Educator Academy Presentation Schedule

Heidi Kloempken

Heidi Kloempken works at the Minnesota Historical Society in Teacher Education, planning workshops and developing curriculum. After studying history and social studies education at the University of Minnesota, Heidi taught in Texas for four years before returning to the North Star State.

Michael Dockry

Michael Dockry is a registered member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and an Assistant Professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Forest Resources. He is also an associate faculty member of the American Indian Studies Department and an Institute on the Environment Fellow. He supports Tribal sovereignty and works to foster collaborative and respectful research relationships.

Mindy Meyers

Waapishki Kiisis Ikwe (Mindy Meyers) is a beginning level Ojibwe language teacher. She co-developed and co-teaches two levels of Ojibwe Immersion with an Elder from Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation and has worked on the Anishinaabemowin Facilitator Program (supporting first language speakers in developing their teaching methodologies) through the Seven Generations Education Institute in Ontario.

Through her work, she has provided curriculum and course development support for the Ojibwe Language Program through the Minneapolis American Indian Center - Culture Language Arts Network, where she also taught beginner level language classes, led language tables, and substitute taught intermediate classes. Mindy has been a consultant, providing curriculum and program support for the Wicoie Nandagikendan Immersion Preschool and working with Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang on various curriculum projects and most recently as the Parent Advocate, Media Specialist, and Program Support for Gookonaanig Endaawaad, their tri-generational Ojibwe Family Language Immersion Nest.

Mindy graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, and a Minor in American Indian Studies. Mindy holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. After 10 years as an Indian Education Advisor, Mindy has taken on the role of Indian Education Program Coordinator for Anoka-Hennepin Schools.

Allison Waukau

Allison Waukau (Menominee/Navajo) resides in Minneapolis and consults in American Indian Community Engagement. Allison is currently president of the American Indian Library Association, one of Library Journal’s 2021 Movers & Shakers, and recently received the Rising Leader award at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color. Allison’s professional interests include exploring library land acknowledgment practices, developing community-led library programs, and elevating the voices and perspectives of her American Indian community.

Mishaila Bowman

Mishaila Bowman is the Marketing & Communications Manager at Migizi Communications. She was born and raised in South Minneapolis and is a descendant of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Dakota). Mishaila got her B.A from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in American Indian Studies and Environmental Sustainability. For a number of years, she served as the Communications & Cultural Programs Coordinator for Lower Phalen Creek Project - now known as Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi - where she was responsible for developing the style guide, brand identity, social media presence and cultural storytelling for the newly turned Native-led environmental nonprofit. In her free time, Mishaila is passionate about environmental justice, protecting local sacred sites, working with plant medicines, and storytelling through art and graphic design.

Lyz Jaakola

Lyz Jaakola (Nitaa-Nagamokwe) is an enrolled Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Tribal member who intertwines making art, music and educating. Lyz has been fulfilling cultural protocol by “paying it forward” through teaching music & culture for the last 31 years while also performing in various styles. Lyz works to bring others with her on stage in her band #theindianheadband, women’s handdrum group Oshkii Giizhik Singers, or at her Tribal College’s Ojibwemowining Digital Arts Studio. She is a 2018 Native Nation Rebuilder, 2018 AICF Faculty of the Year and recipient of 2014 ARAC George Morrison Artist Award, 2014 MPR Artist in Residence, 2013 Ordway’s Sally Award, 2012 First People’s Fund Community Spirit Award and 2009 Native American Music Award. Lyz will be the first to say that any honor belongs to her husband, family, and community, and mostly to our ancestors for all they have endured and retained so that we may be Anishinaabe.

Mercedes Van Cleve

Mercedes Van Cleve works with Native students in Shakopee Public Schools. She is also an Equine Therapy Partner and has been involved with horses since she was nine years old when she began showing English Saddleseat. She has a strong interest in the cultural connection between horses and Native people. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and playing with her Australian shepherd, Flynn. Mercedes is a member of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe.

Odia Wood-Krueger

Odia Wood-Krueger has worked in public education for the past 20 years focusing on culturally relevant content, curriculum writing, and community engagement. Prior to consulting full time with her own firm, Wood Krueger Initiatives, she spent nine years working for the Indian Education department at Minneapolis Public Schools.

As a consultant, Odia collaborates with various organizations in hopes of making education better for all students, especially Native ones. Some of her projects include the first-of-its-kind Native American Freedom Schools®, sensitivity writing for publishing houses, and community outreach for The Bias Inside Us, a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition focusing on implicit bias. She is a consultant to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Understand Native Minnesota campaign, including serving as the author and principal investigator for its 2022 Restoring Our Place report and is the author of its 2024 publication, A Guide to Reliable Native American-Related Teaching Resources.

