Native American Heritage

Join us to celebrate Native American heritage with special programming and/or free admission.

Friday, November 1

Isabel Bader Community Free Day

All visitors enjoy FREE admission in honor of Isabel Bader Community Free Day, which celebrates the first day of Native American Heritage Month (NAHM) and what would have been late Milwaukee philanthropist Isabel Bader's 98th birthday. Isabel Bader worked as a teacher for nearly three decades, and later in life, became a strong ally of Indigenous communities.

As part of Isabel Bader Community Free Day, visitors are invited to enjoy complimentary tea at 1 p.m. in the Ground Floor Garden Gallery in honor of Isabel's philanthropic legacy.

Presented by Bader Philanthropies

Reserve Tickets

Saturday, November 2

Curator Chats
11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

MPM's Research Curator of Cultural Sciences, Dr. Aaron Atencio, and Curator of Anthropology Collections Dawn Scher Thomae will be on the Second Floor to chat with visitors about the Museum's Native American exhibits and related anthropology initiatives.

Thursday, November 7

Kohl's Thank You Thursday

All visitors enjoy FREE admission as part of Kohl's Thank You Thursday—MPM's free admission day on the first Thursday of every month, thanks to support from Kohl's. Stop by the Second Floor to learn about Native American history, food, and artwork.

MPM educators will be on the exhibit floors most Wednesdays through Fridays during the month, as well as during the NAHM Celebration Days, to engage visitors in learning opportunities and hands-on activities about the following topics:

Wisconsin Tribes

Who are the tribes of Wisconsin? How long have people been living in Wisconsin? Learn this and much more as we look through the long history of the Native peoples of Wisconsin.

Manoomin

Learn about environmental threats that impact manoomin, or wild rice, today. Discover how Western science and Indigenous knowledge can work together to preserve manoomin for future generations.

Maple Syrup

Do you love maple syrup? Come learn what maple sap is, how it is harvested, and its cultural importance to many Indigenous groups of North America.

White Corn

White corn is a type of corn grown by the Oneida people that has more protein, larger kernels, larger cobs, and a different appearance than yellow corn. Learn more about white corn, corn's significance in the Americas, and how the Oneida cultivated white corn to what it is today.

Each Thursday evening in November (excluding Thanksgiving), attend a special event after hours at the Museum or virtually.

Thursday, November 7
6 - 7:30 p.m.

Light the Path Documentary Screening

Visitors are invited to attend a FREE screening of the local documentary, Light the Path, which tells the inspiring story of the Indian Community School in Franklin, Wisconsin—tracing its journey from its humble beginnings in 1969 to the remarkable school it is today. Indian Community School representatives will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions afterward.

Doors open at 5:45. Runtime is 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Thursday, November 14
5:30 - 9 p.m.

Native American Heritage Month Dinner

Ketapanen Kitchen, Chicago's first Native American pop-up kitchen and catering company, will be serving delicious Indigenous cuisine during this special dinner event at MPM. Executive chef Jessica Walks First (Pamonicutt) of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin recently appeared on Bravo’s latest Milwaukee-based season of Top Chef as a guest judge for the “Indigenous Foods” episode.

Learn More

Thursday, November 21
6 - 7:30 p.m.

Virtual lecture

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), passed in 1990, has forever changed the way museums collect, interpret, and care for Native American items. This free, virtual lecture, titled “Returning to the People: How MPM works with Indigenous groups to bring their history and ancestors home,” will provide a brief overview of the law, how MPM works with the US government and Native groups, and the ways that NAGPRA has impacted MPM's collections, exhibits, and programs.

Register Here

 

Led by MPM's docents, go on a free, half-hour tour through MPM's exhibits to explore the Indigenous foods of North America, many of which are staples in our home today. Tours are offered every Saturday at 1 p.m.; meet on the Second Floor.

A Tribute to Survival

Learn more about a modern-day powwow grand-entry scene through this lifelike diorama which uses models of actual local Native people.

Southwest

Learn more about what life was like in the late 1800s and early 1900s on the Hopi reservation in Arizona. Today, the Hopi still live in their reservation lands of almost 2 million acres.

Moccasins

The Museum's collections include moccasins from the 1800s to the early 1900s from the Oneida, Menominee, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Ho-Chunk Nations. Explore some of the features that indicate tribal affiliation such as patterns, beadwork, construction style, and more.

Manoomin

Indigenous peoples have harvested manoomin, or wild rice, for generations. Wild rice can teach us about the relationship between humans and the environment, including how human choices can threaten natural resources. Discover how western science and Indigenous knowledge can work together to preserve wild rice for future generations.

Kwakiutl

Learn more about the Kwakiutl people, who traditionally lived along the Pacific Ocean in what is known today as British Columbia, and whose lifeways and environment are depicted in many of our Second Floor Native American exhibits.

Check out the following resources to learn more about Native American heritage:

• UW-Milwaukee Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education
• Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
• Ho-Chunk Dictionary
• Milwaukee Public Library booklist