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Teejop & Beyond: Celebrating Native Nations

Each fall, Madison Public Library and Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison welcome a variety of Native artists, storytellers, and community leaders for a series of programs celebrating Indigenous people in and beyond Teejop (pronounced day-JOPE, meaning Four Lakes, or Madison). Beginning on Indigenous Peoples' Day each year, Native folks from different nations lead programs highlighting both traditional and contemporary practices, stories, and community relationships.

This year, six presenters representing different Native tribes in Wisconsin will lead programs throughout October and November on a wide range of topics, including Native citizenship and participation in the electoral process, the recent discovery of canoes in Lake Mendota, the history and process of making musical instruments, and more. 

Program participants will also have the opportunity to try hands-on crafts like beading and basket-weaving and understand how techniques and approaches vary depending on the tribal traditions guiding them. This year, presenters represent the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ottawa, and Choctaw nations. Meet the presenters and sign up for programs below.

If you have questions, please contact community@madisonpubliclibrary.org.

    Upcoming Events

    There are no scheduled events at this time.

    Meet the Presenters

    Teejop and Beyond 2024 Presenter Kim Crowley Web HeadshotKimberly Crowley

    Kimberly Crowley (Thunder Clan of the Ho-Chunk Nation) is a member of the Thunder clan of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She is the 3rd daughter of Sidney Hall Sr. and Christine Hall. She grew up in Wittenberg, Wisconsin with her 10 siblings and now resides in Baraboo, Wisconsin with her family, where she spends her time making and teaching black ash basket classes. She has been making baskets for over 44 years, and just within the last 5 years, she has been teaching black ash basket making, an art that is slowly dying out. She has 2 granddaughters that are her apprentices-in training, They both assist her during basket classes, and both have baskets along with Kimberly herself at several museums around Wisconsin.

    Teejop and Beyond 2024 Presenter Torey DolanTorey Dolan

    Torey Dolan (Citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is a William H. Hastie Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Her scholarship focuses on Tribal Nations, Democracy, and American Indian self-determination and political actualization in the intersections of Federal Indian Law and Election Law. Prior to receiving the Hastie Fellowship, Dolan was a Native Vote Fellow with the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Indian Legal Clinic where she helped lead the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project through the 2020 and 2022 election cycles. She has assisted in litigation on matters pertaining to Tribal sovereignty, the Voting Rights Act, and state election law before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal District Court of Arizona, and the Superior Court of Apache and Pinal Counties in Arizona.

    Teejop and Beyond 2024 Presenter Sherman FunmakerSherman Funmaker

    Sherman Funmaker (Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin) was born in Black River Falls as a Bear Clan member and raised in Wisconsin. He is one of 11 children of Adam and Doris Stacy Funmaker. He is a graduate of UW/ Baraboo with an English Degree, and he also attended the University of New Mexico in 2007. He has been writing since 2006 and is currently working on a book with the help of the Wisconsin State Historical Society.

    Dawn Moneyhan

    Dawn Moneyhan (Enrolled Tribal Citizen of The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians) is the spiritual leader of the Kwewag Indigenous Culture Church, a newly published author, and teacher of Indigenous history, culture, & tradition.  Teejop and Beyond 2024 Presenter Dawn Moneyhan Dawn is also a staunch advocate for Mother Earth and teaches about the climate crisis and the solutions found within Indigenous cultural knowledge and lifestyles. With 30+ years of public speaking and charity work, a career in aquatic medicine, and a deeply held bond with the natural world, Dawn is working hard to effect change in our society to save our planet and ourselves by association. Dawn is always reminding those around her, "We are all connected and the knowledge we seek is buried within us all. It's an ancestral knowledge that every human has within their DNA, buried by hundreds of years of capitalism, religion, and politics. Now is the time to reconnect to the natural world, learn to see life with a new perspective. We have the power to save ourselves if we apply what we know."

