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Exhibits and Programs for 2007-2008 Academic Year
Current Exhibits and Programs | Ongoing Exhibits | Past Exhibits and Programs
Please Note: All Downstairs Dunham Gallery events are noted below with A Downstairs Dunham Gallery Event
Each year, the Schingoethe Center hosts a variety of events and programs
designed to help inform about many aspects of Native American cultures,
both in historical and contemporary contexts.
Unless otherwise noted,
these events and programs are free and open to the public (donations
are welcome and provide a necessary element of support for our operations).
Museum and Exhibit Hours vary according to the time of year, please refer to our schedule for details.
If you wish to bring a group, we ask that you contact us in advance so
that we may be sure of adequate seating (630-844-7843, or museum@aurora.edu).
Click here for driving directions to the Schingoethe Center
for Native American Cultures at Aurora University.
Current Events, Exhibits, Programs 2007-2008
September 13-November 8, 2007
A Downstairs Dunham Gallery Event |
**NEW EXHIBIT** Evidence of Human Habitation - Curator: Meg Bero, featuring the work of Tom Berenz and Mike Knierim
- Opening Reception: September 13, 4:30-7:00 p.m.
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Thursday, October 11, 2007
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**NEW EXHIBIT** The Native American Church: Tradition & Adaptation - Curator: Meg Bero, Lifting Prayer: Sacred Plants and the Schingoethe Pipe Bag Collection
- Opening Reception: Thursday, October 11, 2007; 4:30-6:30 p.m.
- Lecture: Thursday, October 11, 2007; 6:30 p.m.
"The Creator's Gifts: Sacred Plants and the Tradition of the Pipe" by Ojibwa Elder, Nick Hockings
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Native American Heritage Month Celebration - November 2007
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Thursday, November 1, 2007
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LECTURE: "The Native American Church: History & Traditions"
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| Monday, November 5, 2007 |
PROGRAM: Spirit of the People, Wasawagoning Dance Theatre
- Crimi Auditorium, Institute for Collaboration, 6:30 p.m.
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| Wednesday, November 7, 2007 |
 FILM: “Stories Caught in the Web” - Totem: The Return of the G'psgolox Pole
- 6:30 pm
- Film Details: Directed by Gil Cardinal, Metis, 2003, 70 min.
- Film Summary: In 1929, the G’psgolox, a funerary totem pole belonging to the Haisla people, was cut down and transported to Europe. It was discovered in a Swedish museum in 1991. The film recounts the efforts of members of the Haisla Nation from the village of Kitamaat to recuperate the sacred pole.
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November 14, 2007-January 4, 2008
A Downstairs Dunham Gallery Event |
**NEW EXHIBIT**Field Sketches Inspired by the Schingoethe Museum & the Morton Arboretum, Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Great Lakes Chapter, Curator: Meg Bero
- Opening Reception: Wednesday, November 14, 2007; 4:30-6:30 p.m.
- Lecture: Wednesday, November 14, 2007, 6:30 p.m.
"Native American Uses of Plants" - Presented by Pat Armstrong, MA, ecology & botany, University of Chicago
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| Tuesday, November 20, 2007 |
 FILM: "Teachings of The Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller"
- Noon and 6:30 pm showings
- Film Details: Directed and Produced by Katie Jennings, 2006, 57 min.
- Film Summary: “The trees were our first teachers.”
Nationally acclaimed artist and Skokomish tribal leader, Gerald Bruce Miller (Subiyay) interpreted the sacred teachings of the natural world to anyone who wanted to learn.
A passionate student of the traditional culture, Bruce became the bearer of the language, oral history, art and spirituality of the Tuwaduq (Twana) and Southern Coast Salish peoples. This gentle and generous film documents his race against time and ailing health to pass the knowledge of his ancestors on to those who would listen.
 The film chronicles Bruce's youth among his tribal elders; his young adulthood in school (Berkeley), war (Viet Nam) and on the stage (New York City); and his decision to return home and lead a cultural renaissance in the Pacific Northwest. It documents traditional practices of gathering and preparing cedar bark for weaving, uses of medicinal plants, and the presentation of wild foods for the fall Ceremony of First Foods. Throughout the film Bruce delivers lessons from our first teachers, the trees.
The four-part seasonal structure, gradually unfolding narrative, and currents of deep emotion make Teachings of the Tree People a poignant walk through Indian Country.
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| Wednesday, November 28, 2007 |
 FILM: "Gwishalaayt: The Spirit Wraps Around You"
- Noon and 6:30 pm showings
- Director/Producer: Barb Cranmer ('Namgis), 2002, 47 min.
- Gwishalaayt, which in the Tsimshian language means The Spirit Wraps Around You, follows the work of six weavers and presents their woven regalia in cultural context at potlatches and other ceremonies. The weavers share their knowledge and personal experience of practicing an art form that has become a way of life for them, while addressing some of the misconceptions about the weaving that were presented by those who have written about it in the past.