Odia is a member of the Central Urban Métis Federation, Inc. (CUMFI) and a dual Canadian-American citizen. She holds a bachelor of education degree from the University of Saskatchewan, a post-graduate certificate in environmental education and a master of education degree from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and recently completed a master of Indigenous land based education from the University of Saskatchewan.

Ramona Kitto Stately

Ramona Kitto Stately is an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Dakhóta Nation. She has a BA in Dakota Art and Culture, a minor in Business, and a Master of Education with an emphasis on Teacher Leadership from Augsburg University. After 15 years directing Indian Education at Osseo Area Schools in Minnesota, she is now Project Director for We Are Still Here Minnesota, creating action for narrative change. Ramona is the mother of two children, Jillian and Reuben, citizens of Red Lake Nation; an accomplished beadwork artist with moccasins on display in the Science Museum of Minnesota; and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Minnesota Indian Education Association since 2016.

She is a part of the scholars' team with of the Minnesota Humanities Center’s for Learning from Place: Bdote since 2013 and the author of Pazahiyayewin’s (pah-Zah-hee-yah-yay-ween’s) Story of the Bdote which was inspired from her Great-Great Grandmother who survived the genocidal tactics during the U.S. Dakota War. Ramona currently serves as 2023’s Indigenous Elder in Residence for Carleton College, was the Recipient of the 2021 Ron McKinley Award from Minnesota Education Equity Partnership, and most recently, McKnight's 2023 Culture Bearer Awardee.

Laura Wagenman

Laura Wagenman is an Academic Coach at CrestView Elementary in Osseo Area Schools and a member of the K-12 Education Subcommittee of We Are Still Here Minnesota. Prior to this coaching role, Laura worked in curriculum and instruction and provided professional development. supported teachers with curriculum & standards implementation. Laura is incredibly grateful for five years of collaboration with members of our Department of Indian Education to write lessons & provide professional development for our Minnesota standards related to our tribal nations.

Art Coulson

Art Coulson is a writer of Cherokee, English and Dutch descent and comes from a family of storytellers (in all three traditions!). Some of his earliest memories are of listening to stories and reading books on his grandmother’s lap. He has been a writer his whole life and published his first two books when he was in elementary school.

Art’s first children’s book, The Creator’s Game, a story about a young lacrosse player, was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2013. Since then, he has published a number of other books and short stories for children. His most recent book, Chasing Bigfoot, was published in 2022 by Reycraft Books.

Before writing children’s books, Art was a writer and editor at magazines and newspapers all over the United States. After his journalism career, Art served as the first executive director of the Wilma Mankiller Foundation in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Now, Art splits his time between his home in Minneapolis and his cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Mat Pendleton

Sean Ferguson

Rita Walaszek-Arndt

Rita is the program and outreach manager of the Native American Initiatives department at the Minnesota Historical Society. She’s also the curator of the Our Home: Native Minnesota exhibit at the historical society.

Regan Kluver

Regan Kluver (Aandakamiginamookwe) is White Earth, Red Lake Anishinaabe and of Polish descent. Regan is a program specialist in the Native American Initiatives Department at the Minnesota Historical Society and runs the Native American Undergraduate Museum Fellowship (NAUMF) program. Regan is also in the Masters of Education program at MSU Moorhead for Curriculum and Instruction and is set to graduate in May of this year. In her free time she spends it with her daughter, friends, or making ribbon skirts.

Kara Knight

Kara Knight is a teacher educator at the Minnesota Historical Society, where she supports teachers using the Northern Lights Minnesota Studies curriculum. She holds a M. Ed. in secondary social studies instruction and previously taught high school history and civics to English Language Learners for 6 years.

Eden Bart

Since joining the Humanities Center staff in 2003, Eden Bart has worked on a wide range of projects. She has served as a liaison to schools within school partnership programs, planned and facilitated professional development workshops, and led the development of educator resources. She is currently the staff lead on cultural immersive experiences, working in partnership with community partners and individuals to co-create learning experiences for a wide audience. Prior to joining the Humanities Center, she taught sixth grade in the Wayzata Public Schools. Eden received a B.A. from Macalester College and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Thomas.

Stephanie Lein Walseth

Stephanie Lein Walseth, Ph.D., is the Theater Education Specialist at the Perpich Center for Arts Education. She is a theater educator, artist, administrator, and scholar with over 20 years of experience working with students and artists of all ages. She serves as an affiliate faculty member at Augsburg University and the University of Minnesota, as well as the Co-Artistic Director of Full Circle Theater Company. Her research focuses on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Jenna Grey Eagle

Jenna (Nape Mato Win) is the Environmental Justice & Stewardship Programs Manager at Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi. She is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. Since the KXL pipeline threatened treaty territory of the Dakotas, Jenna has been passionate about a world beyond fossil fuels and centering Indigenous voices, culture, and history. Jenna is also a beadwork artist, Indigenous gardener, and received a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Augsburg University. She believes that positive cultural and ancestral based knowledge are vital components to Indigenous resiliency.

