Minnesota Humanities Center

St. Paul - Native American Lives Series Book Launch
2025-08-04 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Come help us celebrate the launch of the first four books in the Native American Lives Series! Written for middle grade readers, this biography series features Dakota and Ojibwe leaders and changemakers pivotal to both Minnesota and the United States, such as Charles Albert Bender, a World-series winning pitcher, and the first Minnesotan to join the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
During the launch event, meet the editors and authors, enjoy live readings, connect with community partners, and be among the first to get your hands on these inspiring books. If you are an educator, we will share about upcoming opportunities to bring the books into classrooms, including book giveaways, mini-grants, and professional development. Visit the Native American Lives Series program page to learn about all 12 titles in the series.
This event is free to attend, and light refreshments will be served. The first 30 guests who register in advance will receive a free book from the series and the first 30 educators to register will receive four free books for their classroom! You must be in attendance to receive a free book and bring a school ID to receive the four classroom books. Complimentary books will also be available for a $10 donation to the Minnesota Humanities Center at the event, and the evening will end with a book signing.
Whether you are an educator, parent, librarian, or lifelong learner, this is your chance to discover a new series that honors Indigenous histories and futures, and to celebrate Native storytelling at its very best. All are welcome!
Published by Lerner Publishing Group, the series is supported by the Minnesota Humanities Center, generously funded through the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) through its Understand Native Minnesota campaign, also funded in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
About the Speakers
Heid E. Erdrich is the author of a dozen books in both poetry and prose. She grew up in North Dakota and is Ojibwe, enrolled at Turtle Mountain. She curates art exhibits, teaches, researches, and collaborates with other artists. In 2024, Heid served as the Inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate. She is the 2025 James Welch Visiting Writer at University of Montana Missoula, and a co-editor of the Native American Lives Series
Diane Wilson is a Dakota author, educator, and bog steward. Her novel, The Seed Keeper (2021) and her memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past (2006), won the Minnesota Book Awards in 2022 and 2007. She has also published a nonfiction book, Beloved Child; and co-authored a picture book—Where We Come From. Her essays have appeared in anthologies including: Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations (2021); We Are Meant to Rise (2021); and A Good Time for the Truth (2016). She is the former Executive Director for Dream of Wild Health and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. In addition to this book, she authored the first in the series, Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector. Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendant, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation.
Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz in 2021.
Jessica Engelking is the daughter of an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She grew up in Warroad, Minnesota, with her parents and younger sister. After high school, she attended the University of Minnesota–Morris, making use of their American Indian Tuition Waiver. She graduated with a BA in philosophy and went on to study philosophy at the graduate level. She received her MA in philosophy from the University of Iowa. She currently resides in Minnetonka and is isolating in Elkader, Iowa, with her boyfriend, David, and dog, Walden. She is working from home as the social media manager for the Great Plains Action Society, a Native nonprofit. Jessica enjoys running with her dog, spending time on the water, reading, and she’s trying to get better at beading.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Winona - Shorelines and Storylines: An Artist Gathering
2025-09-19 18:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, 55987, United States
Join us for a special evening of reflection, story, and shared warmth around the fire (weather permitting). This gathering offers an opportunity to connect with the artists of Once Upon A Shore through a special panel conversation moderated by guest exhibition curator, Heid E. Erdrich. Enjoy passed appetizers, and purchase drinks from Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM)’s Water Bar Cafe & Provisions. The Minnesota Humanities Center is excited to partner with MMAM to highlight artists Gwen Nell Westerman, Tashia Hart, and Cole Redhorse Taylor who have contributed to the Native American Lives Series, books by and about Dakota and Ojibwe Minnesotans, for middle grade readers. Guests are also invited to purchase a variety of books created by exhibition artists, including the newest publications Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector, Charles Albert Bender: National Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher, Peggy Flanagan: Lieutenant Governor, and Carrie Cavender Schommer: Dakota Language Teacher, and have your copy signed and personalized.
Registration
Shorelines and Storylines is organized by the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Registration through the Minnesota Marine Art Museum is required to attend.
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Online - From Page to Practice: The Native American Lives Series in the Classroom
2025-12-04 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-from-page-to-practice-the-native-american-lives-series-in-the-classroom-morning/
Join us for an introductory professional development session on the Native American Lives Series—a vibrant new collection of biographies designed to support grades 1–8 educators in bringing Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives into the classroom. This session will introduce the first four books in the series, each centering the life and legacy of a Native changemaker. Developed with Native authors, illustrators, and editors, these books provide culturally grounded content that supports both literacy development and inclusive social studies instruction.
Educators will have the opportunity to:

Engage with Minnesota Department of Education content specialists integrating indigenous content with current academic standards
Learn about classroom ready resources and educator guides
Hear from series co-editor Heid E. Erdrich and highlights about the series

