Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College will continue the annual campus tradition of celebrating Earth Week through a week-long celebration of planet Earth set for April 17-21, 2017. The Environmental Institute at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, along with the Twin Ports Collegiate Sustainability Network, collaborated to plan the Earth Week 2017 activities. The overall theme of Earth Week 2017 is “Earth has No Time to Waste” and joins the month-long awareness effort at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
“Every day of the week we will focus on a different topic at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College,” said Courtney Kowalczak, Director of the Environmental Institute. “The topics include water, food systems, tribal nations, energy solutions, and future leaders.  Every day there will also be educational and scientific posters on campus for visitors to interact with, and each will have different thought-provoking questions for each day’s topic.”
All Earth Week events are free and open to the public. For every event attended, participants will receive a ticket for free prize drawings held throughout the Earth Week events.
On Monday, April 17 (Ishkwaa-anama’e-giizhigad), the primary topic is water. Photographer Mary Dougherty will be in the commons area taking photos for her ongoing project “Words for Water” (wordsforewater.com). On Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the amphitheater, Nancy Schuldt from the Fond du Lac Band Resource Management will share information about the work that has been completed on the protection and restoration of water resources in the region. The poster question for Monday is “How much water do you use in a day?” The Spring Campus Clean-Up Day will also take place on Monday, led by the efforts of students in the college’s Law Enforcement Training Program and other volunteers.
On Tuesday, April 18, (Niizho-giizhigad), the topic is food systems. Dakota author Waziyatawin (What Does Justice Look Like? and other titles) will be speaking at noon in the commons about the industrialization and colonization of food systems. Waziyatawin (formerly Angela Cavender Wilson) is a Dakota writer, teacher, and activist committed to the pursuit of indigenous liberation and reclamation of homelands. Her guest lecture will be followed by a local foods feast, and a screening of the film Fed-up in Room 195. At 4:00 p.m. there will be a student poster session in the commons highlighting the college’s Introduction to Sustainability Class. The poster question of the day is “Where do you eat?”
Tribal nations is the topic emphasized on Wednesday, April 19 (Aabitoose.) Cultural Preservation Specialist Marte Kaeske from the 1854 Treaty Authority will provide a presentation and lead a discussion on the importance of treaty rights and how individuals activate treaty rights at 1:00 p.m. in the amphitheater. The student poster session in the commons will feature student work from the college’s Environmental Ethics Class. At 4:30 p.m., a screening of the film People of a Feather will take place in Room 195. Featuring stunning footage from seven winters in the Arctic, People of a Feather travels across generational time into the world of the Inuit on the Belcher Islands in Canada’s Hudson Bay and highlights the connection of past, present and future residents’ unique relationship with the eider duck. Eider down, the warmest feather in the world, allows both Inuit and bird to survive harsh Arctic winters. The poster question of the day is “How do you exercise your treaty rights?”
Thursday, April 20 (Niiwo-giizhigad) emphasizes the topic of energy solutions. A short film festival will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the auditorium-Room 195. Films include Reclaiming Sacred Tobacco, Black Snack Bleeds Music Video, Children of the Wild’s newest film Unlimited, and To the Ends of the Earth. The poster question of the day is “How do you save energy?”
Earth Week activities conclude on Friday, April 21 (Naano-giizhigad) with the topic of creating future leaders. The poster question for the day is “How do you plan on changing the world?”
For more information about Earth Week 2017 activities at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, contact Courtney Kowalczak at 218-879-0862 or via email to courtneyk*AT*fdltcc.edu.