A Boy and His Loss is the story of a boy who was so utterly consumed by grief, that he almost ran out of life. Fueled by incredible loss, the boy walks on the edge of madness and decides he must live with the dead to be free. Drowning in grief, he is intercepted by an otherworldly intervention, where the boy must learn to let go. Writer/Director/Producer: Michelle Derosier

"Ghosts" tells the story of three Kiowa boys' daring escape from a government boarding school in Anadarko, Oklahoma in 1891, to attend a ghost dance ceremony at a distant Kiowa encampment. After being whipped for, so-called, insubordination and feeling defeated, CHARLES, a rebellious teenager, plans to escape with an unlikely group of partners, the spiritual ZEPH, who has visions of his grandfather and an upcoming ghost dance, which is sweeping across Indian Territory promising the resurrection of their ancestors, and JUDAH, a trickster, who seizes the opportunity to join them and help them flee. “Ghosts” is an oral history of tribal alliance, resistance, and survival from the degradation of forced assimilation. Director: Jeff Palmer (Kiowa)

Keewaydah explores the reclamation of Indigenous storytelling, identity, culture and history through stop motion animation. It draws on Canada's first inquest in 1966 into the treatment of First Nations children in residential schools. The hearing emerged from the tragic death of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy who ran away from an abusive school and froze to death alone in the bush. Decades later Chanie's legacy endures. Director: Terril Calder (Métis)

On Christmas Eve, 1967, two young Indigenous girls are forced to battle the elements, confront their darkest secrets and work together in order to return home to their families after a daring escape from the Mohawk Institute Residential School. This harrowing coming-of-age story was developed with survivors of the Mohawk Institute and is based on their real experiences.

Q&A with ImagineNative Director Naomi Johnson, Film Directors Jeffrey Palmer and Terril Calder. This session will be moderated by Salma Monai, Gettysburg College.

Lily Sweeney, Carlisle Indian School Digital Project Assistant, Dickinson College Morgan Sandler, J.D. Candidate, Class of 2026, Penn State Dickinson Law

Laura M. Furlan, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst Erica Walters, Anthropologist, Living Heritage Anthropology, LLC Abby Mikalauskas, 1st Year Master's Student, University of Oklahoma

Closing remarks with CFNP Director Dr. Darren Lone Fight & Incoming CFNP Director Dr. Amanda Cheromiah.

Frank Waln Biography Frank Waln is Sicangu Lakota music artist, public speaker and educator from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Audio Arts & Acoustics from Columbia College Chicago, where he was recognized for his outstanding commitment to civic engagement with the prestigious Mayor's Award for Civic Engagement. Frank Waln has appeared on MTV, CNN, NPR and ESPN for his work. His notable achievements include three Native American Music Awards, the esteemed Radical Imagination Fellowship from NDN Collective, and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Artist Fellowship. His impactful work has been showcased at prominent venues such as the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Linden Museum in Germany, and the renowned Kennedy Center. His role as a curator has left a lasting imprint, notably in his design of a captivating music interactive space within the Native American Exhibition Hall at the Field Museum in Chicago. Frank Waln's influence extends to higher education, where he has been a guest lecturer in numerous college classes at institutions such as Stanford University and Harvard University, fostering a deeper understanding of Indigenous history, culture and the arts. Frank has had several artist residencies at institutions throughout the US and he currently holds artist residencies at the University of South Dakota and Harvard University. As an accomplished artist and influential figure in Indian Country, Frank Waln's contributions continue to enrich and inspire anyone who engages with his work. Frank Waln’s music is available on all streaming platforms.