Gabby Menomin

Gabby is the Restoration Manager at Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi. She is an enrolled member of the Forest County Potawatomi Community (bullhead clan) of northern Wisconsin. With a master’s degree in Tribal Natural Resource Management, Gabby is focused on plant relatives and how climate change is impacting them. She is passionate about the environment and looking at how to center indigenous voices, values, and knowledge in the stewardship of the land.

Ben Gessner

Ben Gessner is a Cultural Resources Manager with over 15 years devoted to mission-driven organizations in the St. Paul area, where he lives with his wife and children. Ben has a background in Native American & Natural History, Art, Community Engagement, and Exhibit & Program Development. He received a Master of Science in Cultural Resource Management working with Dakota communities.

Filiz Yargici

Filiz Yargici is the Education Manager for Retro Report. Previously, she was a state education specialist in K-12 social studies and standards-based education and taught high school social studies for nearly two decades.

Anthony Drews

Tony is a first generation descendent from Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag (Leech Lake band of Ojibwe). His Indian name is Chi-Noodin (Big Wind) He is from the sturgeon clan and a lifelong student of culture and language. Tony has worked in the Native American community his whole professional career. Tony worked at Ain Dah Yung as the Residential Director and oversaw operations of their Native American youth homeless emergency shelter and transitional living shelter. Tony was also Vice President of Operations for Circle of Life Anishinaabe Home Care. Tony spent five years working with Anoka-Hennepin Schools as an Indian Education Advisor. He now works as a Program Coordinator, and he leads the American Indian Family Empowerment Fund at the Tiwahe Foundation, in addition to being the Founder and President of Nashke Native Games. Tony attended the University of Minnesota and studied Sociology, American Indian Studies, and the Ojibwe Language. Tony is a recent Finnovation Fellow and sits on the Board of Directors for the Anoka Hennepin educational foundation and is on his local Anoka-Hennepin’s Indian education parent advisory committee.

James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw

James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw, a descendent of Turtle Mountain, is an international speaker, author & the creator of Ojibwe Word of the Day. His mission is to inspire people to live the good life by sharing ancient wisdom to influence modern solutions through an Indigenous perspective. James is recognized as a leading voice on the interconnectedness of language & culture. His keen insights were developed through speaking with and recording elders and native language speakers (many of whom have since passed on) in Canada, Michigan and Minnesota as part of the Ojibwe Language Dictionary Project.

For over 20 years, James has moved seamlessly through diverse settings locally and internationally. In addition to keynote speeches for academic, philanthropic, business and community organizations, he facilitates local community roundtable groups. He has consulted with school districts, colleges, historical societies and government agencies to develop and teach language and cultural programs. He has also been featured on numerous podcasts, radio & television programs in addition to publications. When he is not speaking, writing, teaching or traveling, James enjoys spending time with his wife and son in the South Metro.

Ferin Davis Anderson

Ferin Davis Anderson is the Supervisor of Environmental Sciences for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Land and Natural Resources Department. She has worked with the Community since 2016. She is also an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Ojibwe/Anishinaabe/Mitchifs in North Dakota. Ferin is responsible for stewarding and restoring natural areas for the SMSC. She works to weave traditional knowledge and western science to make more holistic management decisions. This includes using fire as an ecological and cultural tool to achieve beneficial and healing outcomes. Witnessing Indigenous people revitalize and reconnect with this practice has been one of the greatest gifts of her career.

Tom Peacock

Tom Peacock Tom Peacock is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Anishinaabe Ojibwe. He is a retired teacher, secondary principal, school superintendent, professor and associate dean. He has degrees from Bemidji and St. Cloud State, U Minnesota Duluth, and Harvard University, where he received his doctorate in educational leadership. He is the author of over a dozen books on Ojibwe history and culture, racism, poetry and fiction. He is co-owner and co-publisher of Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing, based out of Duluth, Minnesota.

Elizabeth Albert-Peacock

Elizabeth Albert-Peacock is a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She was a faculty member in the Education Department of the University of Minnesota Duluth for 18 years. She has authored several children's books. Loves spending time with family and friends, gardening and traveling. Lives in Bayfield Wisconsin and Duluth MN with her husband Tom.