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January 10-February 28, 2008
A Downstairs Dunham Gallery Event |
**NEW EXHIBIT** Movement and Metaphor: Work by Dominic Moore and Karen Lange, Curator: Meg Bero
- Opening Reception: Thursday, January 10, 2008; 4:30-7:00 p.m.
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| January 13-April 25, 2008 |
**NEW EXHIBIT** Weapons of Mass Media: Paintings by Bunky Echo-Hawk (Yakama, Pawnee), Curator: Meg Bero
- Opening Reception: Thursday, January 31, 2008; 4:30-7:00 p.m.
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On-going Exhibits
"Native Peoples of Illinois: There's No Place Like Home"
Open September 16, 2004 - Present
Visitors to the Schingoethe Center often ask, "who lived right here" before European contact? The Center's award-winning display, "Native Peoples of Illinois" provides detailed historical information on the early inhabitants of Illinois.
Now, this exhibit has been expanded to include displays devoted to understanding of the "lifeways" of the Woodland tribes in Illinois. A full-scale wigwam and campsite help bring alive daily life in earlier times. Try your hand at assembling the frame and covering of a wigwam--you'll gain a new appreciation for the skill and foresight of native peoples. |
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"South of the Border: A Shared Heritage"
Curators: Meg Bero and Dr. Denise Hatcher
Open February 2004 - Present
The area that is now Mexico was home to some of the largest and most complex pre-Columbian native cultures, including the Maya and the Aztecs. Yet many today do not think of this heritage as "Native American," nor see its connection to the native peoples of the area that is now the United States.
This exhibit provides a dazzling insight into the rich native cultures that span the U.S.-Mexico border and helps explain many of the common cultural threads between these cultures, and in contemporary Mexican and U.S. society. "South of the Border" is a joint research and construction project involving students and faculty of both Aurora University and East Aurora High School, working with the staff of the Schingoethe Center. |
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"Children in Native America" Curator: Meg Bero
Open from September 23, 2003 - Present
How did they grow up? How did they learn? What did they wear? What did they do, and what did they play with?
Artifacts and photographs tell the story, from prehistoric to modern times. Includes material on the Native American Boarding Schools, toys, clothing, historic photographs, and other artifacts. |
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"Skystone and Silver-- Jewelry of the Southwest"Curator: Dr. Michael Sawdey, Open September 23, 2003 - Present
Selections from the Center's extensive collection of Hopi, Zuni, and Navajo jewelry, together with the history of jewelry in the cultures of the Southwest tribes. Southwest jewelry has ancient roots, leading to an explosion of creative activity in the mid-nineteenth century that resulted in jewelry of breath-taking beauty and power.
This exhibit is located directly outside the Nizhoni Gallery and further showcases the Schingoethe collection of art and artifacts from the Southwest culture area. |
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Nizhnoni Gallery and "The World of Kachina"
Curator: Meg Bero
The Nizhoni ("beauty" in Navajo) Southwest Gallery, located in the corner of the Main Gallery, offers an enchanting glimpse into the Native American Southwest. Timbered and plastered in a design reminiscent of the pueblo architecture of the Southwest, this new gallery showcases the Schingoethe's extensive collection of materials from the Southwest culture area.
The current exhibit in the Nizhoni Gallery features a large selection of Kachina dolls, both contemporary and historic, along with displays telling the history of Kachina dolls, explaining the Hopi ceremonial cycle, and showing how we know the appearance of the many Kachinas in the Hopi tradition.
Take a closer look at some of the dolls on display, and see how these Kachinas were represented by Hopi artists over a century ago. For classroom use or further study an Exhibit Companion is available for purchase at the Museum Store. |
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Additional On-going Exhibits on Display
- "It was only a New World to Columbus" -
Stone Tools and the timeline of human history in the Americas.
- Navajo Weaving Traditions
- Plains Indian Life--including lifeways that revolved around the buffalo and the horse.
