The American Indian Learning Resource Center's annual Fall Feast will happen on September 20 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Kirby Ballroom.
The co-sponsored by the Indigenous Student Organization and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, welcomes those from the campus and the larger community. It celebrates the harvest season and offers an opportunity to learn about American Indian culture.
The 2023 Fall Feast will feature two guest speakers and University of Minnesota graduates: James Clark and Demi Dumarce. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP to the event.
James (Ozaawaanakwad) Clark
A 2020 graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth, Clark holds a bachelor of arts degree in both American Indian studies and history. After graduation, he returned to his home reservation of Mille Lacs. Through a project with the AmeriCorps program, he focused on language and cultural revitalization, an experience that helped him increase his knowledge and ability to speak Ojibwemowin.
Clark then went to work full time for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. First, he worked directly with band elders conducting oral histories and learning language and culture. In his most recent role as band archivist, Clark continues his work on oral histories and preservation of past, present, and future resources. In addition to his work with the band, Clark has worked with the Nay Ah Shing School District, UMD, and Rosetta Stone.
Demi Dumarce
A member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, located on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeastern South Dakota, Dumarce received a bachelor of arts in social science with an emphasis in history and a minor in Native American and Indigenous studies from the University of Minnesota Morris. She also holds a master of science in secondary education from Black Hills State University and a five-year teaching certificate from the South Dakota Department of Education.
Dumarce serves as the Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions Program education collaborator/Salt Springs education lecturer for Native American student educational equity and attainment in K–12 education at the University of Minnesota Morris. She is working on an educational doctorate in educational innovation and leadership from Arizona State University and also a Master of Tribal Administration & Governance from UMD. Dumarce’s research has focused on the decolonization of education in the United States and aims to infuse more Indigenous knowledge and ideologies in teachers’ lessons in a K–12 setting.