Alicia Garcia

Alicia Garcia is a Taos Pueblo descendant who grew up in the Twin Cities. She holds a master's in social work from St. Catherine University and is a Licensed Independant Clinical Social Worker. Alicia started her career in in the non-profit sector serving American Indian children, youth and families at Ain Dah Yung (Our Home) Center in St. Paul in the 1990's. In the early 2000's, Alicia became a school social worker, first with the Indian Education Program with St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS), then as a building school social worker at SPPS's American Indian Magnet School. She then transferred districts and spent 8 years with the Minneapolis Public School's Indian Education Program. Alicia has now returned to SPPS and is currently back with the Indian Education Program. During her 23 years as a school social worker, Alicia has supported the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of American Indians students and provided advocacy for their families.

Tami Johnson

Tami Johnson, M.A., Ed.S., is an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinaabe Nation and a graduate of UMD and UMTC. She's been a licensed school counselor for over 27 years, worked with Indian Education programs for more than 10 years, and honored as NIEA's Educator of the Year in 2019. She's done trainings on the impact of boarding schools, cognitive behavioral techniques for school groups, mindfulness and mental health, and working effectively with Native youth for schools, Indian Education programs, and for the U.S. Department of Education. She's passionate about her work with Native youth- teaching them about the history and impact of boarding schools, challenging them to pursue higher education, and helping them find the resources they need to heal from trauma. Tami is currently a school counselor with St. Paul Harding High School's American Indian Studies program.

Darlene St. Clair

Iyekiyapiwiƞ Darlene St. Clair is an associate professor at St. Cloud State University where she teaches American Indian Studies and directs the Multicultural Resource Center. Her work focuses on several areas: Dakota Studies; Native Nations of Minnesota; the integration of Native cultures, histories, and languages into curricula and educational institutions; the arts and cultural expressions of Native peoples; Dakota places and sacred sites; and anti-racist pedagogy. Darlene is Bdewakaƞtuƞwaƞ Dakota and a citizen of the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Minnesota. She earned her doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Anton Treuer

Dr. Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of many books. He has a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is Editor of the Oshkaabewis (pronounced o-shkaah-bay-wis) Native Journal, the only academic journal of the Ojibwe language.

Dr. Treuer has presented all over the U.S. and Canada and in several foreign countries on Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, Cultural Competency, Racial Equity, Strategies for Addressing the “Achievement” Gap, and Tribal Sovereignty, History, Language, and Culture. He has sat on many organizational boards and has received more than 40 prestigious awards and fellowships, including ones from the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

His published works include Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, The Language Warrior’s Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds, The Cultural Toolbox: Traditional Ojibwe Living in the Modern World, Warrior Nation: A History of the Red Lake Ojibwe (Winner of Caroline Bancroft History Prize and the American Association of State and Local History Award of Merit), Ojibwe in Minnesota (“Minnesota’s Best Read for 2010” by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress), The Assassination of Hole in the Day (Award of Merit Winner from the American Association for State and Local History), Atlas of Indian Nations, The Indian Wars: Battles, Bloodshed, and the Fight for Freedom on the American Frontier, and Awesiinyensag (“Minnesota’s Best Read for 2011” by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress).

Treuer is a member of the United Nations Technical Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals through Inclusive, Just Energy Solutions and the governing board for the Minnesota State Historical Society. In 2018, he was named Guardian of Culture and Lifeways and recipient of the Pathfinder Award by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums.

Rebecca Crooks-Stratton

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Member Rebecca Crooks-Stratton is chair of Understand Native Minnesota, the tribe’s strategic initiative and philanthropic campaign to improve the Native American narrative in Minnesota’s schools. She previously served two terms as the Secretary/Treasurer of the SMSC where, as a member of the SMSC Business Council, she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the tribal government and its relationships with its members, other governments and elected officials, and its more than 4,000 employees.

Crooks-Stratton previously served one term on the SMSC Gaming Enterprise Board of Directors and chaired its Audit Committee. She also served two terms on the SMSC Gaming Commission and worked for the tribal government in administration roles from 2007-2016. She has led projects such as the Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and helped launch a Montessori classroom as part of the SMSC’s daycare program.

Throughout her career Crooks-Stratton has been an active member of the broader community. She is the Midwest Area Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians, where she represents tribes in the Midwest. She also serves on Governor Walz’s Education Roundtable, the Minnesota Zoological Board and the University of Minnesota Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Recently she served as program director at the Native Governance Center, a nonprofit that provides leadership development and governance resources to tribal nations in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Crooks-Stratton has previously served on the Metropolitan Council’s Equity Advisory Committee, SMSC Scholarship Selection Committee at the University of Minnesota, and on the Community Education Services Advisory Council and Indian Education Parent Advisory Committee for Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools.

In 2017, she received a Native American 40 Under 40 award from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. She also participated in the Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School.

Crooks-Stratton has a master’s degree in tribal administration and governance from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her bachelor’s degree is in American Indian studies and political science from the University of Arizona.