- Southwest Pottery
- "The Tarahumara of Copper Canyon" - Artifacts from a unique community in an isolated area of Northern Mexico
Past Events, Exhibits, Programs
| March 27 - April 27, 2007 |
"In Citizen's Garb: Southern Plains Indians, 1889-1891," a vintage photography display |
| March 14 |
Alisse Portnoy: White Women Demanding Their Right To Speak: Native American Scholar To Speak at Aurora University March 14 (click to read press release) |
| September 14 - October 27, 2006 |
First Light II: New Artists, New Work
Work by Deann Alleman, R. Hope Le Van, Maureen McKee, Gerardo Rios,
Juan Sepulveda, Jon Stanicek. Opening reception, Downstairs Dunham
Gallery, adjacent to the Schingoethe Center. |
| October 3, 2006 |
Gwich’in Elder, Florence Thomas
Gwich’in elder Florence Thomas is from the Old Crow reservation
in Canada. Through an informal talk with artifacts from her reservation,
she will share her culture. Florence will be speaking specifically
about the drilling for oil in the ANWAR (Alaska National Wildlife
Refuge) and its impact on her people and their traditional way of
life. |
| October 5, 2006 |
Ingrid Wendt and Ralph Salisbury
Born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, Ingrid Wendt has been
a three-time Fulbright professor in Germany, and guest lecturer
at several international universities. She is the author of five
books of poems, two anthologies, a book-length teaching guide, and
numerous articles and reviews. Winner of the D.H. Lawrence Award,
the Oregon Book Award, the Yellowglen Prize, the Editions Prize,
and the Carolyn Kizer Award, Ingrid will be reading and discussing
the origins of poems from her last two prizewinning books, The Angle
of Sharpest Ascending, and Surgeonfish: wanderings through the world,
through history, and through the heart. She and her husband, Ralph
Salisbury, live in Eugene, Oregon. Ralph Salisbury, Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon,
is the author of two books of short fiction and eight books of poetry,
War in the Genes, (Cherry Grove Collections, 2006), the most recent.
He has received many awards, among them a Rockefeller, a Chapelbrook,
a Northwest Poetry Award; two Fulbright professorships, to Germany
and Norway; and an Amparts (USIS) lectureship in India. He will
read selections from his published work and present a talk based
on his experience as a Native American poet, fiction writer and
story teller and on his co-translating Sami (Lapp) poetry.
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| 2006 NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE WEEK OF CELEBRATION |
| November 6, 2006 |
Exhibit—A Moment in Time , Curator: Meg Bero
Opening reception 4:00 – 6:00 p.m
Roughly from the time of the Louisiana Purchase (1803) to the official
closing of the western frontier (1890), there is a brief period
in which the contact of white explorers and settlers coincides with
a rising consciousness of cultural differences and the importance
of recording the cultural experience of native peoples. This exhibit
displays some of the important work of artists and ethnographers
in this period, drawing on the collections of the Schingoethe Center. |
| November 6 -10, 2006 |
Native American Film Series
(Titles TBA - call 630-844-5402 after October 15th for details) |
| November 7, 2006 |
John Wesley Powell (1834-1902)—Bill Steinbacher-Kemp
(this talk corresponds with our exhibit A Moment In Time)
In 1869, John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War Veteran
from Illinois, led an epic three-month expedition through the last
unmapped section of the continental United States – the canyons
of the Green and Colorado Rivers. After attaining national fame
as the “Conqueror of the Grand Canyon,” Powell became
the architect for the federal science bureaucracy, organizing and
leading the U.S. Geological Survey and the Smithsonian Institution’s
Bureau of Ethnology. This lecture is illustrated and is based on
primary source research. Bill Steinbacher-Kemp holds two MS degrees, the first in History
from ISU, and the second in Public Affairs Reporting from the Uof
I at Springfield. He has given numerous public lectures and tours
concerning Illinois history, in addition to being a fulltime archivist
and librarian at the McLean County Museum of History. His talk is
presented through the “Road Scholars” program of the
Illinois Humanities Council.
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| November 8, 2006 |
Native American Dance Workshop—Lance Tallmadge
(University Banquet Hall) Are you ready to dance?! Join Lance Tallmadge
(Ho Chunk) and his company as he teaches us to dance Native American
style. Lance and his colleagues will share why dance is so important
to their traditions, the symbolic meaning in their dances and regalia
and the place of the drum in all Native cultures. Then everyone
will join the dance circle! There is an admission charge for members
of the public, and advance reservations are required because of
limited space (630-844-7841).
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| November 8, 2006 |
Native American Club Supper Meeting—Learning about
Powwow Traditions—Rita Reynolds
(University Banquet Hall) Following the Dance Workshop:
Supper meeting of Dreamcatchers, the Aurora University Native American
Club. Open to the public by advance reservation; there is a charge
for dinner (call 630-844-7841). Supper includes Native American
foods and is accompanied by a teaching on the history, traditions,
and techniques of dancing in the context of the powwow, by elder
Rita Reynolds (Dakota). |
| November 10, 2006 |
Woodland and Ojibwa Spirituality—Nick Hockings
Nick Hockings (Ojibwa) offers a world view of the Ojibwa
and Woodlands people by focusing on the Madoodooswan (Sweat Lodge).
The Sweat is a ceremony done by all tribes for cleansing and healing.
Nick will delineate all aspects of the ceremony and relate them
to the spiritual views of his people. Hockings is a Cultural Consultant and the creator of Was-Wagoning,
a recreated Ojibwa village in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. Nick is
also famous for building the wigwam in the Schingoethe Center! |
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