    Teejop and Beyond Yvette PegueroYvette Peguero

    Yvette Peguero (Menominee Nation) is an enrolled elder of the Menominee Nation. Before retirement a few years ago, she taught for over 41 years as an Elementary Teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal for the Oneida Nation School System in Oneida, Wisconsin. As a child she knew that one day she would become a teacher and would teach Native children. After moving to Madison, she continued her love of teaching by working as a substitute teacher for the Madison School District, as the Tutor Coordinator for the Title VI Indian Education Program, and by teaching others to bead. Yvette says, “My belief is that it's important to share our knowledge and it's our responsibility to actively do so for the next generation. Sharing these skills and knowledge, while also being a role model for our youth, connects us to our past and future and leaves our legacy for those that will come after us.”

    Teejop and Beyond Bill Quackenbush Bill Quackenbush

    In 1999, William “Nąąwącekǧize” Quackenbush (Ho-Chunk Deer Clan Tribal Member) began a career in the Ho-Chunk Nation Heritage Preservation Department as a Lands Specialist but soon transferred over to their Cultural Resources Division to become the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the Ho-Chunk Nation to address tribal preservation needs. William also became the Cultural Resources Division Manager in 2006 and currently manages the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Cultural Resources Division. William’s current responsibilities are: 

    • Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) – 2005 to present 
    • Cultural Resources Division Manager (CRD) – 2006 to present 
    • NAGPRA Designee Alternate – 2005 to present 
    • Ground Penetrating Radar Operator (GPR) – Certified 2002 to present 
    • Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal Historian – 2004 to present 
    • Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal Monitor – Certified 2012 to present

    Significance and History of the Program

    Based on Vancouver Public Library’s Indigenous Storyteller in Residence program, the intention of this residency is to promote intercultural understanding and story sharing. In light of both the COVID-19 pandemic and movements for racial justice, it was also an opportunity to make space for healing and connection.

    Excerpt from UW-Madison's Department of Tribal Relations website on Teejop (Dejope): Significance and History:

    "The Ho-Chunk have called Teejop (pronounced Day-JOPE [J as in Jump]) and the shores of Waaksikhomikra (Where the Person Rests) home for time immemorial. In Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk language), Teejop translates as “Four Lakes”, named after the deep lakes that define the landscape and that provide a high quality of life for all living beings (plant and animal) in between the periodic ice ages that covered Teejop in a mile-thick sheet of ice."

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    Previous Presenters and Programs

    Previous Teejop & Beyond Years

    Teejop & Beyond 2023 PresentersIn 2023, nine presenters representing different Native tribes in Wisconsin led 15 programs from October - December on a wide range of topics, including art, the climate crisis, identity, mental health, growing up Native in Wisconsin, food and much more.

    Learn more about the presenters and their programs.

    Ho-Chunk Through Story with Andi Cloud

    Andi CloudIn fall of 2021, Madison Public Library welcomed Ho-Chunk Nation storyteller and tribal member AJ (Andi) Cloud for a variety of interactive storytelling and creative learning opportunities. The programs kicked off on Indigenous Peoples' Day, October 11, 2021. They included art workshops, activity kits, outdoor story walks, digital stories, exhibits, and more all across the city focusing on topics like Ho-Chunk history and culture, the fall harvest, veterans and Veteran's Day, beadwork, black ash basket making, and growing up Ho-Chunk in the 20th Century.

    Following Andi's wonderful residency, the Library expanded the program into what we now call Teejop & Beyond.

    Learn more about Ho-Chunk Through Story: The Origin, The Wayz, and The Life.

    Pitch A Program

    If you're interested in applying, but unable to do a program during the timeframe listed above, we welcome ideas year-round for Native presenters to host programs at the library.

    We invite program ideas from any Native person living in Wisconsin, whether their homelands are in the Great Lakes region or elsewhere in the world. What kinds of stories, art, and knowledge would you like to share with the communities of Teejop/Madison? The content is up to you, but here are some places to start:   

    • Creation stories
    • Cultural celebrations and seasonal customs
    • Food, herbs, and crops
    • Skills and crafts
    • History: removals, returns, important figures, other topics
    • Indigenous peoples in community or government
    • Relationships between different nations, or collective efforts towards decolonization

    Sponsor(s)

    This program was made possible in part by generous support from: