Free Webinars: Contemporary Topics in Indian Country

One of the requests I received from my year-end survey was for more information on contemporary issues in Indian country. You asked, OPI delivered with a new webinar series: Advocacy Award Recipient Webinar Series: Contemporary Topics in Indian Country.

This series of six FREE webinars will feature a different Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence in Indian Education recipient. Each session will cover current events and contemporary issues facing Montana tribes. Learn how to research primary documents for classroom use and how to respectfully integrate them into your instruction.

• Build background knowledge and explore practical classroom integration of IEFA and primary documents
• Engage in meaningful discussions
• Build community and share resources
• Earn renewal units (2 per session or 12 for all 6 sessions)
• Due to the theme being current topics, actual topics listed below may change to reflect another important contemporary issue for Montana Indians.

Webinars will be held on the third Wednesday of the month, September through March, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (There will be no webinar in December.)

#1 - September 15, 2021: Jacie Jeffers - Boarding Schools

#2 - October 20, 2021: Amy Williams - Creating Connection in Indian Country

#3 - November 17, 2021: Miranda Murray - Addressing Current (and possibly controversial) American Indian Topics in the Classroom

#4 - January 19, 2022: Calli Nicholson - Sovereignty

#5 - February 16, 2022: Bill Stockton - Tribal Documents (treaties, pacts, laws, data, and more)

#6 - March 16, 2022: Chris Pavlovich - Civic Action

After registration, you will receive the following communication:

• a confirmation letter
• a welcome letter with the Zoom link for the webinars
• reminder emails one week before the scheduled webinar and on the Monday prior to the webinar

NOTE: Registration, signing in to each webinar, and completion of a follow-up survey provided after each webinar is required to earn OPI renewal units. For registration or renewal unit questions, please contact Joan Franke, OPI Indian Education for All Unit Administrative Assistant, jfranke@mt.gov. Register here. 

P.S. Don't forget, MHS is also offering an online webinar series on the SECOND Wednesday of the month, from 4:00-5:00. First up, September 8: Introduction to MHS Resources. Register here.