RLNC Extension and Community Education Offers Something for Everyone

(Red Lake, MN, July 2, 2021) Summer is a busy time for Red Lake Nation College's (RLNC's) Extension and Community Education Department. From Ojibwe arts and language, to healing gardens and Indigenous history, they offer culturally-relevant programming for everyone, from children to elders.

For children, the RLNC Extension Program partnered with Waasabiik Ojibwemotaadiwin Immersion School. Children and their families and caregivers were invited to RLNC's healing garden, where they learned Ojibwemowin words and cultural teaching about plants and planting, and then painted rocks together.

For teens and young adults (and those young-at-heart), a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure workshop is planned for Saturday, July 10, from noon to 4 PM. The workshop will be led by Elizabeth LaPensée, Ph.D., an award-winning Anishinaabe designer, writer, artist, and researcher who creates and studies Indigenous-led media such as games and comics. Attendees will learn about and play Choose-Your-Own-Adventure games like, "When Rivers Were Trails," and learn how to create their own adventure.

For adults, a series of multi-day workshops, led by master artists, began in June, thanks to funding provided by the American Indian College Fund's Community Based Native Arts Learning and Sharing Grant. The first was led by Wenona Kingbird, who taught Ojibwe-style moccasin making. The second was birch bark, porcupine quill, and sweet grass earring making taught by Adele Zephier. A third workshop is planned for July on how to make black ash baskets. (Dates and times to be announced.)

RLNC Community Education has also been offering programs at the Red Lake Nation Embassy in Minneapolis. These programs are also livestreamed on the RLNC Facebook page. The first was a presentation by Floyd "Buck" Jourdain, Jr. on the history of the Red Lake Nation. The next is scheduled for Thursday, July 15, from 6 to 8 PM with Brenda J. Child, PhD, (Red Lake Ojibwe) who will present, Remembering the History of Indian Boarding Schools in the U.S. Dr. Child will also present, Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, the following week on Thursday, July 22, from 6 to 8 PM.

For all the latest happenings at Red Lake Nation College, visit RLNC.edu or follow facebook.com/RedLakeNationCollege.

Red Lake Nation College (RLNC) is a two-year college grounded in the Ojibwe language and culture of the Red Lake Nation. With state- of-the-art facilities, it offers a unique combination of Native innovation and tradition that prepares students of all backgrounds for the twenty-first century job market. RLNC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.