K-8 Educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. This session is also available at 4:00 p.m. on December 4, 2025.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - From Page to Practice: The Native American Lives Series in the Classroom
2025-12-04 16:00 - 17:00 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-from-page-to-practice-the-native-american-lives-series-in-the-classroom-evening/
Join us for an introductory professional development session on the Native American Lives Series—a vibrant new collection of biographies designed to support grades 1–8 educators in bringing Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives into the classroom. This session will introduce the first four books in the series, each centering the life and legacy of a Native changemaker. Developed with Native authors, illustrators, and editors, these books provide culturally grounded content that supports both literacy development and inclusive social studies instruction.
Educators will have the opportunity to:

Engage with Minnesota Department of Education content specialists integrating indigenous content with current academic standards
Learn about classroom ready resources and educator guides
Hear from series co-editor Heid E. Erdrich and highlights about the series

K-8 Educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. This session is also available at 7:30 a.m. on December 4, 2025.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Winona - Third Thursday MMAM and the Native American Lives Series - George Morrison: Modern Artist
2026-01-15 18:30 - 19:30 | Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, 55987, United States
Join us at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum for a Third Thursday book event, featuring the Native American Lives Series title, “George Morrison: Modern Artist.” Author Staci Drouillard and illustrator Tashia Hart will share their stories about how this book project was created as well as shed light on the incredible career of George Morrison, Grand Portage Anishinaabe artist, the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Native American Lives Series, a joint publishing effort between the Minnesota Humanities Center and Lerner publishing, shares real life stories of Dakota and Ojibwe leaders, artists, activists, and elders who have been influential for their communities and have shaped Minnesota and national history. The series co-editors, Heid E. Erdrich and Gwen Nell Westerman share that “These children’s books are by, for, and about Dakota and Ojibwe people and will help Dakota, Ojibwe, and other Native American children imagine their own potential and help them see their cultures represented alongside biographies of American leaders in our society.”
Presented in partnership with the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.
Registration
Registration through the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Students may attend for free, however registration is still required.
Registration Questions: hello@mmam.org
Register Now

Online - From Page to Practice: The Native American Lives Series in the Classroom
2026-04-08 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-from-page-to-practice-the-native-american-lives-series-in-the-classroom/
Join us for an introductory professional development session on the Native American Lives Series—a vibrant new collection of biographies designed to support grades 1–8 educators in bringing Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives into the classroom. This session will introduce the three newest titles in the series, “George Morrison: Modern Artist,” “Sharon Day: Water Walker,” and “Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin: Political Pathfinder.” Developed with Native authors, illustrators, and editors, these books provide culturally grounded content that supports both literacy development and inclusive social studies instruction.
Educators will:

Gain an overview of the entire series
Learn about integrating indigenous content with current academic standards
Learn about classroom ready resources and educator guides
Receive 1 clock hour

Registration
This event is free, however registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Minneapolis - Book Launch for Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin: Political Pathfinder
2026-06-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Birchbark Bizhiw, 1629 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, 55403, United States
Join us for the official launch of Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin: Political Pathfinder, a newly released title in the acclaimed Native American Lives Series. Hear from series editor and former Minneapolis Poet Laureate Heid E. Erdrich alongside author Hema Erdrich Patel as they discuss the life, legacy, and political vision of Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin.
This biography was written because Baldwin’s story, while not widely known, has much to teach us today. One of the first Native people to work in the White House in 1904, Baldwin’s legal career in which she spent decades defending her tribe in Washington, exemplifies how politics and activism can be bridged through advocacy, and that education is a path to sovereignty.
Designed especially for educators, parents, and youth, this event is an opportunity to engage directly with the creators of the series and explore the teachings of Baldwin’s story. The evening will include a reading, conversation with the authors, and space for questions and dialogue.
About the Author
Hema Erdrich Patel is a writer, artist, dog lover, and lifelong student. She comes from a beautiful blend of cultures—on her mother’s side, mixed German and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, and her father’s side, Gujarati Indian. She was raised in Belcourt, North Dakota, and Sisseton, South Dakota, and calls Minneapolis, Minnesota, home. She graduated from Yale University with a BA in the History of Science, Health, and Medicine and an Education Studies Certificate. Her most recent artistic adventure consisted of a three-month bharatanatyam dance intensive in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. She is pursuing a path toward medicine.
About the Editor
Heid E. Erdrich is the author of a dozen books in both poetry and prose. She grew up in North Dakota and is Ojibwe, enrolled at Turtle Mountain. She curates art exhibits, teaches, researches, and collaborates with other artists. In 2024, Heid served as the Inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate. She is the 2025-2026 Camille Gage Fellow.
This event is presented in partnership with Birchbark Books which is operated by a spirited collection of people who believe in the power of good writing, the beauty of handmade art, the strength of Native culture, and the importance of small and intimate bookstores.
Registration
Registration for this event has SOLD OUT.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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